Vipassana - meditation retreat part 2

Hi my friends,

Hope you're all well and having a lot of fun in your present life. As I promess in my last post published in French, I would leave the space for another of my traveler's companion to write few words about Vipassana retreat that I took part in May.

He did more than that, he wrote a full story about his personal experience in the Vipassana centre with humor, style and whimsicality. Enjoy !

"This story begins on a cold and rainy day in windy, wet, wintery Wellington. Buildings, traffic lights, and shopping malls quickly whizzing by as I glanced out the window of the car. Contemplating how the past six months have unfolded, the amasing people I have met, and how I came to be in this car at this point in time. I totally did not notice the scenery change to one of rolling hills, lush greenery, gravel roads, and fresh air. Doesn’t that sound like the perfect start to a road trip?

As we were arrived at the first stop, the sky was dark and we alighted to the crisp, clear, and clean air after a full days rain. The perfect welcome to a ten day retreat tucked away in a valley, close to mother nature, all for free! You heard me right, FREE! =D By now, most people would be thinking, “It’s too good to be true”. For curious cats, Google, and Wikipedia addicts, it was the pilgrimage to a Vipassana Retreat. Before I move on any further, I shall backtrack to a synchronistic event that brought me to this retreat!

It all began when I had to decide whether to go for a Vipassana retreat or a Terraquaculture course that I was gifted with a scholarship for. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, the Terraquaculture course that I wanted to attend clashed with the Vipassana retreat, and my intuition told me to go for the latter, but I refused to listen and decided to sign up for the Terraquaculture course instead. As I carried on with my travels and was heading up for the Terraquaculture course that I had paid for, my motorcycle broke down and it was seriously damaged so I had to replan my journey, pull funds from the course, and pay for repairs. A nagging gut feeling told me to call the Vipassana guys to reschedule, which I did and found out that I was still eligible for the retreat. In a hours time, I booked my flight ticket, decided to go for the course, jumped on the plane, arrived in Wellington to surprise some friends, and car-pooled out for the course! Not listening and trusting your intuition can have ‘painful’ repercussions, and the universe does let you know really quick; a painful kick to the butt. =D

As I walked into the registration area and completed my registration, I was amazed again to see a dear ‘old’ friend of mine -Arnaud- that I had not seen in a few months participating in the retreat too, and his partner –Rachael, my dear friend- that was serving at the retreat too. Coincidence or synchronicity? Smiles were all around as we had supper and conversations with fellow participants for the last time in ten days. We were ‘questioned’ again about our intentions and our commitment and finally, the bell rang, the very bell that we would come to love, hate, and subsequently become equanimous about. So the retreat began.

Did I forget to mention that it was a meditation retreat, complete silence and abstinence from speech for ten days, ten hours of meditation and stillness each day, no physical contact, vegetarian food, no intoxicants, no reading writing and music? Please pardon me as it kind of slipped my mind…

Day one unfolded as we woke up at 4.00am to begin our very first day of meditation. Observation of breath, the focus for the next three days was passed, and we being diligent students proceeded to practice. If you have ever tried sitting still for even half an hour, you would know how impossibly difficult a task it is, and how wonderful the mind is in dreaming and drifting. The persistent ache in my shoulder blades came back in full force, and every single bell that signaled the end of the meditation session was pure bliss, each one that signaled the start was pure dread. Such was the emotional swing for the next two days. Most of the thoughts in my mind were also that of, ‘I already know all these techniques, breathing, meditation, what else is there for me to learn?’. As my thoughts came and went in a storm, the pain in my shoulders just kept intensifying and the only respite was sleep.

In the morning of day three, as I sat for the morning meditation, there came a point in time where as the meditation was coming to an end, I was so focused on my breath, and my mind was empty, somehow I think I connected with the chanting of Goeknaji, and the pain in my shoulder blades totally dissolved. Absolutely no pain, just a sensation of water and a soothing flow at the spot that just a second ago was hurting really badly. Waves of what I can only now describe as vibrations moved from the base of my spine to the crown of my head and it was such bliss that it brought tears to my eyes, an event that would repeatedly happen throughout the retreat. The rest of the day was just frustration as my mind kept trying to decipher what had just happened, so as to find a way to get back that soothing state of flow.

Day four was when Dhamma was passed and I was shocked to realize that it was a technique that I was slightly familiar with in my past meditation experiences. My mind started to react again, thinking thoughts of complacency, and my ego ran wild. Slowly, I managed to tame my mind and came a time where even and soothing flow was achieved, and there was warning from Goenkaji about the dangers of getting addicted, and craving for the soothing sensations. My curiosity was aroused and I had to consult the Assistant teacher with these questions. We had some discussions, and the tricky ego assumed the high ground, questioned, and dismissed the guidance the Assistant teacher had to give, bringing back the pain in the shoulders that I had respite from just a while ago.

As I kept to the practice of Dhamma and gave it a chance to work it’s magic, I started to gain more insight into my own mind, my reality, my truth. It somehow made me slow down, be more aware of myself, my surroundings, people’s presence, and opened up a whole new world of senses that I was never aware of. A simple act like taking a whiff of an apple before taking a bite brought joy that made me tear uncontrollably, and laugh and smile from the heart. Walking in the woods, smelling the clean crisp air, appreciating and being grateful for the moment in time, made me so joyful that it brought up that overwhelming happiness that came from no one else, no where else, but from inside.

As we came to the end of the period of noble silence, as you would imagine, we could not help but start talking, and it sure was overcompensation for the silence in the past nine days. 10 stormy days later, many new insights were shared, friendships forged, laughter shared, experiences related, and our minds started to get back into action. Somehow thou, we all shared a similar bond, we all went to our depths, experienced our own hell in our physical bodies, and we came out essentially changed. We were given a way out, shown a technique to slowly but surely work our way towards our heaven, one of universal truths encompassed by compassion, love, justice, equanimity, and a path to true happiness that nothing can buy. 10 stormy days later, we were all greeted with sunshine as we left the retreat, somehow nature reflected the inner challenges and storms of the Vipassana retreatees, or maybe I am just reading too much into things? =D

In the past, I used to read books that spoke on universal concepts by Osho, Krishnamurti, Eckhart Tolle, Neale Donald Walsh, and many more writers, and I tried to apply them with success to a certain extent. Vipassana took all that knowledge and philosophies, forced me to confront my ‘demons’, and allowed me apply all that knowledge. So as an ‘old student’ now, I would love to recommend future retreatees to not expect, listen, be open, sow the right seeds of positivity, be grateful, experience, enjoy, and smile. As for experienced meditators, give it a try and be open about it, you might be surprised by the benefits.

Be positive and understand that unwanted things come and go, observe and let go. Be negative and be blind and deaf to the positivity that knocks on your door.

The CHOICE is yours. Bhavatu Sabba Mangalam. "

With Metta,

Jimmy Wong