About three months ago, a sailor told me about a meditation program called “Vipassana”. I had also heard about it more than a decade ago from one of my former bosses, who shared his own Vipassana experience. As I extended my stay in New Zealand, I thought it would be a great opportunity to explore it further. I’m glad I decided to attend because completing the course was truly rewarding.
Before starting the 10-day introductory Vipassana course, I wasn’t sure if I could handle being without my phone for that long. The most challenging part for me turned out to be sitting on the floor for meditation sessions. While some students requested chairs, I was determined to practice the traditional way.
The course has a strict code of discipline: no talking, no books, no pens and notebooks, 4 a.m. wake up, vegetarian meals for breakfast and lunch, only tea and/or fruit for dinner, 12 hours of meditation each day, and a 9:30 p.m. bedtime. Each participant is assigned a small room, about 70 square feet, with just a bed and a shelf. The only personal items allowed are clothing and toiletries.
Including the volunteers, I estimate our group had fewer than 100 people whose age range from 20th to 70th, maybe 80th. From start to finish, no one spoke. The only sounds I heard were the chirping of birds, raindrops, the wind, and the occasional mooing of cows. The course was held in a deep valley with a stream, not far from Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city.
Now that I’ve completed the course, I often remind myself of the teachings: “Love, Goodwill, and Compassion” and “Peace, Harmony, and Happiness.” These words continue to resonate with me in my everyday life.
Excerpts from Vipassana Center Website (Source: https://medini.dhamma.org/reference/code-of-discipline/)
“The word Vipassana means seeing things as they really are. It is the process of self-purification by self-observation. One begins by observing the natural breath to concentrate the mind. With a sharpened awareness one proceeds to observe the changing nature of body and mind and experiences the universal truths of impermanence, suffering and egolessness. This truth-realization by direct experience is the process of purification. The entire path (Dhamma) is a universal remedy for universal problems and has nothing to do with any organized religion or sectarianism. For this reason, it can be freely practiced by everyone, at any time, in any place, without conflict due to race, community or religion, and will prove equally beneficial to one and all.”
“According to the tradition of pure Vipassana, courses are run solely on a donation basis. Donations are accepted only from those who have completed at least one ten-day course with S.N. Goenka or one of his assisting teachers.”
Worldwide Vipassana Centers by Region (Source: https://www.dhamma.org/en-US/locations/directory)
