Bhavatu Sabba Mangalam

This means "May all beings be happy" in the ancient language of Pali, and we heard it chanted many times a day during our 10 day Vipassanna Meditation course. 

DISCLAIMER: extremely long winded post, proceed at your own risk and feel free to scroll to sweet final picture and abort, at any time.

The location & accomodation:

Dhamma Simanta is set in the mountains south of Chiang Mai. We had beautiful, private rooms which were nicer than many hotels we have stayed in, and this whole thing, including room & board, was free! It was donation based. It's a beautiful thing that you are there on someone else's gift and you give so that others can learn the technique and 'come out of their misery' as they say. You clean your own dishes after each meal and your room at the end of the course.

Here's our walking area (the only exercise allowed and the surrounding grounds..

Sunrise on the last day, when we could finally have our cameras back! We weren't allowed to read or write or draw or anything. I saw the sun rise each morning which was a wonderful experience despite being tired.

My room:

The teaching: It was conducted mostly by recordings of the Burmese teacher S.N. Goenka, played at the beginning and end of most meditation sessions. Goenka is credited with spreading Vipassana all over the world. There are several centers in the US: a couple in Cali and one each in Texas and Mass, and there are many in Europe. Unfortunately, Goenka passed away last year. Each night we watched about an hour long discourse on what we had done that day, what was next and some explanation/philosophy - recordings of Goenka done in the early eighties (complete with humorous camera angles and VCR references). Our sole source of entertainment (unless counting snails qualifies). There was also a Thai monk 'assistant teacher' who occasionally asked us questions about our progress through a translator. 

The whole course we followed these five precepts in addition to noble silence which meant no talking, gestures or eyes contact was to be made between participants. You could of course speak with the volunteer staff if you had a material issue, and occasionally you spoke with the teacher.

      1. to abstain from killing any living creature;

      2. to abstain from stealing;

      3. to abstain from all sexual activity;

      4. to abstain from telling lies;

      5. to abstain from all intoxicants.

The schedule: Meditation times and meals were indicated by a loud gong played throughout the center. It was nice not to have to worry about tracking the time, however the schedule was rigorous, and Matt and I clocked just under 100 hours of meditation each.

4:00 a.m.---------------------Morning wake-up bell

4:30-6:30 a.m.----------------Meditate in the hall or in your room 

6:30-8:00 a.m.----------------Breakfast break

8:00-9:00 a.m.----------------Group meditation in the hall

9:00-11:00 a.m.---------------Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's  instructions

11:00-12:00 noon--------------Lunch break

12noon-1:00 p.m.--------------Rest, and optional interviews with the teacher

1:00-2:30 p.m.----------------Meditate in the hall or in your room 

2:30-3:30 p.m.----------------Group meditation in the hall

3:30-5:00 p.m.----------------Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's  instructions

5:00-6:00 p.m.----------------Tea break

6:00-7:00 p.m.----------------Group meditation in the hall

7:00-8:15 p.m.----------------Teacher's Discourse in the hall

8:15-9:00 p.m.----------------Group meditation in the hall

9:00-9:30 p.m.----------------Question time in the hall

9:30 p.m.---------------------Retire to your room; lights out 

Matt and I were separated until the 10th day when silence was broken and even then we    could speak only briefly. 

The practice & some philosophy: The practice of Vipassana is ancient and complex, so I won't go into too much detail for fear of oversimplifying it. It comes straight from Buddha thousands of years ago, and is Dhamma in its purest form. However, it is meant to be a universally accessible practice, for any and all people who wish to leave human misery behind. It is not associated with any sect or religion even though it is Buddhist in origin. Goenka actually explained that Buddha only meant to teach this specific meditation practice, and over time it became Buddhism and spun out into different sects and different types of meditation. It does not use any visualization or verbalization (no mantras) for reasons that are well explained throughout the course. You start with three days (30 hours) of focused meditation where you observe only your respiration the first day, then only sensation in a small area of your face, then the third day a slightly larger area. For days 4-9 you branch out to observe sensations throughout your body by methodically scanning it with your attention. Three times a day we practiced addhitana, or sittings of strong determination, where you were asked to maintain the same posture for one hour without moving your hands or toes, or opening your eyes. This was especially hard when you couldn't move and your back was aching and your legs were burning, but it builds physical and mental strength, and if you're really skilled then your pain or tension or discomfort will dissolve completely while you meditate. 

