Morning Muse 213 : Untying the Knots Within (Vipassana)
A distracted audience, fifteen reluctant minutes, and a simple handkerchief became a doorway to Vipassana. When the handkerchief is free, it serves many purposes. When tied in knots, it becomes useless. The mind is the same. Insults, anger, fear, and craving tie knots within us, trapping our attention and energy.
2/1/20262 min read
On many occasions, practitioners of Vipassana are invited to speak in seminaries, libraries, temples, training centres, even high-security prisons. Once, I was invited to an old people’s home. It happened to be their anniversary day.
Nearly seventy people had gathered—elders, families, children. Food was ready. Minds were elsewhere.
An hour became half an hour.
Half an hour became fifteen minutes.
“Fifteen minutes is enough,” I said. Even ten would have done.
When the chairman finally announced my talk, I sensed what was obvious: no one was in the mood to listen. Attention was tied up in knots.
So I reached into my pocket and took out a handkerchief.
“What is this?” I asked.
“A handkerchief,” they replied—some amused, some curious.
“And what is it used for?”
Answers flowed.
Wiping sweat and tears.
Shielding from heat.
Tying a wound.
Filtering dirty water.
Cleaning a place to sit.
Even stopping a train with a red signal.
Creativity woke up. The food was forgotten.
Then I tied the handkerchief into tight knots.
“Now, can you do any of these things with it?”
“No.”
I untied it.
“And now?”
“Yes. Everything.”
I said quietly:
“This is the mind. When it is open, it can do anything. But when someone insults you, when anger or fear arises, a knot is tied. Your entire attention gets trapped. Vipassana is the technique to untie these knots—gently, patiently, from within.”
Within fifteen minutes, the question arose:
“Where can we learn this?”
The Five Hallmarks of Vipassana
1. Universal
Beyond caste, creed, colour, country, or belief. Anyone can practise it.
2. Radical at the Root
It does not merely soothe the surface. It removes the pus from the wound—anger, craving, fear—at their origin.
3. Free from Imagination
No visualization. No verbalization. No fantasy. Just reality as it is.
4. Deeply Individual
You walk the path yourself. No guru, priest, or intermediary can do it for you.
5. Here and Now
Anger arises. You observe the breath. Within minutes, it weakens, dissolves. The benefit is immediate.
Vipassana is not a belief system.
It is an art of living.
An art of untying.
When we share it this way—simple, experiential, human—people listen.
And in doing so, we quietly serve the spread of Dhamma.