Vipassana - 10 days of silence

Tripoto
15th Jun 2017
Photo of Vipassana - 10 days of silence by Tribeless

Vipassana is one of the most ancient meditation technique which was rediscovered by Gautam Buddha about 2500 years ago. Vipassana was wiped out after some years from the country and it was practiced by an unbroken chain of teachers and student in Burma(Myanmar) which was handed to Mr. S.N. Goenka who brought it back to India.

I learned Vipassana from Dharamshala center http://www.sikhara.dhamma.org/. This is a beautiful center located in Dharamkot village(it's nothing like a village) about 2 kms from Mcleodganj near Tushita Meditation Center. The campus is enveloped by deodar trees and monkeys remain the only source of entertainment for the 10 days. Vipassana has many centers around the world.I chose Dharamshala center for its location in the Himalayas and because of rich Buddhism culture in Mcleodganj.

Residence area

Photo of Dharamkot, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Tribeless

Residence area

Photo of Dharamkot, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Tribeless

Walking on this path was one of the best things.

Photo of Dharamkot, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Tribeless

Dining Hall on the right.

Photo of Dharamkot, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, India by Tribeless

Vipassana is really a life changing experience, you live like a monk for 10 days, you eat and stay on the donation of others(Mr. Goenka said don't donate as if you stayed for 10 days in a hotel you donate for others and others donate for you).

Schedule of the course is like:-

4 am - Morning Bell

4:30 am to 6:30 am - Meditation in Hall

6:30 am to 8:00 am - Breakfast and Break

8:00 am to 11:00 am - Meditation in Hall

11 am to 1 pm - Lunch and Break

12 pm to 12:30 pm - You can clear your doubts with the teacher

1 pm to 5 pm - Meditation in Hall

5 pm to 6 pm - Tea break and light dinner

6 pm to 7 pm - Meditation in Hall

7 pm to 8:30 pm - Discourse

8:30 pm to 9:00 pm - Final meditation session

9:00 pm - Go to your rooms and rest

Meditating for about 11 hours a day.

For the 10 days, you practice noble silence( no eye contact, no physical touch, and no gestures).Your phones, cameras, reading writing materials are kept in a locker and you just live in your present one of the best thing that I ever experienced.I thought meditation will be easy after completing a high altitude trek but trust me your mind keeps wandering between past and future and trying to control it is the toughest part.

Things that I really liked about Vipassana they don't ask you to blindly trust everything or ask you to follow any religion or its beliefs, you can meet people from all the religions here.If you like the practice you keep it with you or you can lay off the practice after 10 days.Course purely runs on the donation basis and you can donate as you wish.Finally, the centers are very well maintained and you get a proper environment for meditation throughout the course.

Conversation after 10 days of silence.

Photo of Vipassana - 10 days of silence by Tribeless

Coming to the benefits of the practice you can really feel the inner peace and it's not easy to share it in the words.

One thing that a philosophy professor said during the conversation really stuck with me "No doubt Vipassana is tough but this is best meditation technique from all the techniques that I have tried (Maya, Aghori, Zen etc), you don't easily get Vipassana and you must have practiced Vipassana in your previous lives."

P.S.: - You don't easily get a seat in Vipassana courses.