Dhamma

Dhamma is viewed as a path to be travelled. It is a long path and takes a strong determination to reach it´s end. It is very easy to be mislead and to begin to wander aimlessly. Many do not even know the way exists. When you become aware of Dhamma, this is like becoming aware of the path. Beginning to follow Dhamma is like taking the first step. This is a great success. Vipassana is a way to remain on the right path. To remind yourself of why you are following this route and to help others become aware of it. It is the path, the only path, to true happiness. It is the only way to reach true enlightenment.

I look at it this way. I was always trying to get to true happiness. I knew it was there, We all know it is there. There are times as a kid when we are completely in the moment. Living in the present. So happy and free. Then we discover money and sex and ambition and cravings and we begin to lose this feeling. These moments of true happiness come less and less often. And so it was for me. I was switching from path to path, chasing this past feeling. Trying to find where this feeling lay. Trying to find a path that would take me back. I tried all sorts of different routes. One marked ´DRUGS´, one marked ´MONEY´, one marked ´RELATIONSHIPS´, one marked ´FAME´. All sorts. And on one of my wanderings, when I was in search of a new path, I came across a sign marked ´DHAMMA´. This was in India. And so I followed it for a bit and found I liked it. But I also liked what I saw on the other paths and I soon found myself drifting off down one of these again. These other paths are nice but lead away from true happiness. What they offer does not last. The happiness is momentary. Sometimes they bring you close, so close, if only momentarily to true happiness, but if you continue to follow them you will find that they will never reach the final goal. That is not their final destination.

While on the Dhamma path I heard of Vipassana. And even as I wandered off from the Dhamma path, I had at least learnt of its existance. It took a year for me to rediscover it once I had lost my way but in Switzerland it happened. I took a course and refound my way. For now at least, I am back on the right path. I step off it on occasion but now, with my growing awareness, I am able to sense the loss and so work to get back on track before I travel to far from it and lose my way in darkness once more.