I did Vipassana Meditation for 10 days and here's what I learned

(Disclaimer: Vipassana is not for everyone. This is my own personal experience and someone else doing Vipassana might have a different experience or opinion. I'd highly encourage you to give it a try, and centers across the US and abroad are a great way to start: Link

I missed Christmas this year with family and went to Vipassana Meditation North Fork CA for 10 days. Since 2020, I have been trying to learn how to meditate to work on my mental health and be a better person in general. When I heard about it from a close friend, I wanted to give it a try so I decided to do this. It was quite a commitment.

Vipassana's 10-day course is like living a ' Monk Life'. You will live 10 days detached from the outside world ( talking. with anyone, using any devices, reading, writing, exercise, music, intoxicants, meat, handshaking, touching, etc). You will eat what's provided in charity by old students, live in the quarters provided by management funded by charity, and meditate 12-13 hours a day. Basically, Monk Life! Here is how my schedule looks like :

The day starts at 4:00 AM and ends at 10:00 PM. Detail break down :

Vipassana Meditation technique is a pretty old technique. It is a practice to ' know yourself. and seeing things ' as they really are. Long lost to humanity, it was rediscovered by Gautama the Buddha more than 2500 years ago. The course was taught via audio/video by SN Goenka however the teachers and management were available to answer questions and clarify if we have any questions on the meditation techniques. This is the only time you can speak, rest you observe noble silence. You aren't encouraged to talk to preserve the essence of the course and practice unless there is an urgent matter or question to the teacher or management. Essentially, you are in self-isolation, within course boundary, and meditating. The purpose of doing the Vipassana meditation is to answer the question yourself ' How do I stop suffering.' One will begin by observing the natural breathing to concentrate the mind and with a sharpened awareness, one proceeds to observe the changing nature of body and mind and experience the truth of impermanence.

My sole purpose in going to Vipassana is to learn meditation. I learned a lot of valuable lessons: personal and professional, as a by-product of being alone for 10 days with no distraction whatsoever.

Gautama the Buddha was able to go deeper into his mind and rediscovered through rigorous scientific self-experimentation to answer all the questions he had around suffering and pain. I always thought suffering and pain were something that will make us sad and unhappy but going through the program I realize, anything can make you unhappy and sad regardless of the feeling due to the human nature of craving or aversion. It was started and practiced at the time of the Gautama the Buddha, It is still relevant, and IMO will be always relevant as the principal follows the singular truth of the universe.

Example: Consciously or unconsciously, we as human beings are bound to react to the feeling of pain or pleasure. Instead of feeling pain and pleasure reacting through our six senses ( eye, ear, nose, skin, mind, eyes, tongue), Buddha teaches us to consciously understand that the pain and pleasure are both impermanent and will ultimately pass and dissolve away. << This is the technique that you will learn in the Vipassana Meditation. This technique is not about Gautama Budda nor to become like Gautama the Buddha but experimenting in your own body and mind and creating your own wisdom where you want to be in your life. This was the ultimate goal of the course.

Most of the meditation techniques that I have learned in the past 2 years started with a technique on how to concentrate your mind through breathing techniques. But, what Gautama the Buddha teaches fascinates me is around how to end one's craving (pleasure) and aversion (hatred) using your own natural breathing and concentrating your body sensation (inner and outer).

It was certainly not easy to be quiet for 10 days and follow the rigorous schedule with no distraction besides just ' YOU'

Day 1 was the hardest. I was always an early bird so waking up at 4 AM wasn't that bad but meditating for 12-13 hours sitting in a cross-legged position ( with breaks in between) was certainly something. Growing up in Nepal and sitting down on the floor to eat meals certainly helped with the cross-legged position though.

Three times a day we were sitting down for one hour straight without moving our legs, hand, and closing eyes. Imagine this, around 40-45 minutes, your knee or back will start giving up and the brain is wired to move around to avert the pain. Now, this is where Vipassana Meditation gets interesting. Vipassana will teach us how to not move and observe the pain and observe the pain, divide, and dissect and not react to the situation. This simple 1-hour practice( three times a day) will teach you so much in life that can come out as a by-product of meditation and can push your limit to do great things in life.

When I practiced meditation, I always thought it's calm and peaceful where we can enjoy our life but Vipassana is certainly not the one. It is extremely painful to rewire your brain to learn about observation and hard to sit down and meditate for hours and hours. For anyone to give it a try, be ready for this commitment.

I started enjoying myself very much from Days 4. My body started getting in sync with the practice for long hours. You usually don't know all these things until someone trusted person truly shares the experience and you are committed to doing this. This was my first time doing Vipassana and I would say I absolutely love the experience coming to Day 9-10. This is something I realized I can continue doing and practicing in my daily life. This will help me remind myself about the practice and preserve the essence of Vipassana Meditation which is going to make me a better and happy person.

Here are some of the pictures of the California Vipassana Center at North Folk CA and a picture of my room:

I didn't have much expectation going in ( as I tried meditation before and failed miserably to concentrate for a few minutes). On Day 10, I was able to meditate for one hour in one sitting, one posture without moving hands, legs, eyes, and concentrating solely on my breathing. I couldn't believe it. There are a few techniques taught on how to observe the sensation in our body (inside and outside). Whatever it is, breath or sensation, we learn to observe outside and inside of us without losing our balance.

Overall, I had a great experience going through this Vipassana Course. I tried other meditation before but this is different, though, and result-oriented.

The course is funded by past students donations so there is no financial incentive for the management. It's free to sign up and complete a 10-day course. Donation is accepted only from those who complete the 10-day course and all the volunteers ( management, trustees, teacher, etc are volunteers ). The spread of Vipassana is carried out with purity of purpose, free from any commercialism. This was also one of the biggest factors for me to try. Whether a donation is large or small, money or service, it should be given with the wish to help others. I am very much thankful for my friend who recommended me to get there and learn more about the course and myself. I plan to continue Vipassana Meditation. I will keep this thread open if anyone has any questions and wants to learn more, I will be more than happy to answer any question. Pls, DM me.

Be Happy!

Jay