Seeing things as they are

Seeing things as they are has been a goal of mine for some years.  I read a post by Vesta yesterday in which she mentioned the beneficial effects that a friend experienced from taking a ten day course in Vipassana meditation.  The friend said "You never suffer ever again."

I thought that a big claim; but remembering the saying "pain is inevitable; suffering is optional" I investigated and found that there is just such a course starting next month in Manila, an hour's flight from our town.  I applied immediately to take part.

About forty five years ago I read a book by the British sailor, Admiral Shattock, in which he described attending Vipassana meditation in a monastery in, if I remember rightly, Burma.  Or it might have been Thailand.  It's taken me forty five years, then, to react positively to that hint!

I read that "Vipassana" means "seeing things as they are."  For me, that is a very enticing prospect,  I realise that I, like the great majority of the human race, do not see things as they are, but rather as I imagine them.  Seeing things as they are would make a big difference in my life.