The fruits of meditation are innumerable—those who take to meditation with good intentions can be assured of success. With the development of purity and the power of the mind backed by insight into the Ultimate Truth of Nature, one may be able to do a lot of things in the right direction for the benefit of mankind.

  

Sayagyi U Ba Khin

  

 

3.1 Selection of the Psychological Measures and Research Design:

 

As mentioned earlier, Vipassana meditation is not a psychological or physical treatment modality, but a scientific technique for total purification of the mind. In fact, health-related benefits are byproducts of the purification process. It is said that if one practices it regularly and properly, one is bound to show significant improvement in one’s mental health/state. Therefore, the ideal psychological scales for studying the benefits of Vipassana should be to quantitatively and qualitatively assess the difference in the level or amount of each defilement or impurity (e.g. tension, anger, fear, anxiety, hatred, ill-will, jealousy, animosity, passion, guilt, ego, etc.) ‘Before and After’ Vipassana. In addition, the pre and post Vipassana assessment of the qualities of a pure mind like love, compassion, sympathetic joy, happiness, peace of mind equanimity, etc. should be made. Unfortunately, this cannot be done at this stage because of the lack of reliable and valid psychological scales to measure both sets of qualities. Hence, at present, the benefits of Vipassana cannot be measured satisfactorily, and so, its beneficial effects have to be studied indirectly.

 

For such assessment, time being, two strategies were available to the investigator.

Firstly, to investigate the changes that the subjects felt within themselves due to Vipassana, and to what extent Vipassana benefited them in various aspects of their personal and professional lives. This could be achieved by collecting relevant information through specific questionnaires, anecdotal reports, and to some extent, through incidental feedback available in the introduction forms of old students.

 

Secondly, to investigate the changes through scientific psychological tests.

Therefore, a multimethod approach was adopted to collect both and analyze qualitative and quantitative data.

 

The Impact of Vipassana Meditation Index was specifically developed by the Vipassana Research Institute for comprehensive analysis of the effectiveness of Vipassana.

 

Both ‘Control Group’ and ‘Before and After’ (after one month and six months of the course) experimental designs were employed to find out the impact of Vipassana Meditation on Subjective Well Being and Occupational Stress of government officials. The subjects were assessed with the help of scientifically valid psychological tests, that is, the Subjective Well Being Inventory (Nagpal and Sell, 1985) and the Occupational Stress Index (Shrivastava and Singh, 1984).

 

Anecdotal personal experience note evidences were collected from randomly selected subjects. They were requested to report the benefits they derived from Vipassana in various aspects of their professional and personal life.

 

Information was also collected from the introduction forms of government officers who had attended Vipassana courses in the past.

 

Description of the above instruments are given in “Tools for Measurement”, which will justify their rationale. The following four studies were conducted:

   

 

STUDY I : Anonymous Feedback of old Meditators:

 
Comparison of Vipassana Group with Non-Vipassana Group

 

This study was carried out using ‘Control Group’ (With And Without) experimental design. The subjects of the Vipassana Group were government officials who had completed at least one ten-day Vipassana course. The samples were selected randomly by sorting out their introduction forms. These subjects were contacted by post/courier and informed about the objective of this study. They were requested to answer the enclosed questionnaires. The subjects were assured that their identity would not be disclosed in any way and no one, including the investigator, would know who had answered the questionnaires. This was to help them answer factually, so that accurate conclusions could be drawn from the study. They were also assured that all the information given by them would be treated as confidential and would be used only for research purposes. A postcard was sent as a reminder and a second postcard was sent after two months. Officials throughout the country were contacted.

The sample consisted of 607 personnel.

 

In spite of many constraints like extremely busy schedule of the subjects, change in their addresses because of transfers, exhaustive questionnaires, etc., out of 1103 personnel, 653 (about 60%) responded to the requests. 607 responses were found to be valid.

 

One of the reasons for such a wide coverage throughout the country was to examine whether Vipassana gives the same results irrespective of cadre/service and nature of duties.

Demographic data was collected through demographic data sheet (Appendix 1).

 

The instruments used for data collections were:

 

Impact of Vipassana Meditation Index (Appendix 2),

Subjective Well Being Inventory (Appendix 3) and

Occupational Stress Index (Appendix 4).

 

Subjective Well Being and Occupational Stress of Vipassana group and Non-Vipassana group was compared through statistical analysis.

