My Vipassana Experience

I heard about Vipassana meditation some 10 years ago from a relative. Since then I was curious & wanted to experience it though couldn’t because of professional exam preparation & business needs.

This year, finally, I decided to give it a try.

Here’s my experience:

Day 0- I reached the Vipassana center around 2pm. Deposited all the valuables & mobile phones into the locker. I was handed over the utensils I’ve to eat for next 10 days along with the batch number for my room. Rested for an hour or so. At 4:30pm, was served with light snack in dining hall. From 5:15, everyone was instructed about rules & code of conduct one needs to follow for the next 10 days. At around 7, we were informed that Maun (No communication) should be practiced now on. Later on we were taken to the meditation hall where basic meditation technique were explained for an hour or so. At 9 pm I retired to my room. Set my alarm for 4am. Lights off.

Day 1- I woke up to the gong sound at 4am. Dhamma sevaks started ringing the small hand bells as they pass outside your rooms. Brushed, took a bath & went to the common meditation hall at 4:30am. Meditated 2 hours. Had a great breakfast at 6:30. Rested from 7-8. At 8, Late S. N. Goenka ji explained over prerecorded audio what needs to be done. This day we were informed to do Ana Pana, observing your natural breath as you inhale & exhale. Though seems easy, I could barely do this for a minute or so & some thought crops into mind. Took a 5 mins break at 9 & started again. Practiced again for 2 hours. At 11 had satvik lunch. 11:30 to 1 rested at my residential room. Started Ana Pana again at 1pm in meditation hall & got up at 5pm, with two 5 minutes break in between. At 5pm, had a light snack with 2 bananas. Took a nap from 5:30 to 6. Went to meditation hall at 6 & practiced Ana Pana till 7. Took a quick break. From 7:15 to 8:30pm prerecorded discourse video was played in meditation hall. Took a 5 minutes break & again started meditating. This entire day 1, I tried hard to focused on my breath. Retired to my room at 9pm.

Day 2- Woke up at 4am. Now on the routine is similar to day 1. Went to meditation hall. We were informed to focus on breath along with our nose & adjoining triangular area to witness any types of outer sensations. Started having some knee joint pain due to long 12 hours sitting.

Day 3- This day we were informed to narrow the triangular area & focus only on lower end of nose to upper lips space. I had Tsunami of thoughts going thru my head. The pain intensified on knees & had a back ache. These 3 days tested patience & are made to acclimatize for 7 days Vipassana.

Day 4- Today was the day of beginning Vipassana meditation. Till now we were doing Ana Pana only. Today we were taught Vipassana meditation technique. You pass thru each part of your body and observe outer body sensations as they are with equanimity. At 6pm-7pm session we were informed to sit without moving a single part of body for entire hour & practice Vipassana. I became so calm & aware that I could literally feel blood flow thru different parts in my body. The pain in my knee bursted & was unbearable. I somehow persevered & sat patiently. After the session I walked out of the hall with severe pain in my knees though I couldn’t control smiling silently. This was one of the best moments of my life. Enduring pain with determination & overcoming it is best feeling one can have. This, Day 4, was the toughest day for me in entire 10 days course.

Day 5- What we did on Day 4, 6pm-7pm also known for strong determination ie Adhitthana Parami was to be done today onwards 3 times; 8-9am, 2:30-3:30pm & 6-7pm. It is said that strong Adhitthana (determination) purifies the mind. I think today I was alloted a Shunyagar (Cell) which is extremely silent where only a single individual meditates as compared to group meditation in meditation hall. For me, Shunyagar was a hot boiling room where I sweated profusely & came out within an hour or so. I only went here once on day 7 or 8. I felt whole body paining. Though kept pushing myself.

Day 6- This day I was instructed to feel the free flow in body along with passing thru each parts of body & observing sensations. My whole body pain started receding away.

Day 7- My knee pain almost went away. Only had a minor back pain. I was to able sit in a single position for hours without moving much. Today & the next 2 days we were instructed to observe the free flow across body with equanimity. Again, this day my head was erupting with tons of thoughts which I some how tried to manage.

Day 8- This day was comparatively better than day 7. Almost everything was same as previous day, however I was more present & calm this day to practice Vipassana.

Day 9- Inner Body surgical operation day. Today was the last day of serious Vipassana meditation. You go thru the free flow across the body & try to feel smallest of smallest sensation inside your body at atomic level with equanimity.

Day 10- The last of 10 days course. The routine is similar till 9am as was on Day 1. From 9-10am Late Goenka ji teaches Mangal Maitri; an intention to spread happiness inside and around us. To cure the planet through the affirmative and powerful vibrations of the words. The maun is non functional now, that is, you are allowed to speak now after long 9 days of observing noble silence. While participants around me started chit chatting with each others, I decided to speak as little as possible to digest the silence of the surroundings. At 10:30am, valuables were returned. At 4:30pm mobile phones & electronic gadgets were returned. A crazy thing I observed, most participants went berserk as soon as they got their mobile phones, some started calling their contacts immediately while others started YouTube, etc. I decided to keep my mobile use limited to taking couple of pics while turning the flight mode on. Today there was no half hour meditation session after the discourse which ended around 8:50.

Day 11- Woke up at 4am. Had a 2 hours session in meditation hall from 4:30-6:30am which included Mangal Maitri session & prerecorded 1 hour video discourse. 6:30am I had my last breakfast of the 10 days course. I left the centre at 7am & on my home.

Overall my first Vipassana experience was tough, though nice. If you think you want to do a Vipassana meditation course, go ahead without second thoughts. Give it a try. Have tons of patience. At least, you’ll know yourself better.

Moreover, there are some religious mentions for Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Sikh, Jains, Christianity, etc in form of stories & examples; which if a person is atheist should ignore. I’ll suggest take whatever is good & ignore what you don’t want to.

We were around 60 participants. Of which 2 left the course in between. This is just to let you know the intensity of this course. Your patience & tolerance would definitely be tested here.

My patience & tolerance level certainly cemented well while doing Vipassana.

Going 10 days without speaking, no mobile as well internet access & meditating 12 hours a day is certainly an achievement for anybody in this hyperconnected world.

The mindset gets stronger. You’ll get depth. You can feel it.

More: What Is Vipassana? https://viveks.blog/what-is-vipassana/