The teaching is that all human misery comes from craving and aversion to sensations, emotions and thoughts that we have. Buddha found out that these emotions were connected to sensations in the body which can only be felt through dedicated attention and practice. Once one is aware of the sensations, you can change the habit pattern of your mind (which craves good feelings and good emotions and avoids the opposite) and become "equanimous" to these sensations. In other words if you were ambivalent about a good thing (or sensation) then you would not be upset when something you wanted did not happen and likewise not so upset when something bad happened. This is because every sensation whether good or bad is impermanent. For example when you have an itch, you observe it for what it is and eventually it goes away without exciting a reaction from you. As you do this meditation, you begin to be able to observe subtle vibrations throughout your body, and it feels amazing, but you can't form any attachment to the positive sensation, otherwise you develop craving which contradicts the purification. This is a very difficult process, and the path is a long one, but we learned that essentially, when you reach complete equanimity, you have achieved enlightenment. We are meant to continue to practice one hour each morning and each night. I think this will be hard but I hope to practice some at least. Anyway, please remember this is only my interpretation, and I hope I did it justice..

Liz's experience: 

My first day I accidentally killed a snail and later, accidentally locked myself in my room (which was nearly impossible to do) so I got off to a poor start. Funny things would happen or difficult things and I would just want to tell Matt! Being separated was especially hard, but we were so grateful to see each other again at the end. We did accidentally make eye contact one time on day 8 or 9 at night and just laughed and looked away. I had good days and bad days. Day one And two I was ok and pretty comfortable. Day three was the hardest as I realized the magnitude of what we had committed to. As I continued I had days with pain and boredom, but I got stronger mentally and physically. Day six was poor for meditation but incidentally wonderful for wedding planning...The food was vegetarian and great, I've never seen so many creative uses for tofu! We had meals twice a day and then at 5pm we had tea and fruit and cookies or bread. Second time students followed an additional 3 precepts so they had only tea (no milk) at this time. I thought I would miss having a third meal but it was really okay. Plus, I really like cookies.

Overall it was positive, and I'm glad I did it, but the last day when we could talk it was extremely emotional for me. When you sit for this long in your own mind, in this way, every bad thing you've ever done (and many good things) will come up in your mind and instead of repressing it you understand it's impermanent, and it's the past, and you let it come and let it go. If you remain neutral towards it, eventually it loses it's power and doesn't come back. It was a purification process and it felt like one. Now that we are back in the world, I feel like I have some tools for dealing with difficult situations and for managing my own expectations. We even had several people back in Chiang Mai tell us how good and relaxed we looked so maybe it showed outside too. It was a really difficult, worthwhile course.

Matt's experience:

So day one, we meditated more in that one morning than I have meditated in my whole life. Still, I was into it. I committed to doing 10 straight days of serious meditation and that's what I planned to do. Not talking, eating vegetarian, eating 2 times a day, waking up at 4 am everyday, these were very easy things for me, no problem at all. I never felt hungry, the food was delicious, and maintaining silence was best to submerse yourself properly into the meditation technique. There is enough chatter happening in each one of our heads. The last thing you need is further input from outside your own head. Overall I felt that I grasped the meditation technique quite well and surprisingly quick. I was able to feel vibrations, pulsing, tingling all over my body flowing freely throughout by the 5th or 6th day. Remaining equanimous to the intense back pain, ignoring itching or prickling sensations, not moving for 1 hour,  and not taking pleasure in the cool vibrations happening all over I could manage well.  So the last half of the course lost it's novelty for me, with no further technique to learn. By day six though, I had a very hard time coping with the monotony of the daily routine, that I could not see or talk to Liz, the (relatively) outrageous amount of meditation we were doing every single day, and that I could not read, write, exercise, or do anything else to mix-up the daily routine. After I meditated on the feelings of agitation and cynicism I acquired on the sixth day though, I got over it and spent the rest of the 4 and a half days in peace and happiness. 

I liked the fact that the teachings surrounding the meditation technique were not related to any religion, or sect and are universal for all people. Being positive, selfless, compassionate, happy, virtuous and gaining control over your own mind are universally great things for all people regardless of personal beliefs and are really the centrally important things for any good religion. The purpose of this meditation technique is to bring peace and harmony to yourself and to spread that throughout the world, which I think it does well. The course was very difficult and intense, but I feel that I learned some very good things about myself and that I am a better person for having gone through the course. I'm very glad that I accomplished making it through the 10 days. It was an incredible experience overall. But I am also glad that it is over and that we are out in the world - together.

Taking a 10 day Vipassana meditation course is said to be taking a few steps on the path to enlightenment, but I think taking those few steps were really harder than any cliff or mountain I have ever climbed. Hopefully for the next steps on The Path we can walk hand in hand.

Post meditation levitation above the streets of Chiang Mai: