To meditate like never before: 100 hour vipassana meditation course -

Preamble

For the last six years, I have been meditating regularly, even daily. I am always keen to learn new techniques and mantras, practice visualization and positive affirmations according to my readings and the people who inspire me.

Since I have been wandering between countries of Southeast Asia, my desire to deepen my knowledge of Hinduism, Buddhism and my meditation techniques has intensified naturally. It became clear that in addition to my will to find a new home abroad, this nomadic road has become a spiritual pilgrimage.

It is said that the vipassana course comes at the moment when the students most need it. It was my case! Since the beginning of the year, I had the feeling of trampling on the same comfortable path between episodes of keeping on extending my smooth routine and the need to shake things up a bit.

I was seeing these ten days of meditation as a strong breeze capable of dissipating the thick fog that weighed down my thoughts and uplift my energy. I was anticipating a remedy to make me move forward again. But I was far from imagining that the experience would be so demanding and painful …. before being rewarding.

What is Vipassana?

Vipassana is one of the oldest forms of meditation in India and would have been rediscovered more than 2,500 years ago by Gautama the Buddha. It was then revived in 1969 by S. N Goenka who became the professor and founder of a chain of many centers around the world.

Vipassana meditation is a self-observation technique that aims to eradicate mental impurities that prevent us from living in a deep state of happiness. This technique is even taught in prisons where remarkable results have been observed. A very interesting documentary was shot in the famous Indian high security prison Tihar where vipassana classes were set up. Inmates talk about their experience and their transformation. You can watch this documentary and two other ones filmed in the US on the vipassana website over here.

The course timetable

The vipassana meditation training is taught during a ten day residential course according to the following schedule:

4:00 am Morning wake-up bell
4:30-6:30 am Meditation
6:30-8:00 am Breakfast break
8:00-9:00 am Meditation
9:00-11:00 am Meditation
11:00-12:00 noon Lunch break
12:00-1:00 pm Rest and individual interviews with the teacher (on demand)
1:00-2:30 pm Meditation
2:30-3:30 pm Meditation
3:30-5:00 pm Meditation
5:00-6:00 pm Tea break
6:00-7:00 Meditation
7:00-8:15 Discourse by S. N. Goenka
8:15-9:00 Meditation
9:00-9:30 Question to the teacher (individually) in the hall
9:30 Lights out

Code of Discipline

Several rules must be observed during the course, here are the main ones:

Noble silence: any form of communication with other students whether by gestures, sign language or written notes is prohibited.

No physical contact
No sports or exercise
No religious objects
No practice of other spiritual / religious belief
No music, reading and writing
No telephone, computer, recordings
No contact with the outside
No alcohol, tobacco, drugs

It has also carved out a niche for itself in http://appalachianmagazine.com/2015/01/21/lincolns-words-regarding-the-constitutionality-of-west-virginia/ order generic cialis the process. A serious consequence of http://appalachianmagazine.com/2018/08/01/what-if-america-splintered-the-12-countries-that-might-emerge/ purchase levitra online gallbladder removal surgery can be the onset of chronic pancreatitis. Loss of Libido When a woman tadalafil prescription says she is stupid or fat. Problems associated with uk cialis sales the TMJ are known as temporomandibular joint disorder or dysfunction (TMD).
Also, students must remain until the end of the course. Students can only leave with the specific agreement of the teacher. Three girls left right at the beginning and another one on the 7th day but none of the boys quit before finishing the course.

The arrival

I left Ubud feeling radiant that morning. I emptied the house I had occupied for the last ten months and stored my belongings at my friend Komang’s house. It was a new start indeed.

Transportation was organized for people in Ubud and other cities in the South of Bali. A little less than two hours later, a torrential rain with a strong humidity of the mountains that welcomed us. My first thought was .. “Humm, I did not bring enough warm clothes.”

The site was perched on a mountain surrounded by a magnificent view. You could see the volcano Mount Batur which I contemplated every morning when the sun rose after the first meditation of the day. Pear, guava and lemon trees filled the small courtyard in front of the dining room.

