Meditation - related posts.

My Vipassana meditation retreat

Hi Friends,

I am back from my Vipassana meditation retreat in Norfolk, CA. It was a wonderful experience. It is a 10 day program during which we have to do around 6-10 hours of meditation and observe complete silence. We cannot speak to our fellow classmates nor have any contact with the outside world. Check out Vipassana Meditation Website for more details on the program.

The Ashram was a wonderful place. It was at the foothills of Sierra forests. The weather was great. There were beautiful hiking trails in the Ashram. They served awesome vegetarian food. I feel like having gone through a complete detox program !!! I came back feeling more fresh and more radiant.

During the first 4 days we had to focus completely on our natural breath. This made the mind very sharp and sensitive. After that they introduced Vipassana meditation. Vipassana meditation is the process of systematically observing all the sensations in the body. It is a meditation technique said to have been invented by Buddha.

Most of the problems in life are because of our cravings and aversion. When we have a pleasant experience we feel pleasant sensations in our body and when we are facing an unpleasant experience like when we are angry we have a lot of unpleasant sensations. So we crave for pleasant experiences and develop an aversion towards unpleasant experiences. However unpleasant events do happen in our life and pleasant events often do not materialize. This is the cause for all the tension in our life.

The deepest part of our mind reacts to all sensations in our body. Buddha discovered that the key to liberation is to observe all the sensations in our body with perfect equanimity. If we learn to maintain a balanced mind at all times, we can face the ups and downs of life better. This knowledge is easy to accept at an intellectual level. But we need a technique that will help us integrate this attitude in our daily life. In Vipassana meditation we observe all the sensations in our body be it pleasant or unpleasant systematically with perfect equanimity. During the course there is a lot of stress on the law of impermanence (i.e) change is the only factor that is constant in our life. This helps us in developing patience to face the vicissitudes of life.

There are a few other interesting points that I learned during the course. Every day we had to listen to Goenkaji's discourses. He is an excellent teacher. All our past experiences are stored as impressions or sankaras in our mind. These impressions are not just of this life but also of our past life's. When we stop generating new sankaras, the old sankaras will rapidly come to the surface of our mind and disappear. When all the sankaras get eradicated we become fully liberated. It is during this process that Buddha is said to have been able to see all his past life's just before his enlightenment.

At the time of death the state of the mind is very important. The condition of the mind at the state of death determines the condition of the mind in the next birth. Jesus christ was a true saint because even at the time of his death his mind was very compassionate, loving and forgiving. Our mental volition translates into a physical and verbal action. So among all the things our mental volition is the most important thing. Even if the most violent act is done with a loving intention it is a perfect and pure action. For example a surgeon cuts through our body but his intention is good.

During deep meditation Buddha realized that our entire body is comprised of indivisible atomic particles called kalapas. They have 8 constituents, "earth", "water", "fire", "air" and the 4 characteristics of each of the constituent. Kalapas are constantly vibrating and are in a state of flux. Earth brings in heaviness and water brings in fluidity, fire brings in temperature and air brings in lightness. Depending on our sankharas and the food that we eat each of the constituent becomes more predominant.

On the whole the course was a wonderful experience. It is NOT a course for novice meditators. It is only for somebody who seriously wants to learn meditation. It was a revealing experience. It was the first time in my life that I came face to face with myself. I realized that not just my sensations but also my feelings, thoughts and emotions are so transient. I realized that my mind is so reactive and that is the cause for all my stress. There is so much change in our life. What is the point in reacting constantly to something that changes so frequently. I learned that it is so important to accept people and situations as they are. We must learn to respond and not react to situations in life. I realized that I had inadvertently developed some thought patterns in my mind and become a slave to my thought patterns.

But I could not complete the course. I returned back on the 8th day. I started missing my family a lot. I found the long hours of meditation very tough. I wish they had bhajans instead of meditation during the evening. But I am glad that I attended at least 7 days of the program. I might probably repeat the program sometime in the future. It was nice to take a complete break from life.

I highly recommend the program to anybody who is seriously considering meditation. The program is completely free of charge. I am sure that these programs will help me in becoming a better person. I urge everybody to integrate spiritual practices into their daily life. It will give you the strength and forbearance to face life. We all have problems with our spouses, in-laws, colleagues, kids and so on and so forth. It is easier to change oneself than to change others. For more details on the program check out Vipassana Meditation Website.

Regards,
Kavya.