Imagine 10 days without all communication devices including phone calls, laptops, iPad, emails, Facebook – having around 12 hours of sitting in meditation between 4.30 am and 21.00 pm – following the precept (sila 5), eating only 2 vegetarian meals with no dinners! You don’t need any money during these 10 days. What sort of a life would that be?
- Everyday at Dhamma Bhumi Vipassana Centre in Blackheath in the last 11 days from 20 to 31 December (today), we had to wake up at 4.00 am. From Day 1 to Day 10, we had the first two-hour morning meditation session from 4.30 am to 6.30 am before breakfast. Then, we had the second three-hour meditation session from 8 to 11 am. After lunch, we had four-hour meditation session from 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm. After a one-hour evening meditation session starting at 6.00 pm, we learned Dhamma discourse for 1.5 hours and meditated until 9.00 pm every night. I did enjoy learning the Dhamma discourse and stories as it was always the most interesting session of the day.
- To learn the art of living without misery, we must first find the cause of suffering from within, such as ego, greed, anger, frustration, disharmony and attachments. Would it be possible to examine such diverse mental realities of oneself? We have been introduced to try the Vipassana meditation technique. This is a systematic process of self-observation and a universal truth realization; the observation of sensations throughout the body, and the experimental understanding of our changing nature or the concept of impermanence (rising-staying-passing away), which leads to increased awareness, self-control with real peace of mind. We refrained from reading and writing and suspended any religious or other practices with a very strict novel silence rule for 9 days. We were allowed to speak with the teachers whenever necessary and could contact the management for needs related to food, accommodation, health, etc. On the last day students resumed speaking, making the transition back to a more extroverted way of life. We learned how to share the benefits received during the retreat with others.
- I was so excited and proud to learn on the tenth day that my former UWS B. Tourism student who I have been mentoring since 2004 could quit his smoking after nearly 10 years of heavy smoking! His parents are also so glad to be informed today – a BIG new year gift to their son. I also had an amazing experience throughout the process from day one with sweats, pains, tensions especially in the first 5 days; then it became easier and eventually with my mind freer and full energy in a lighter body! I promise to myself that I will continue practising this technique for the rest of my life as I believe that it will be a way towards my ultimate goal of ‘nirvana’ (enlightenment). Yes I did enjoy it at the end!
- Nevertheless this technique would not be everyone’s cup of tea, I cannot guarantee that all will have purified minds at the end of this intensive 10-day course. However, what I could guarantee is that you will definitely lose your weight (as I did) while having full energy and a much calmer mind (after more than 100 hours of sitting in meditation for the last 10 days 🙂 Please note that this Vipassana schedule of the year is extremely popular with the full capacity of 120 students (50% female, 50% male). This year, there were around 100+ waiting lists of people who wanted to join this particular end-of-the-year Vipassana course!
- Last but not least, I thank you all Vipassana teachers, the manager – Mr. Mark Lazarus and his excellent team of volunteers, particularly those old students who worked in the kitchen and behind-the-scene services. What outstanding job they did with loving kindness! Sathu, Sathu, Sathu.
NOTE: There is no charge for the Dhamma teaching or for boarding and lodging. All expenses of the centre are met by donations of grateful students who have completed a course. The centre has no other source of income. At the end of the course, we all had the joy and benefit of giving donations for future courses.
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