10 Day Meditation...

I went to a small town a couple days ride east of Bangkok to take a silent meditation course that I'd heard about from a buddy in Indonesia. The course, including food and a small room to sleep, is free and ran entirely by the donations from past 'students', even the staff and teachers do not get paid. It's called Vipassana meditation and is a technique that dates back some 3000 years.. It's taught by a very old Burmese-Indian man named S.N. Goenka, who comes across as a very kind, wise, and objective person.. The ten day course takes place in a most beautiful setting surrounded by forest, a lotus-filled pond, and a wonderful silence. Well not really silent because of all of the animals and insects, but when you enter you take a vow of silence (you're not even to make eye contact with anyone in order to create the feeling that you are alone) and agree to eat 2 meals per day, one at 6 and one at 11, and also you must follow a strict meditation schedule which begins in the meditation hall at 430am and ends around 930pm.. That's a LOT of meditation. You might think it would be easy to sit, straight backed and legs crossed, for hours and hours, but it is anything but easy. I particularily struggled the entire course with the posture, but by the 7th day or so it wasn't so much a distraction to my meditation, and I now have a profound respect for monks and their inhuman sitting abilities...

As for the technique itself it's really very simple, it's just sitting still, eyes closed, and focusing all of your conscious attention (and ideally sub-conscious, although it is very difficult) on very small, subtle sensations and feelings that your mind would normally never notice, well consciously at least... The point of this, theoretically, is to sharpen up the senses and the mind to constantly be aware of the most subtle, atom-vibrating sensations and remaining objective at all times; that is to say: You don't develop craving for pleasant sensations, and you don't develop hatred for uncomfotable or painful sensations. You simply are to be aware, objective and aware of one simple truth, simply that the sensation exists, had a beginning, and will pass away... A fundamental truth in Buddhist philosophy applicable to all living and non living matter.

My course had about 20 westerners (most of which had already done several courses) and about 90 Thai people. Men and women are kept separate and you are to take a vow of complete sexual restraint (even when alone). Which, I concluded, is more or less impossible. I feel that this technique, naturally, would be more appealing to easterners than to westerners as it promotes a very passive state of mind that we (westerners) would often find an undesirable characteristic. However, I found it very interesting and I love the silence and the solitude, which I was already pretty used to. I will continue to practice and apply principles learned to my life. I look forward to doing another course, hopefully in Burma or India...