Vipassana is a meditation technique taught over a period of
10 days at the Dhamma centre’s present all over the world today.
Anyone can enroll irrespective of sex, religion, beliefs/
non-beliefs
No fee charged either for food & lodging or for the
teaching
Conditions
Give 10 days time to be there
Complete silence to be observed
No electronics of any kind
No books to read
No pen/paper to write
No eye contact with inmates
No touch
Before signing up I did not read up about the technique per
say but knew the conditions. What worried me the most was the silence part – I
am a non-stop chatterbox ;)
Below is an account of my personal experience
I attended the Vipassana course at the Bangalore Centre - Dhamma Paphulla
On Day zero the volunteers present welcomed me there & I
was asked to fill up forms after checking on my confirmation number. The
courses always run full & needs to be booked atleast 3 months ahead
(depending on location the booking time could be less or more). By 4.30 in the
evening all gadgets, writing reading material is asked to be handed over &
kept under lock & key to be collected on day 10.
Accommodation was basic neat & clean 2-bedded rooms with
attached washrooms. Me & my roommate worked out the details of who will do
which part of the cleaning of the room. Once the noble silence starts at 6pm we
cannot talk or do gestures or eye contact with any of the inmates.
At 5pm we were given khichdi, tea, ragi malt & papaya.
That’s dinner for the day. Khichdi is only for day zero
At 6pm we are ushered into the mediation hall where women
& men sit separately. There is a male teacher for the men & a lady
teacher for the women for guidance through the 10days. Depending on our comfort
you can sit on floor, stool or a chair. I choose to sit on the floor.
We get our first round of instructions from Goenka ji on
recorded voice.
I will not speak too much on the technique because its
something that one should experience first hand.
At 7.15pm there is a discourse session on the projector
screen by Goenka ji. He mixes beautiful stories with loads of humor &
explains science behind Vipassana & why its an effective method of
meditation without condemning others techniques of meditation or religious
beliefs & rituals.
From day 1 to day 10 our timetable is like this
4.00am – Wake up time
4.15am – Start moving to meditation hall
4.30am – Meditation
6.30am – Breakfast
7.00am – Shower time
8.00am – Meditation
9.00am – Break
9.15am – Meditation
10.15am – Break
11.00am – Lunch
1.00pm – Meditation
2.00pm – Break
2.15pm – Meditation
3.15pm – Break
3.30pm – Meditation
5.00pm – Tea & fruit
6.00pm – Meditation
7.00pm – Break
7.15pm – Discourse
8.30pm – Meditation
9.30pm – Lights off
Breakfast was idly, upma or poha with tea & ragi malt
Lunch was the only full meal. Amazing roti’s with curry,
salad, ragi mudda, sambhar, rice, pickle & masala buttermilk.
Tea was served with ragi malt & a fruit either papaya or
banana
No dinner – they do make exemptions if there is pre-existing
medical condition
We are not allowed to carry any food item with us. A few dry
fruits maybe allowed
Except the zero day all days I hardly slept 2-3hrs. The
number of thoughts I had hidden within me was amazing – if I had my head wired
for my thoughts I would have written minimum 18 novels. Inspite of less hrs of
sleep I never dozed off during the meditation hours. Good idea to carry an alarm clock with you. I never heard either the 4am or the 4.15 bell. I had an awesome roommate who would make all kinds of noises for me to get up. Everyone may not be so lucky.
Every day the instructions would be different & how my
mind & body reacted to meditation was different. No dinner concept was fine
first 2 days. On the third day I felt exhausted & hungry. But by 4th
day I settled down well. I could see how the technique was working for me.
There onwards I just followed the technique & schedule without questioning
my sanity or insanity for taking up Vipassana.
Different emotions & pains accompanied each day. Day 3 I
just cried & cried. I couldn’t hold myself. I wanted a shoulder to cry but
there wasn’t any. On day 4 I couldn’t stop giggling. I was either giggling or
grinning from ear to ear. Wanted to hug someone & share my happiness but
there wasn’t any. Day 5 & 6 I had immense pain in my middle section of the
spine. I just sat through it one hour at a time. Day 7 the pain disappeared.
Just when I thought its gone the pain shot back on day 8. Each participant had
very different mood swings & pains.But we sat through all of that.
The most awaited part of the day for me would be the
discourse at 7.15pm by Goenka Ji. The man who called himself only a teacher
& not a guru. His outlook so down to earth. What I thought was the voice of
a constipated man turned sweeter & soul filling as each day passed.
On day 6 I had my eureka moment. From then on life looked a
lot simpler.
Like Goenka Ji himself says if you survive there between day
2 & day 6 then chances of running away is minimal.
YES – I did survive :)
On Day 10 after 11am we are handed over our mobiles &
the noble silence ends. Day 10 is designed to work as a cushioning to enter the
regular life the next day.
Next 1hr it felt weird to talk but once I started talking I
couldn’t stop ;)
Yes I got back to being my normal self
I did not give up on life or think of running away to Himalayas
I understand myself a lot better today
My understanding of relationships & people around me is
a lot better
I find myself lot more capable of dealing with unplanned
events that may walk into my life
It was like detox of my soul & mind
Vipassana makes you self-sufficient in true sense
So go find those 10 days & experience Vipassana
Irrespective of age, sex, religion or social strata
Irrespective of what situation your life is in right now
Vipassana meditation is a way of self-transformation through
self-observation !!
