Why VTS Feels Like Meditation: The Art of Stopping & Deep Looking

If you’ve dabbled in meditation or Buddhism, you may have heard of Thich Nhat Hanh.

I’m currently reading his book You Are Here: Discovering the Magic of the Present Moment and came across a passage that legit gave me one of those aha moments. In Chapter 2: The Heart of Practice, there is a section on Stopping and Deep Looking. This immediately caught my attention because at the core of VTS is the idea of stopping, slowing down, and staying quiet, then deep looking and deep thinking.

So many people have commented after VTS discussions that they felt relaxed and recharged like they just did group meditation. I’ve felt that way too, and now I know why that may be.

“If you look into Buddhist meditation, you will find that it has two aspects: first, stopping, and then, deep looking. When you achieve stopping, you become solid and concentrated. That allows you to practice looking deeply into what’s here, and looking deeply into the nature of things that brings insight. This understanding will liberate you from your suffering.”
— You Are Here

So, VTS is, at its core very similar to meditation and gives you a similar sense of relaxation, insight, and rejuvenation (or liberation from suffering as Thich Nhat Hanh puts it).

When you add the additional element of deep looking and listening with others, you also get the warm fuzzies from that human connection—something that so many of us find missing in our lives (even before, but especially after Covid). And, then you are learning new things and looking at beautiful art… it’s like this perfect storm of soul-nourishing, brain-building, creativity-boosting, isolation-busting goodness.

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