   

 

STUDY II: Pre-course and Post-course Feedback:

 

This study was carried out using a ‘Before-and-After’ experimental design to determine if there is any change in subjects as a result of VM. The main aim of this study is to investigate the changes in the overall mental health of the subjects after attending the Vipassana course and regular meditation practice for one month and for six months. Post-course feedback was not obtained immediately after the course. Instead, this was obtained after one month and six months of their course. This was to avoid any chance of exaggeration caused by over-enthusiasm immediately after the course. Also, this helped the investigator to assess the efficacy of Vipassana while these subjects are facing the vicissitudes of life.

 

The subjects for this test were of three categories (senior personnel of Government, Public Sector Undertakings and Government Institutes of Higher & Technical Education).

Pre-course Feedback:

 

The subjects were administered Subjective Well Being Inventory and Occupational Stress Index before the start of their ten-day course at Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri. Participation in this study was purely voluntary. The subjects were informed about the objective of the study and were assured that the information shared by them would be treated as confidential and would be used only for research purposes. This exercise was started in January 2002 and continued until September 2002. In all, 238 subjects participated and gave their pre-course feedback.

Post-course Feedback:

 

This study is divided into two parts:

 

Study IIA – One month Post-course feedback and

Study IIB – Six months Post-course feedback.

 

These subjects were contacted by post/courier after one month and six months of their Vipassana courses to get their post-course feedback.

 

The instruments used for data collection are:

 

Impact of Vipassana Meditation Index

Subjective Well Being Inventory

Occupational Stress Index

  

A brief description of the variables, “Subjective Well Being” and “Occupational Stress” is given below:

 

Many authors have utilized the concept of Subjective Well Being to analyze people’s reflection of their own mental status. According to Goldenson (1984), mental health is a state of mind characterized by emotional well being, relative freedom from anxiety or other disabling symptoms, and a capacity to establish a constructive relationship with the ordinary demands and stresses of life.

 

Ryff et al (1995), on the other hand, have proposed a theoretical model of well being which encompasses six distinct dimensions of mental health: autonomy, environment mastery, personal growth, positive relations with others, purpose in life, and self-acceptance. Similarly, Sahoo and Bidyadhar (1988) state that at least four dominant factors influence the way people evaluate their own subjective mental health. They call these elements evaluation of positive affective experience, evaluation of negative affective experience, feeling of personal competence in handling negative experience, and a feeling of personal competence in deriving positive experience.

  

Thus, Subjective Well Being is an important aspect of one’s psychological disposition. It is a mental state that helps a person to maintain equilibrium, anchored in hope and optimism, even during the adversities of life (Khurana and Dhar, 2000).

 

Stress is “a state of mental, emotional or other strain” (Oxford 1999). Occupational Stress, a problem that is being widely considered by social and psychological researchers, is seen as an unpleasant interaction between a person and his or her work environment. Morgolis and Kores (1974) defined occupational stress as a condition where “psychological and physiological homeostasis” is disrupted. In addition, McGrath (1976) writes that stress arises “when an environmental situation is perceived as presenting a demand which threatens to exceed the person’s capabilities and resources for meeting it, under conditions where he expects a substantial difference in the rewards and costs from meeting the demand versus not meeting it.”

Government officials are subject to tremendous work-pressure and severe stress and strain. It is evident from the aforementioned research that yoga and meditation practices reduce stress, enhance mental health, and have an overall positive impact on one’s well being. Government organizations organize regular refresher and reorientation courses for their officials to enhance their professional competence. However, very little has been done to enhance the Subjective Well Being and to reduce the Occupational Stress of these officials.

 

 

Study IIA – Post-course feedback (one month)

 

This exercise was started in June 2002 and continued until February 2003. If the person did not respond within a month, a postcard was sent as a reminder and a second postcard after two months.

 

Participation in this study was purely voluntary and subjects were free to withdraw at any time. Even then, out of the initial 238 subjects, 166 (70%) responded to the questionnaires. However, only 147 responses were found to be valid.

 

 

Study IIB – Post-course feedback (six months)

 

Post-course feedback after six months could not be obtained in all the cases because of time constraint. Therefore, in some cases (total 25%), feedback was obtained after three, four and five months after the course and included in the study. Out of the initial 228 subjects contacted, 129 (57%) in this study responded to the questionnaires. Such an overwhelming response is considered to be unusually high. 119 responses were found to be valid.

