My Vipassana Experience
After planning for about two years, I finally decided to go to Vipassana (Bipasyana as we say in Nepal) this September. My course started on the 2nd and went until the morning of the 13th. At the end of the course, I wondered why I waited so long. I just wished I had decided to go the very first time I thought about going.
The first three days were pretty tough because of the need to wake up at 4 am and go to sleep only at 9 pm. During those three days, the toughest part was to sit for hours on end and meditate. The legs would get cramped, you get headaches, and the body and mind were showing many other signs of resistance to this forced discipline. The more I tried to meditate, the mind would wander away and think of other things, then I would have to bring myself back but before long the mind would wander again! Also, the meditation technique for these three days was to focus on the triangular area of the nose down to the upper lip and observe incoming and outgoing breath and (later) also any sensation in that narrow area. By the end of the third day, this process of doing the same thing over and over was getting so monotonous that I wondered why I was even here.
But the fourth day brought the big surprise. The fourth day is a very important day since this is the day the technique of Vipassana is taught. It all made sense why we needed to do what we did for the last three days. It was to make the mind keen enough to be able to practice Vipassana. The fourth day after practicing Vipassana, I felt something I had never felt before in my life! It was a complete bliss! It was worth every hardship for the last three days! I don’t want to divulge what was taught and what I practiced. It would dilute the whole technique. Not to forget, I am not even qualified to talk about it. I also came to a conclusion that this technique would make more sense only after one learns it in its purest form at the center or as per the instructions of the teacher adhering to a strict set of disciplines.
I started enjoying meditation after I experienced that amazing feeling. I would continue meditating everyday as per instructions. Now the mind and body were not resisting like before. Slowly I had gotten into a habit and days were rolling faster. By 8th day I realized that there were only 2 more days left and I was not too excited to go back to normal life. Then the 10th day came when we were allowed to start “Noble Speech” when we talk only among meditators, volunteers and the assistant teacher. This was a “shock absorber” day before we went to the real world the next morning.
The most attractive thing about Vipassana for me is its universal appeal. No matter what religion we believe in or even if we do not believe in any religion, the meditation does not persuade us to follow any set religious rituals. It just requests not to kill, steal, lie, drink alcohol during those 10 days. This way, it is not limited to any one single group, community or sect. Even when somebody is a firm believer in his/her religion, the person will not feel any conflict between Vipassana and his/her religious practice. The only request for those 10 days is not to engage in any religious activity so that the technique can be practiced in its purest form. Goenkaji does say that Buddha attained Nirvana by practicing Vipassana. But he emphasizes on Buddha the person and not on Buddha the god. In other words, you don’t have to be Buddhist to learn this technique.
The Vipassana center in Illinois is near Rockford and more details can be found at http://www.pakasa.dhamma.org/. Also, a Nepali Vipassana teacher, B.N. Acharya is interested in conducting a Vipassana course next July for the Nepali Coummunity in the US. Interested person can contact me or Dr. Bishnu Phuyal for information and participation. – By Binod Dhungel
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