10 Days Vipassana Meditation
What is "Vipassana"?
Vipassana, which means to see things
as they really are.
It means "insight"
in the ancient Pali language of India.
Vipassana itself contains nothing of a
sectarian nature,
and can be accepted and applied
by people of any background.
A lot of people ask,
so what am I going to think during the meditation?
You need to think about nothing and only
focus on your sensation,
focus on "here and now"
This center I chose for Vipassana
is located in Saboo Village,
20-30mins drive from Leh Main Market.
Elevation 3500m
It is one of the most remote center,
surrounded by mountains.
When the moment I arrived in the center,
"I am here",
"Yes, I am".
In the end of Jan, it's still very cold in Saboo
Around -10 - -30+ celsius
All the water pipes are frozen,
we needed to break the ice to get water.
And through the solar system to get hot water.
It was very tough especially in the night time.
Well, yes, you need to shower over the buckets.
Actually it was not that bad
when you washed your hair in the sink.
During noon time, I sat under the sun,
and it got dry petty fast
As for the domitory,
men and women have seprated area,
same with the dining hall, and in the meditation hall
Three people share one dorm,
We got lucky for girls,
We had only five girls, so we can stay seprated.
At the beginning we have 20 people for the Vipassana,
and in the end we got 16 left.
During the course, it's ok for you to leave.
Just speak with the management.
Normally this center is packed of people
during the summer,
and you need to apply few months before,
since it's cold winter, not so many people
sign up in this location.
I found even better,
because I've found my "crazy people"
Schedule for Vipassana is really tough,
basiclly you need to meditate for 12 hours a day,
and sit cross-leg.
Without phone, books, pen,
and speak even eye contact with anyone.
For the schedule, you may see the photo below:
At the beginning, I am like
"why it's not allowed to meditate
in your room" anymore!?
To be honest, I didn't follow all the
rules completely this time.
But still, I followed most of them.
As for "meditate in your room or in the hall"
even though they took out this option,
but actually I did meditate in my room.
Well, I do prefer to mediate next to my window
and feel the sun on my face.
.
View from my window
"Every human being is conditioned to assume that the real world is outside, that the way to live life is by contact with an external reality, by seeking input, physical and mental, from without. Most of us have never considerd severing outward contacts in order to see what happens inside.
The idea of doing so probably sould like choosing to spend hours staring at the test pattern on a television screen.
We would rather explore the far side of the moon or the bottom of the ocean than the hidden depths within ourselves"
By exploring the here-and-now of ourselves
we can explore the world.
"Anicca" means impermanent.
And "Samskara"means Mental formation.
This two words is my summary for my ten days course.
And it follows me along the way in the future.
It can't change your life by only taking this course,
It needs practice in your daily life.
In this 10 days, a lot of scenes passed
in front of my eyes,
in the same time,
I let go of my "samskara" step by step,
and focus on "now"
Each day passed,
I put one stone outside of my window.
To maintain its purity. Mr.Goenka insists, meditation must never become a business.
Courses and centers operating under his direction are all run on a totally nonprofit basis.
His distributes the technique of Vipassna purely as a service to hummanity, to help those who are in need of help.
If you want to know more about Vipassana,
you can visit:
https://www.dhamma.org/en/index
I really recommend to experience at least
once in your life,
It's not for everyone but if you make up your mind
Do it!
My "Crazy people" from Vipassana!
Some quotes are from
the book"The art of living"
by William Hart
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