 The detailed demographic profile of the subjects (showing distribution on the basis of age, service, cadre, rank, length of service, nature of duties, objectives of attending the course, etc.) is appended as Appendices 12 and 13.

   

 

STUDY III: Anecdotal Evidences

 

The randomly selected subjects of this study are also of three categories only (government officials, the executives, managers, administrators, etc. in the public sector undertakings and the professors, associate professors, readers, lecturers, etc. in institutes of higher & technical education). Randomly selected subjects who had completed two or more Vipassana courses were requested, by post/courier, to write their experience-note about the impact of Vipassana on their professional work. The following topics were suggested:

 

Improving the system

Reducing corrupt practices

Increasing efficiency and productivity

Creating healthy work environment

Imbibing moral values

Reducing stress and strain

Increasing mutual cooperation among colleagues

Improving relations with seniors and subordinates

Improving physical and mental health

  

The subjects were requested to write in any manner they were comfortable with—the above points were just hints. The subjects were also requested to suggest steps that the Government should take to implement Vipassana in Government, Public Sector Undertakings and Government Institutes of Higher & Technical Education. The subjects were assured that the information shared by them would be used only for research purposes. If the subject did not respond within a month, a postcard was sent as a reminder. If the subject still did not respond, a second postcard was sent.

 

Out of the 304 subjects requested, 212 (about 70%) responded and sent their personal experience note reports. Such an overwhelming response is considered to be unusually high.

Subjects, including high ranking officials sent their Anecdotal Evidences/Experience-Notes about the positive impact of Vipassana on their personal life and professional work. The subjects also recommended steps that the Government should take to implement Vipassana in various organisations.

   

 

STUDY IV: Analysis of Vipassana course forms of Government officials:

 

When Vipassana meditators arrive at a Vipassana center to attend the next course, they have to fill in an old students’ introduction form. These forms have the following important information:

   

1.       Regularity of Vipassana practice,

   

2.       Any physical or mental illness, at present or in the past,

 

3.       Any changes that the meditators noticed within themselves by practicing Vipassana:
a) Changes in physical ailments and mental temperament,
b) In dealing with other people and solving their problems,
c) In the use of intoxicants, etc.

 

4.       Short personal introduction: state of mind, any major crisis, etc.

 

The randomly selected subjects of this study are government officials, employees of public sector undertakings and institutes of higher & technical education. These subjects (called old students of Vipassana) have earlier attended one or more Vipassana courses and furnish these information voluntarily after coming to the Vipassana center for their next course. Their introduction forms, available at Dhamma Giri, Igatpuri, were analyzed to find out whether they are deriving any benefits by the practice of Vipassana.

    

   

3.2 SAMPLE CHARACTERISTICS

 

STUDY I

  

In ‘Experimental Group’ and ‘Control Group’ (with and without) comparison, it was important to ensure that the groups to be compared were similar on all relevant factors, other than the experimental factor (Vipassana Meditation). As mentioned in the foregoing para, the Experimental Group in this study was randomly selected from the subjects who had undergone one or more Vipassana course/s earlier. This group is termed as Vipassana Group (N=607).

The researcher discovered that it was not practicable to get the exhaustive questionnaires filled up by the Non-Vipassana group officials of rank and number exactly similar to that of Vipassana Group. Therefore, the subjects before their first Vipassana course are treated as ‘Control Group’ (Non-Vipassana) group (N=238). Incidentally, except the total number of subjects, the groups to be compared (Vipassana Group and Non-Vipassana Group) are similar on almost all relevant factors.

 

The following Pie Chart presentation shows that both the Vipassana and Non-Vipassana Groups have nearly the same demographic composition. The detailed demographic profile of the subjects showing distribution on the basis of age, gender, service sector, rank in the service, educational background, length of service, nature of duties, objective of attending Vipassana course, etc. is appended as Appendix 11.

 

Pie Chart presentation of the demographic profile of the subjects:

1. Distribution on the basis of Age

 

      

  

 

2. Distribution on the basis of Service Sector

 

       

      

   

3. Distribution on the basis of Educational Background

  

      

   
 

4. Distribution on the basis of Length of Service

 

       

    

 
5. Distribution on the basis of Nature of Duties

 

       

 

The profile of subjects demonstrates that the subjects represent all age groups, sectors, ranks etc. (though the majority are from the government).