At the time of enrollment, we had to give any prohibited items during the course and sign the consent form on compliance with the rules including our commitment to stay for the full duration of the course. A bed was then assigned to us in a dorm. I had some luck because we were only two sharing a three bed dorm. Outside, near the dormitories, were washbasins, toilets and showers. A very modest environment to facilitate self-introspection.

The gong was already ringing, it was time for the evening meal. Starting tomorrow, no meals will be served after 11 am during the course. I sat down with a very nice French girl and we shared our stories. We were both surprised to see how young most of the girls seem to be – in their early twenties. We were maybe four or five in our late thirties and one in her fifties and two pregnant women impressed me by their determination! Men were less numerous, about twenty, and they gave me the impression of being a more mature group.

We had the first meeting with the servers as they are called, all volunteers, during which we were reminded of the code of discipline. The meeting ended with the beginning of the noble silence and the complete segregation of men and women. The site was separated into two sections. Both sides had their own garden, dining room and dormitory space. The only exception was the meditation hall where men and women meditated in the same room but coming in and out by a separate door.

First impressions of the meditation hall

We were about to make our first entrance into the meditation hall. During my travels, I always seek to spend some time in a temple, a monastery, a sacred place to immerse myself in the energy of peace left by all the faithful devotees. The smell of burning incense, the light of the candles, the view of the offerings bring up something special inside of me. But here, there’s none of that. Not even a flower. It’s empty. It is deprived of all atmosphere and energy that I usually like to wrap myself into.

A central aisle separates the room into two distinct sections with blue cushions. Women will be meditating on the left side while men will be on the right side of the hall. At the front, a chair is placed with a long white fabric for the professor and next to it there is a television. The hall has a certain austerity.

I sat on the cushion identified with my name. I was far from imagining that this little space where I was going to spend more than ten hours a day would make me go through so many emotions! So many waves of frustration, pain, sadness, incomprehension, despair, calm … So many hours for so many thoughts and sensations.

We watched a video of the founder before following the audio instructions for the first group meditation. The tone was given. Already, I did not expect that. That” refers to my surprise to understand that all the teachings are going to be video and audio recordings of the founder. To my great misunderstanding, the professor in front of the hall will deliver no teaching and speech at all. She will observe us observing ourselves.

That first night, I went to bed a bit skeptical, but I was eager to find out how a whole day was going to be. I barely slept.

Day 1

It’s 4 am I hear the gong. It’s still dark. It’s cold. Like me, my German roommate is awake and ready to get up as a good student. A flashlight is necessary to brighten up the small path that leads to the meditation hall despite the beautiful starry sky.

To my great despair, it’s even colder inside the hall. At 4:30 am, we hear the gong again. The professor enters the hall, takes place and the audio instructions by Goenka starts. He gives us the same instructions as yesterday. This is the beginning of a long day of meditation during which the only thing to do is to observe the air that comes in and out of our nostrils. My practice ended up to be a succession of round trips between holding my concentration on my breath and bringing my attention back to that same area as soon as I realized that my mind wandered again.

This was the beginning of a practice that had often appeared to be IN-TER-MI-NABLE and IN-CON-FORT-ABLE.

Reactions … of my ego

My ego got hurt during the training! Why a woman like me who meditates between 30 and 45 minutes daily wanted to give up? Every evening, lying on my bed, I congratulated myself on completing another day, while counting, with a certain discouragement, the number of days remaining. A full episode of peace arrived somewhere around the seventh day. The previous days had been a torture at different levels.

Surrounded by 50 people. I usually meditate alone. Here, I am surrounded by 50 people who move from discomfort and weariness, who come and go (despite the instructions to stay in the hall until the end of the session). There’s the sound of huge bumblebees hitting the metal lamps and falling next to me, others reacting to the sight of the ants, mosquitoes testing my concentration …

Monotony. Three days to observe your breathing and six days to observe the sensations in your body under the same instructions, the same song, the same monotonous voice of the founder, yes, the days are repetitive and monotonous. The question “What am I doing here instead of meditating peacefully at home?” Has often popped up in my agitated mind.

