3 reasons why I am completely sold on Vipassana

And then again, not so sold on the brutal schedule and the no yoga part. But what are those if not my own preferences?

I am happy to be back and to have time for tea and writing,  I can so appreciate the little things after living like a monk for only three days.  Hearing the sound of my own voice, yes call me vain, I am today, drinking green tea when I want to, not having to listen to a discourse and then meditate some more when is way pass my bed time.  Again, my preferences.

I have to say that all in all, having survived the three day retreat now I am even more sold on why Vipassana works so well.  If only the schedule was not so full!  Here are the three reasons:

The first reason why I is because the technique is based on reality, on what happens for real, not on beliefs or dogma or what somebody says (although we do get the message from somebody, a teacher, it is said to come directly from a lineage that derives from the Buddha, weather this is true or not will have to be verified individually and measured by the results).

The only way we have to relate to the world is through our bodies, and it is in the body that we first register a sensation, say light or cold, or lust or whatever, then, from that sensation we either a) like it b) dislike it or c) are indifferent to it.

This is how the world works, claims Vipassana.  We feel something and we react with liking it or not which in turns results in us craving some more if we liked it, or aversion towards it and not wanting anymore if we did not.

As long as we crave or repel we are miserable. A little investigation into this may result in the realization that this is at the origin of every single thing we do.

So? how do we get to peace? to happiness? to liberation?  we sit with the body.

For the first part of the course we focus on concentration just on the breath and to get the mind calm. On the second part we do Vipassana, where we scan the body for sensation and we realize without imagination, without thinking, without theories but working with what is actually happening in the body with sensation, and we remain observant, without reacting, in perfect equanimity.  In this way, the next time we feel something like that we will not be so reactive and eventually we purify the mind deeply, at the deepest level and find peace.

Goenka says in one of his discourses of the three day course that there are plenty of meditation techniques out there and they all help in bringing peace but if they are not dealing with sensation at the body level then they are only doing superficial work.  To clear the mind of its deeply rooted samskaras we need to scan with equanimity, observe, and let be.

Easier said than done.  I think for the first time I really got this concept and it was not peaceful to meditate, oh no!, it was intense, and having to remain equanimous in the face of the pain that was surfacing for me required the bravery of an Arjuna of sorts.

The second point is that the teacher himself presents the real reason why anyone would teach.  He says that the real goal of an enlightened person would be to get others to be enlightened, not to create a new religion or trend or sect.  Hmm, talk about the credibility factor here.

The third reason is in the pudding, we were about 95 people (a lot more women than men as we hear is always the case), a full center, a free meditation retreat (free meals/lodging/teachers), and centers sprouting all over the world based on donations.  Donations? yeap, nobody gets paid, or maybe one person per center (somebody has to run things), but they do not make money.  The centers are run by people like you and me and anyone is invited to the meetings, anyone can get involved.

This center in particular (in Massachusetts) is building an extension to the Pagoda because they have so many people taking their 40 day course (something I cannot even begin to imagine!) that they need room to run the 40 day alongside the 10 day courses.  They gave us a tour, the whole project costs 3.6 million, they already have 2.7 due to a recent large donation.  It worked for somebody so much as to put over a million in...  money talks sometimes I suppose.

There were things I did not like, like Goenka chanting, or the feeling like I was in jail.   Then again, who is creating that feeling?  May we all be liberated.

I wish Vipassana could be twitted,  how can this be put in 140 characters?

Another note, thank you James for posting things while I was away meditating.

If you are interested in looking at their courses throughout the year and the world go to www.dhamma.org

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