My 10 day Vipassana retreat is over and now I am back amongst walking, talking, and Christmas-celebrating humans. I feel present and much more in touch with my own body and emotions after almost 100 hours of intense meditation. Although I am practicing mediation for some time already this was a first retreat like this for me, and I am quite sure not the last.
Vipassana is a very simple but powerful meditation technique originally discovered by Siddhartha Gautama 2500 years ago. It is based on objective observation of one’s bodily sensations, and developing equanimity towards them. As a result the mind is rewired to stop blindly reacting to random bodily sensations. This leads to purification of the mind and eventually to a full liberation from the senses (including the mind itself).
It may sound somewhat esoteric at first, but this method is based purely on objective observation and scientific-like approach. It’s stripped of any dogmas or beliefs. In fact students are encouraged to question and verify it through their own experience rather than blind faith.
The benefits of Vipassana have been already experienced by thousands of people around the world, as it recently started to spread more broadly. Thanks to Mr. S. N. Goenka, a quite successful businessman turned meditation teacher, anyone can now learn this wonderful technique for free in the Dhamma.org meditation centers (they operate solely through donations and volunteering).
There are many examples of people changing their lives around through Vipassana. It’s also strongly gaining popularity in the business and corporate sector – firstly based on motivation to increase productivity, but also as a tool to improve executive lifestyle and a changing force in culture of organizations.
In my case, the experience went well beyond and above what a simple blog entry could contain. The most obvious observation was made by my fiancee: “You seem just so much lighter”. And that’s true, I lost 4kgs, but seriously: I am also more present and mindful, joyful and happily determined to achieve my goals (they have changed as well). More importantly, I have shed so many attachments and negative emotions, that sometimes I feel like a kid again
I am happy to share more through a personal correspondence by anyone who is considering doing it – please if you have questions about this don’t hesitate to contact me.
Meanwhile, Have a Wonderful and Peaceful Christmas. Be Happy…
i am taking up the offer on your blog to answer any questions about the Vipassana retreat you recently attended. you are probably too snowed under with the new baby on your hands, but hope will eventually have a moment to reply.
i have read a number of people's reflections on their 10-day retreat experiences to help me make my own decision to attend. i will be calling the retreat with this question as well, but would also greatly appreciate some 'peer' advice.
i can see that most people attending have had some significant meditation experience, like 10 years or so, and still find the retreat a great challenge. i am a beginner meditator and never actually meditated for over an hour (and even that was at a meditation course). i usually do 25 mins and not even every day...
while i am keen to give this a go; more than anything to give me a serious crash course in deeper meditation technique and give me the space of 10 days to do this, which is the luxury i cannot afford while at home.
in your personal opinion having attending this yourself, do you need to be more experienced to attend? is it realistic to do this after about 7 months of much lighter practice (it will be 7 months by the time i attend in april).
i understand that this will be the opinion of one person only, but still would appreciate any advice.
thanks a lot in advance!
Wojtek
Hi Yulia! Yes indeed, we are quite busy with our child. She was born just last Sunday, 10/01. Although our lives have changed, I try to maintain my meditation practice. Both me and my partner find it extremely helpful to spend some time meditating everyday, and the Vipassana experience helped me to be more diligent about it. I can only speak from my experience about being ready for a 10 day Vipassana retreat. In my case it wasn't as much the physical challenge of sitting 11 hours per day, but the mental preparation to face a lot of issues and attachments that I had. And the timing for my retreat was good: I had no other obligations around those dates, and could wholeheartedly engage in it every single day taking as much out of it as it offers. If you have 7 months to go, than you have a great amount of time to prepare for this to be able to not only be physically fit, but also build up your commitment. You may consider making time to meditate more regularly now: mainly to work on your dedication. In my opinion it's the mental dedication to practice that at the end is more important than anything else. If you have more questions feel free to email me at w.materka@gmail.com and we can also have a chat. Good luck, but from what you write I'd say that you are as ready as you can be, and very fortunate to have this opportunity, so I wouldn't think more about it :)
My Vipassana experience
My 10 day Vipassana retreat is over and now I am back amongst walking, talking, and Christmas-celebrating humans. I feel present and much more in touch with my own body and emotions after almost 100 hours of intense meditation. Although I am practicing mediation for some time already this was a first retreat like this for me, and I am quite sure not the last.
Vipassana is a very simple but powerful meditation technique originally discovered by Siddhartha Gautama 2500 years ago. It is based on objective observation of one’s bodily sensations, and developing equanimity towards them. As a result the mind is rewired to stop blindly reacting to random bodily sensations. This leads to purification of the mind and eventually to a full liberation from the senses (including the mind itself).
It may sound somewhat esoteric at first, but this method is based purely on objective observation and scientific-like approach. It’s stripped of any dogmas or beliefs. In fact students are encouraged to question and verify it through their own experience rather than blind faith.
The benefits of Vipassana have been already experienced by thousands of people around the world, as it recently started to spread more broadly. Thanks to Mr. S. N. Goenka, a quite successful businessman turned meditation teacher, anyone can now learn this wonderful technique for free in the Dhamma.org meditation centers (they operate solely through donations and volunteering).
There are many examples of people changing their lives around through Vipassana. It’s also strongly gaining popularity in the business and corporate sector – firstly based on motivation to increase productivity, but also as a tool to improve executive lifestyle and a changing force in culture of organizations.
In my case, the experience went well beyond and above what a simple blog entry could contain. The most obvious observation was made by my fiancee: “You seem just so much lighter”. And that’s true, I lost 4kgs, but seriously: I am also more present and mindful, joyful and happily determined to achieve my goals (they have changed as well). More importantly, I have shed so many attachments and negative emotions, that sometimes I feel like a kid again
I am happy to share more through a personal correspondence by anyone who is considering doing it – please if you have questions about this don’t hesitate to contact me.
Meanwhile, Have a Wonderful and Peaceful Christmas. Be Happy…