The pain of the first days. Is there a word even stronger than pain? Pain?! The two, the first three days when I finally lay down in bed to sleep, my entire body was in pain. The legs, the back, the neck, the shoulders and even my clavicle cried out in pain. In the beginning, the pain was due to the accumulation of ten hours of meditation seated legs crossed on two cushions, then it transformed …

The pain of “body scan”. On the 4th day, vipassana meditation is taught. It involves to observe the sensations of your body such as tingling and itching while scanning each part of your body according to a specific order. The difficulty is that while the lower back, the knees and the ankles are screaming out their pain, you must continue to scan your body without reacting to the pain. You have to observe the emotions arriving and disappearing, the pain coming and going without wanting bad sensations to stop and good ones to continue. Another way to understand that everything is impermanent.

The pain from the sitting of “strong determination”. To add another level of difficulty, on the 5th day was introduced the sitting of “strong determination”. The previous days we could move and change positions as much as we wanted when meditating. From now on, during three specific meditations, we had to stay motionless with our eyes closed during the entire one-hour session. Those meditations became stressful in my case because I was unable to not move. There was something in the constraint that was blocking me. As soon as I was sitting down a sudden and unbearable pain started in the right knee and soon after was attacking my entire leg. I seemed to be the only one to move as much and it somehow contributed to my pain.

The Cold. The humidity at night and at dawn exasperated me. I slept with my socks, two pants, three shirts and a woolen scarf. It reminded me of Nepal! When I was showering before going to bed I had no luck. There was never hot water and worst, no water at all and this of course arrived when I had soap all over my body. Zen, I was amused by the snails crawling on the walls and on the ground. Then, I was holding my breath, filling a bowl of icy water from a large container on the floor and rinsing myself as quickly as I could.

Soothing emotions

Feeling liberated. During several moments insights occur. Old memories resurfaced as well as buried emotions. I felt that blockages were loosened. I felt liberated.

Energized. I really enjoyed getting up before the sun and witness the transition between the night and the day. I was amazed to realize that despite the long days of meditation, the last meal at 11 am and less than six hours of sleep, my mind was very sharp. While my sleep decreased day by day my energy level increased.

Smiles – the end of the noble silence. To remain silent throughout the course was not a challenge for me. Silence was necessary and valuable in this context. What has been difficult by time was to refrain from smiling or exchanging any complicity with the other students.

On the last day of the course, before the end of the noble silence, small smiles began to be seen. Faces were brighter. When the noble silence ended, a relief was almost tangible. Our eyes seemed to shine and a deep serenity was palpable on our luminous faces. We realized that despite our zen look on our cushion, we were all struggling, suffering and wanted to leave at some point.

The girl sitting next to me in the meditation hall told me that I was encouraging her to persevere in her practice because each time she was opening her eyes I was keep meditated. I laughed because I told her that she also helped me to hang on! Whenever I was taking a break and looked at her, she was meditating and seemed so much at peace! Like what, without smiling or speaking, we were both able to encourage each other.

The benefits of the Vipassana course

On the last day of the course I wasn’t able to fully understand my experience. But when I came back to the village where I live and set up in a new house, I realized how much grounded and at peace I was. It took me several days before turning back on my cell phone and computer. I didn’t want to leave this bubble of serenity that anchored me like never before in the present moment. A deep feeling of peace and joy filled my whole being and going out through my eyes.

Since then, I am getting up with the sunrise and meditate for an hour in silence, without changing position and focusing solely on my breath. I still feel a certain calm from the course.

It would be unrealistic to believe that after a ten day course we emerge forever purified! Like any form of meditation, it is an art of living that requires a regular practice to gradually feel the benefits.

I can say that this experience has been the most difficult I have experienced on a mental, emotional and physical level. Looking back, I understand better some teachings and my reactions. Seeds have been planted and weeds removed.

I was surprised to learn that several girls never meditated before this course. I wouldn’t recommend to start a meditation practice with the vipassana course. Simply because to me, it seems too intense to start with and also because they recommend to meditate one hour in the morning and one hour at night to maintain the practice after the course- which is a lot. Some may feel overwhelmed by the amount of time to invest and stop their meditation practice.

If you want to do an intense self-introspection work and deepening your meditation practice (as a beginner, intermediate or advanced learner), I encourage you to enroll for the course and thus live your own experience and draw your own conclusions.