 

 

6. Distribution on the basis of objective of attending Vipassana course

 

         

 

(Multiple objectives stated)

 

STUDY IIA

  

The sample consisted of 147 subjects

 

In this ‘Before and After’ study care has been taken that the same subjects (N=147) are compared before the course and one month after their course. Therefore, the subjects before and after the course are similar on all relevant factors, other than the experimental factor (Vipassana Meditation).

 

The detailed demographic profile of the subjects is appended as Appendix 12. The profile demonstrates that the subjects represent all sectors (though majority are from government),. age groups,. ranks, etc.

    

 

STUDY IIB

 

The sample consisted of 119 subjects.

 

In this ‘Before and After’ study also care has been taken that the same subjects (N=119) are compared before the course and six months (five, four and three months in 25% cases) after their course. Therefore, the subjects before and after the course are similar on all relevant factors, other than the experimental factor (Vipassana Meditation).

The detailed demographic profile of the subjects is appended as Appendix 13.

 

 

STUDY III

 

The sample consisted of 212 subjects

The detailed demographic profile of the subjects is appended as Appendix 14.

     

 

STUDY IV

   

The sample consisted of 1232 subjects.

  

 

3.3 TOOLS OF MEASUREMENT

 

The following instruments are used for data collection and are explained below:

 

Subjective Well Being Inventory (Nagpal and Sell, 1985),

Occupational Stress Index (Srivastava and Singh, 1984),

Impact of Vipassana Meditation Index (V. R. I., 2001),

    

In addition, information is also collected through:

 

Personal Experience Note Evidences and

Old students Feedback through Introduction Forms.

 

Subjective Well Being Inventory:

 

This instrument developed by Nagpal and Sell (1985), is used to measure an individual’s mental status regarding overall feeling about life. It has forty questions (Appendix 3). The scale has been found to have high inter-rater, inter-scores, and test-retest reliability. Also, it has proved its validity through many experiments, and was therefore considered appropriate for this study.

Subjective Well Being is a composite measure of independent feelings about a variety of life concerns in addition to an overall feeling about life in positive and negative terms. Not surprisingly, general well being in its positive affect and, to a somewhat lesser degree, in its negative affect, appears to be stable over time, to the extent that it can be called a personality trait. The Subjective Well Being Inventory is designed to measure feelings of well being or ill being as experienced by an individual, or a group of individuals, in various day-to-day life concerns. The inventory gauges eleven factorial dimensions:

  

1) General well being positive affect:

 

This factor reflects the feelings of well being arising out of an overall perception of life as functioning smoothly and joyfully. The items reflect our theoretical construct of positive affect only in what we had called its overall perspective (Nagpal and Sell, 1985).

 

2) Expectation-achievement congruence:

 

The items in this factor refers to feelings of well being generated by achieving success and the standard of living as per one’s expectation, or what may be called satisfaction. The factor confirms expectation-achievement harmony.

   

3) Confidence in coping

 

This factor relates to perceived personality strength, the ability to master critical or unexpected situations. It reflects what is sometimes called positive mental health in an ‘ecological’ sense, i.e. the ability to adapt to change and to face adversities without breakdown. It confirms mental mastery or inadequate mental mastery.

 

4) Transcendence:

 

The items in this factor relate to life experiences that are beyond the ordinary day-to-day material and rational existence. They reflect feelings of subjective well being derived from values of a spiritual quality. The factor confirms rootedness and belongingness.

 

5) Family group support:

 

This factor reflects positive feelings derived from the percentage of the wider family (beyond the primary group of spouse and children) as supportive, cohesive and emotionally attached.

 

6) Social Support:

 

This factor contains items describing the social environment beyond the family as supportive in general and in times of crisis.

 

7) Primary group concern:

 

This factor covers feelings about the overall well being of family life.

 

8) Inadequate mental mastery:

 

All items with significant loadings on this factor imply a sense of insufficient control over, or inability to deal efficiently with, certain aspects of everyday life that are capable of disturbing the mental equilibrium. This inadequate mastery is perceived as disturbing or reducing subjective well being. Most of the items of this factor reflect mental mastery over self and environment. It is noteworthy that the items on sadness and on anxiety/tension have significant loadings on this factor only. This factor is clearly similar to the factor ‘lack of self-confidence’, as described by Bryant and Veroff (1984), which also is related to depression, and the factor ‘irritability’ in neurotic out-patients described by Lipman et al. (1969).

 

9) Perceived ill-health:

 

This is a one-dimensional factor since happiness and worries over health and physical fitness are highly correlated, and both load significantly here. Worry over disturbed sleep has significant loadings on this factor as well as on the factor of inadequate mental mastery.

