I was nervous when I drove in to the parking lot of Dhamma
Dhara, Shelburne falls. I got my luggage out into the reception area. After
registering , I had to relinquish my phone for 10 days and get a room allocated
for the stay.
It felt like someone had kept a piece of me with them. That
had been my only way to talking to my family since the past 10 days.
Since I heard a colleague of mine going for Vipassana for 10
days about 2 years ago, I have had this strong urge to go attend one myself. It
also brought back memories when my Father-in-Law had done it (over 10 yrs ago) but at
that time I was only curious, not intending to ever want to do it myself. Even
now, the duration seemed a bit too long,
would have preferred 4-5 day retreat but could not find any that suited the
rest of my need
Its very hard to get out alone for 10 days leaving family
behind to fend for themselves. It just so happened that my family went to India
for 3 weeks and they were having a good time when I decided to spend part of my
alone time in Vipassana , feel very lucky to have been able to do that.
After signing in, I went to my room to set it up with my
bedding. The cute little minimalist room lit with sunshine coming in from the
window facing the gardens instantly put me at ease. The luxury of having your
own private room and a bathroom is not common in Vipassana retreats.
The room, corridors, the meditation hall everything looked
spic and span. Was hard to guess it was being maintained by volunteers. There
were bug spray and umbrella and torch at every exit to make it comfortable for
residents.
At the orientation, we were asked to sign a form committing that
the meditators will stay for all 10 days and not give up in the middle. Was there
a more clear way of telling what a
difficult thing I was getting into ?
The first night itself Teacher Goenka explained the concept
behind this technique and then slowly built on it the rest of the days. Very
straight forward, logical and effective method as taught by the greatest enlightened
master, Gautam, the Buddha.
Teaching/Technique
Vipassana is a 2.5 centuries old meditation technique discovered
by Gautam the Buddha and had been fortunately preserved in Sayagyi U Ba Khin tradition
in Burma where our teacher Mr. Goenka learnt it. It means “seeing things as
they are”- the Art of living
It has 3 major parts
Sila (the
foundation with 5 precepts)
·
No stealing
·
No cheating/lying
·
No killing
·
No sexual misconduct
·
No Intoxicants
To ensure a strong foundation of Sila,
the 10 day silent residential retreat was essential
Samadhi
·
Right Concentration or meditation
To ensure this pre-requisite was met, we
were focusing on Aana-Paana (watching the breath) for the 1st 3 days
Panya
·
Correct wisdom
o From
reading/listening/self-learning
o Understanding
/discussing
o Experiential
truth
One gets sensory/mind
inputs, one perceives that, generates thought, it creates sensations-
pleasant/unpleasant, that creates reactions(typically aversion or craving) and
this reaction multiplies the misery and the cycle goes on this life and even
after.
If we were to watch our sensations
with full awareness and stay equanimous and not react, we start to get rid of
the misery. Very simple, practical approach put into practice by Buddha.
The technique is built on real truth, not visualization,
verbalization or any other technique that claim to silence the mind. The wisdom
was explained by the teacher every night in discourse and the rest of the day
we practiced it
Anything short of 10 days would not be enough to practice
and be able to see results.
It is completely non-sectarian and Goenka ji asks you to spend the 10 days with no self-doubt or skepticism/questioning of the technique and without mixing it with any other techniques we may practice, to give it a fair trial.
The basis is common to teachings of most wise people or religions but actually being able to effectively operationalize it was the biggest value proposition in my opinion.
It is completely non-sectarian and Goenka ji asks you to spend the 10 days with no self-doubt or skepticism/questioning of the technique and without mixing it with any other techniques we may practice, to give it a fair trial.
The basis is common to teachings of most wise people or religions but actually being able to effectively operationalize it was the biggest value proposition in my opinion.
I would keep the technique details short so if you decide to
go, you can experience and learn 1st hand.
Typical day:
The days were long, starting 4.30, campers were supposed to
begin meditation.
6 am we had Goeka ji chanting some Pali/Hindi hymns.
The 1st couple days I would be eager waiting for breakfast
at 6.30am considering we had only tea and fruits after lunch, and didn’t get
dinner.
8-9 am was group
sitting in large meditation hall. Men and women quarters were completely segregated.
I didn’t see a man for 10 days except in the far side of the meditation hall
where 3 times we had group sittings. There were about 100 people in the hall
during group sittings. The most hilarious part was the noises that you could
hear; less food , too much meditation can throw the body's gas system out of
whack- and I personally have never heard the great variety of noises from my
own tummy.
Till 11am we had to practice on our own what we had learnt.
11-12 was a nice sumptuous lunch. During breaks we were allowed to go for walks
in the trails and woods.
