Vipassana: Open-Monitoring Meditation for Developing Equanimity

In this daylong, Tina gives an overview of the “Open Monitoring” category of meditation, in particular the Vipassana practice as it is taught in Theravadan and Tibetan Buddhism. Vipassana is also known as Insight Meditation, and utilizes our capacity to investigate, to more deeply understand phenomena so that we can develop equanimity in being with things as they are. Investigating our experience can also potentially lead to perceiving phenomena at their ultimate level.

Vipassana is one of the most widely practiced types of meditation, but many people don’t know it’s full scope, or over-focus only on the breath—which is only one small aspect of the full Vipassana practice. In this teaching, Tina describes how Vipassana fits into the four categories of practices being studied in neuroscience, she outlines the different lineages and styles of Vipassana and how they are different, and she progressively describes the different categories of objects one can focus on in Vipassana. She provides guided meditations that include the different styles of Vipassana as well as objects, culminating in “choiceless awareness” that includes the many styles and objects of Vipassana, as well as Tina’s addition of the “non-doing” practice that provides a bridge to Dzogchen. She talks about how mindfulness relates to Vipassana, and culminates the workshop discussing ultimate insight into the three fundamental characteristics of existence that can lead to awakening, as well as cessation.

This event will be in-person and streamed online.

Tina Rasmussen, Ph.D., began meditating at age 13, and has practiced in the Theravada and Tibetan Buddhist traditions for 30+ years. In 2003, after many years of Buddhist practice, she was drawn to undertake an intensive year-long solo retreat in which profound experiences occurred. In 2004, Tina took refuge with Tibetan Buddhist teacher Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and was initiated into the Nyingma lineage. In 2005, Tina attended a 2-month retreat with Burmese meditation master Ven. Pa Auk Sayadaw, who ordained her as a Theravadan Buddhist. During the retreat, Tina became the first Western woman to complete the entire detailed Samatha path in this lineage. Since 2006, Tina has also been involved in the Diamond Approach to realization. Tina has been studied by Yale Neuroscience Lab for research on the effects of meditation on consciousness and the brain, and is the co-author of Practicing the Jhanas (Shambhala), as well as several books on human potential. She has been featured on Buddha at the Gas Pump, Deconstructing Yourself, Buddhist Geeks, GuruViking, After Awakening, the Imperfect Buddha, Rick Hanson’s Wednesday Meditation, Awakening Women, Non-duality Magazine, Conscious TV, TIME Magazine and others. Dr. Rasmussen now leads retreats and offers spiritual guidance and mentoring to practitioners worldwide. She has a Ph.D. in human and organizational development, and worked as an executive coach and consultant in the business world for more than 30 years.

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