   

10) Deficiency in social contacts:

 

The common feature of the items constituting this factor are worries about being disliked and feelings of missing friends.

 

11) General well being-negative affect

 

This factor reflects a generally depressed outlook on life.

 

Question-wise Scoring

  

According to the manual of the inventory, the scoring is as under:

 

In 19 of the 40 questions (questions 1-15, 21-23 and 28),

Value 3 was given if the respondent has selected the category 1 (very much)

Value 2 was given if the respondent has selected the category 2 (to some extent);

Value 1 was given to category 3 (not so much).

In the remaining 21 questions (questions 16-20, 24-27 and 29-40)

Value 1 was given if the respondent has selected the category 1 (very much)

Value 2 was given if the respondent has selected the category 2 (to some extent);

Value 3 was given to category 3 (not so much).

However, for questions 14, 27 and 29

 

If the respondent has selected category 4, value 0 (zero) was given.

All the values were added to get the total score. The maximum score is 120. Higher the score, higher is the Subjective Well Being of a person. The total score can be interpreted summarily in the light of three broad score ranges: 40-60, 61-80 and 81-120 to have an overall picture of the well being status. The mean score on normal adult Indian samples is 90.8 with standard deviation of 9.2.

 

   

Minimum, Maximum and Middle values of scores in each factor is as under:

 

Rationale behind the use of the Subjective Well Being Inventory:

 

The Subjective Well Being Inventory was chosen because it shares some common principles with Vipassana. This scale has features covering positive and negative aspects of life such as overall feelings of satisfaction or dissatisfaction, feelings of well being generated by achieving success and standard of living as per one’s expectations. It also covers one’s ability to accept the realities of life, the ability to maintain a balanced state of mind in any situation, self-confidence and capability to face unexpected situations and adversities without breakdown or disturbing the mental equilibrium, adequacy of mastery over the mind, well being derived from values of a spiritual quality, happiness or worries over health, etc. These Subjective Well Being factors correlate well with both mental impurities and qualities of a pure mind. All negative emotions (such as anger, fear, anxiety, tension, ill feelings, worries, etc.) are byproducts of deep-rooted mental impurities and all positive emotions (such as love, compassion, peace of mind, equanimity, sympathetic joy, etc.) are the qualities of a pure mind. As the impurities get eradicated from the mind through regular meditation, positive emotions and positive feelings are generated naturally. This also results in achieving a balanced state of mind in any situation.

   

Occupational Stress Index (OSI):

 

This scale developed by Srivastava and Singh (1984) is used to measure the extent of job-related stress which government officials perceive as arising from various constituents and conditions of their jobs. The items on the scale relate to most of the relevant components of a government official’s daily official work that can potentially cause stress. The authors explain that the instrument may be conveniently administered to employees of all levels operating in various organizations. However it is more suitable for the employees of supervisory level and above. This scale has been found to have high reliability and has proved its validity through experiments—therefore, it was used for this study.

 

This index examines 12 particular dimensions:

 

1.      Role overload

2.      Role ambiguity

3.      Role conflict

4.      Unreasonable group and political pressures

5.      Responsibility for staff

6.      Under-participation

7.      Powerlessness

8.      Poor peer relations

9.      Intrinsic impoverishment

10.  Low status

11.  Strenuous working conditions

12.  Unprofitability

 

Scoring

 

Occupational Stress Index consists of 46 items, each to be rated on the five-point scale (Appendix 4). Out of the 46 items, 28 are ‘true-keyed’ and the remaining 18 are ‘false-keyed’.

The following table provides two different patterns of scoring for ‘true-keyed’ and ‘false-keyed’ items:

 

 

 

Following the principles of normal distribution, the scores are divided into three categories:

 

 

Rationale behind the use of Occupational Stress Index:

 

This index was chosen because it shares some common principles with Vipassana. This scale covers many components of the job life of a government officials that cause stress, such as role overload, role ambiguity, role conflict, group and political pressures, accountability, feeling of powerlessness and low status, poor relations with colleagues, feeling of exhaustion, strenuous working conditions, etc. These factors have been found to be positively correlated with the mental (ill) health; the symptoms of which are free-floating anxiety, obsessive traits and symptoms, phobic anxiety, somatic concomitant anxiety, neurotic depression, hysterical neurosis, etc. All these symptoms and stressful state of mind are byproducts of deep-rooted mental impurities. As these impurities get eradicated through meditation, stress is reduced and a balanced state of mind is achieved naturally. This helps in maintaining mental balance even in stressful situations in the work environment.