2.30-3.30 we had another group medi sitting.
Then till 5 we were
on our own working patiently, consistently and ardently on the technique.
5pm we had some tea and fruits, go for walk, had the last
group sitting 6-7pm.
After this we had the much awaited discourse. Goenka ji had
a v soothing, compassionate, peaceful voice and very down to earth style, simply
put details with examples that were at times really funny. The discourses ran
in multi lang/students could get head-phones with Mp3/ipod players. At 9.30 I would
call it a day.
The tough part that one probably may need to prep for if
they decide to go was the Adipattna during group meditation times after Vipassana started. What that means is that we were not supposed to move for the entire hour and sit with strong determination unless you were literally dying. That
was very hard and it does get easier as we move forward. I thought some
practice of sitting without moving before I went for the retreat would have
made that sitting- 3 times a day, a bit easier
After the first couple days, I was used to the
system/routine and started noticing the change the silence had already started
to bring about. One actually observes closely the crazy monkey mind and a lot
of stuff comes up and manifests in form or over powering emotions or even pain.
After the Vipassana meditation started (awareness of sensations with complete
equanimity) 4th day on wards, I felt I was just more aware during
walks, just noticed and enjoyed every little details. Enjoyed the simple food cooked
with love by the volunteers. Seemed like the senses were open/receptive to
another level. Its said to do major purification and opening up that I personally
felt as well.
Lying down on my tummy on the bed during breaks and looking
out the window at chipmunks that would pay frequent visit was the 2nd
best entertainment after the walk in the woods, which ranked #1.
One day we had a bit of drama . A huge bee got in the dining
room and a couple of women trying to trap and let it go without killing it and
without glancing or interacting at one another was some serious entertainment.
I am used to reading in the night. With no books allowed, I
would spend some time reading labels of my creams before I went to bed before I
got out of that habit
The biggest technical challenge I had was that my alarm
clock stopped working. A couple days, I missed getting up to the pleasing sound
of the gentle gong (this was used for all time reminders) at 4.30 in the
morning.
I had spare batteries so I spent ½ hour setting my clock
without any instruction manual. I learnt the ins and outs and all capabilities of
the alarm clock that day- I am the clock expert of the house now.
How hard it is to come out of the old habit pattern of the
mind and that’s why 10 days are so important and emphasized when you start to
notice the small changes.
By the 5th day I was able to see the change in my
feelings, sensations, silence, calm, peace, joy. Less wandering, more aware, I feel
lucky to have a couple of unprecedented experiences in the beautiful woods.
The 10th day we were taught a new technique “Metta”
to transmit love, compassion and good-will to the fellow human beings and the noble silence came to an end. We started chit-chatting with the fellow campers, who it seemed we knew well but just hadn't spoken to. Within a couple of hours of "bla-bla" looked like needed some silence again. This was supposed to be the shock absorb-er day before we head back out to the world the next day.
Food:
We had breakfast at 6.30 and lunch at 11. Tea with fruits at
5 and nothing after that.
All food options were healthy, fruits, salads, herbal teas.
Tofu, rice , some days there was daal and some days pasta. A couple days we
even got cookies for dessert
I was absolutely fine all day but hunger crept up at about
9pm before bed time. I started making a honey and lemon drink and sipped it
before bed time.
I was hoping to lose substantial weight but just lost a few
pounds; I guess the body goes into hibernation with minimal eating and minimal
activity.
Walks:
Like I said, as the days went by, the love for the woods, and
being out in the nature kept increasing. Always looked forward to the walks in
the well interspersed breaks. The woods were in the rolling hills set at the
back of the Dhamma dhara site. The tree line merged with the lovely Berkshire
mountains. The trails were done with taste, kept natural, sometimes one could see
the natural steps created by trees root system. Some places a wooden bridge was
placed. There was a bench and a rock where you could sit and rest. The
mushrooms, the flowers and the pine and maple tree in their full majesty were a
delight to note. The weather was sunny mostly and not too hot and with the
tempered down attitude, didn’t even feel the need of fan.
The red sun peeping through the trees during sun rise and
the top of the tree line looking ablaze during sun sets was another time to
just be out and soak in it.
Need to keep up the daily practice so I don’t lose on the process that started at the camp but as obvious, the progress is slow living in the world.
Based on my experience, I feel the technique will benefit
one and all. Also, for some fence sitters who have wanted to start a meditation
practice but have never had a chance to get it into daily life consistently,
this will get you going.
The challenge is to find 10 days from your life and commit,
whoever decides to do it, I feel it will be well worth it.
May peace be with you all J
The Boston Center
The room
The gardens outside
Entry to the wooded trails
The enchanting hilly woods
