OK, we have to consider what the word "meditating" means, meditation, what does it mean? If you remember, in the very first evening of the regular retreat I basically say, "the word meditation here means Mental Development." So if you're developing your mind, we could say we're doing meditation. However, we're also doing Vipassana meditation here, which means that all the developments we are doing are for growth, for understanding, and for insight into reality.
We're not just being in the moment in order to be in the moment. A person who is only being in the moment in order to be in the moment, that's maybe one type of meditation, but that's not really what we're teaching here. When you are going to grab a door, as we teach you, grab it, pull it, walk through it, and try to be right there. What do I normally say when I describe that Special Mindfulness Activity? I say, "Can you let go of the future, can you let go of the past and find peace and balance, which can exist right in the moment of walking through a doorway". I am talking about what its purpose is for. It's to be in the moment - but the intention behind it is to let go of the past, let go of the future, let go of the anger, let go of the fear, let go of the grief, etc. We're practicing with a purpose of growth, not just to be in the moment.
So in that way, as far as our type of meditation, we're not just going to be in the moment and say that's all that we have to do for meditation. But to combine it with everything else, combine it with the intention of why we're doing it, combine it with the purpose, that's very important. There are some types of meditation that are being taught around the world where, basically, their only stress is to get into the moment and to a certain extent it's just to block everything out.
And they can find peace and balance in that moment for a little while, but then as soon as they can't stay in the moment, the world comes back again. That's not called Vipassana meditation. It's called Samatha meditation. It's a different type, basically using concentration, and/or mindfulness, to get calm and peaceful in the present moment, but that's as far as it goes, it doesn't develop the wisdom area. So when you are thinking of our type of meditation, we do teach mindfulness being in the moment, but with the purpose to develop wisdom.