Vipassana: An important OS update (part 1/3)

I lived like a monk for 10 days to learn Vipassana, an ancient meditation technique. Here's how it went.

It has been a month since I attended the 10-day retreat. I am still trying to process what happened, and I am writing about it in hopes that it’ll help me reflect. I spent over 100 hours doing nothing but contemplating my existence. It is hard to verbalise the experience. There were a lot of lessons about the wiring of the human brain and its power over the body, the human condition and how the world operates at large. When asked to summarise the experience, the word I like to use is “intense”. I am convinced I finished the retreat out of sheer stubbornness, but I am glad I did, and I would love to share a little bit about it with you.

What is Vipassana?

In the simplest terms, Vipassana translates to seeing clearly, to observe the truth. Lost in ancient scriptures, it was rediscovered by Gautam Buddha 2500 years ago as a universal remedy for humanity's most significant problems that continue to plague us even today: suffering, discontent and dissatisfaction. Misery, to be precise, is the bane of our existence, and it does not discriminate. No matter what gender, religion, caste, or social strata we belong to, we eventually take solace in misery.

Vipassana is a technique of deep introspection of the apparent and the absolute truth. Once we start to see things for what they are, we devoid ourselves of having unrealistic expectations, from developing boundless cravings and aversions.

The Retreat

Vipassana is taught over the course of 10 days. It is very demanding and expects students to practice extreme discipline. We are barred from carrying anything that might pose as a distraction from meditating. I bid farewell to my phone, my iPad, my laptop, my sketchbooks and my journals. From day 1, we have to take a vow of silence. No communication of any sort is permitted; no talking, no eye contact, no hand signalling, no devices and no reading or writing. One would expect the no-devices rule to be the most difficult one for someone my age, but it wasn't. As someone whose default response to any human interaction is smiling, not smiling when approached was it for me.

Every day on average, the schedule demands 10 hours of meditation at regular intervals. The day starts at 4 am and ends at 9 30 pm. Meditation simply meant exercising the mind to observe sensations that arise in the body with detachment and equanimity without developing cravings for pleasant sensations and aversions to negative ones. At each day's end, there is a videotaped discourse by S.N. Goenka, which explains and clarifies the day's practice. Goenka Ji made it his life's purpose to teach Vipassana in its truest form to anyone willing to learn. It is remarkable to see what he was able to achieve in his lifetime. To ensure that nothing is left to interpretation or lost in translation, all Vipassana centres across the globe follow the same regime and are taught by Goenka Ji's pre-recorded lectures. The course is run entirely on donations from previous participants to make it as accessible as possible. There is no fee to be paid prior to attending. After completing the course, if you find it valuable and have the ability to, you can make a donation for future participants.

The centre provides the lodging. My room was small but sufficient; a single bed was the only piece of furniture, and a ledge on the other side to hold luggage.

We were provided with 3 meals every day. Breakfast included an item of protein, a fruit, khakra and milk. Lunch was moon-sized rotis, sabzi, daal-rice and chaas. The day's last meal was served at 5 pm and consisted of a banana, mamra and warm milk.

The first 3 days are devoted to teaching Anapana. It is the practice of developing an awareness of respiration. The purpose is to train the brain to concentrate on a specific body part and stabilise. Day 4 is when you get to practice Vipassana for the first time. You are guided to scan your entire body limb by limb, in a specific order, observing the sensations that arise without reacting and keep observing them till they pass. The aim is to introduce and physically experience the concept of anitya. It means that nothing is permanent. Everything that comes eventually leaves, and we live in a constant state of flux. The rest of the days are for practice. The vow of silence is broken on the tenth day to slowly reintegrate into normal life and reflect.

Daily Schedule

Go to part 2 to read about what made me decide I want to learn Vipassana.