 

Impact of Vipassana Meditation Index:

 

This instrument was developed specifically to assess the benefits of Vipassana meditation derived by the subjects in their personal and professional lives and to evaluate the impact of Vipassana qualitatively and quantitatively. The meditator is the best judge to assess the impact of Vipassana in various aspects of his/her life. This instrument was designed to determine the feelings and experiences of the government officials who practice Vipassana. It contains questions assessing the efficacy of Vipassana, usefulness of Vipassana in government and improvement in mental health by reducing anger, tension, irritation, anxiety, stress, etc. Questions pertaining to deep psychological introspection and facing adverse situations with a balanced mind are also included.

 

Other features are related to sharing the benefits and happiness of Vipassana by recommending it to others. This is one of the important aspects of Vipassana. As one benefits from it, the natural inclination is to share this happiness and harmony with others. One suggests to others to test and taste the benefits of this technique themselves. This is an indirect assessment of the reduction of negativity and increase of positive emotions.

   

In brief, all the aspects of the index are closely interrelated. Therefore, improvement in one aspect is bound to show improvement in other aspects of life.

 

The index consists of 23 items, each to be rated on a five-point scale (Appendix 2). All the items are ‘true-keyed’ and are straightforward questions.

Scoring

The following table provides the pattern of scoring on the basis of response categories:

 

 

The maximum score for each question is 2 and the minimum score is –2.

Therefore, the total maximum score is 46 and the minimum score is –46.

The higher the score, more beneficial is Vipassana.

The total individual score is divided into three categories:

 

 

 

This index measures the following seven factorial dimensions:

 

Potential of Vipassana based on their experience

Improvement of self-awareness by Vipassana

Application of Vipassana in Government for improvement of systems

Benefits of Vipassana in improving mental health by reducing anger, stress, tension, anxiety, intolerance, irritation, etc.

Benefits of Vipassana in improving family life and interpersonal relationships

Benefits of Vipassana in maintaining mental equilibrium and optimism even in adverse situations

Impact of Vipassana in improving efficiency and productivity

 

Factor-wise score of the index:

 

The results for each individual were computed as under:

 

A - For Factor 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 (scores for each factor)

Up to 0 = Not Beneficial

1 to 3 = Beneficial

4 to 6 = Highly Beneficial

B - For Factor 4 and 7(score for each factor)

Up to 0 = Not Beneficial

1 to 4 = Beneficial

5 to 8 = Highly Beneficial

C - For total 7 factors (score for all seven factors)

Up to 0 = Not Beneficial

1 to 23 = Beneficial

24 to 46 = Highly Beneficial

   

Anecdotal/ Personal Experience Note Evidences:

 

This study covers the changes experienced by the meditators as a result of Vipassana meditation. These reports are useful in assessing the impact of Vipassana in reducing negative emotions such as tension, stress and strain, greed, jealousy, etc. and increasing positive emotions such as happiness, tolerance, patience, mutual trust, equanimity, etc.

The meditator is considered to be the best judge to assess the impact of Vipassana in various aspects of his/her personal and professional life. An additional advantage over assessment through questionnaires was that the meditators were free to narrate their feelings and experiences in their own words.

 

The anecdotal reports/experience-notes cover the benefits of Vipassana meditation in: improving the system, reducing corrupt practices, increasing efficiency and productivity, creating healthy work environment, imbibing moral values, reducing stress and strain, increasing mutual cooperation among colleagues, improving relations with seniors and subordinates and improving physical and mental health, etc. The reports also cover the opinion/recommendations of the subjects for incorporating Vipassana in Government.

 

Old students’ feedback through their introduction forms:

 

These introduction forms are filled up by old students of Vipassana, who have already attended one or more Vipassana courses, before their next course.

 

This instrument includes the following  vital information:

   

Changes meditators noticed in themselves by practicing Vipassana;

Changes in physical ailments and mental temperament,

Changes in dealing with people, etc.

    

These parameters enabled the investigator to assess the impact of Vipassana meditation in reducing negative emotions and strengthening positive emotions through improvement in mental health. The advantage of this feedback is that it is given voluntarily. On perusal of these forms, it became clear that the majority of meditators had furnished factual information by disclosing their personal problems and openly describing their state of mind.