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Wonder of Vipassana
The moon shines down on the structures grouped together on the lonely hillside. No light gleams from any of them and though by city standards the night has barely begun everyone inside appears to be fast asleep. Everyone, save one man. He creeps along the hillside and then finding the road makes haste towards the gate.

Around him trees bend in the breeze and the occasional bird stirs but he rushes on, taking no notice of the biting cold. He reaches the green gate and climbs over and then taking a deep breath screams “I’m free, I’m free!” That done, he stands there for a moment, then turns and climbs back up the hill, returns to his kutti and falls into a deep sleep.

When I heard this story, I was foolish enough to laugh. Even though I had never meditated in my life, I had resolved to go for the ten-day Vipassana meditation course my husband had told me about. I had filled in the forms and while the ‘Code of Discipline’ had given me a jolt, I had hefted my bag and baggage and was now on my way. I, usually content to stay in the city surrounded by all my comforts, was determined to go to the Vipassana meditation centre where I would find myself ruthlessly isolated from the outside world for 10 days.

I had signed forms that painstakingly explained to me that I would not be allowed to talk to my fellow meditators for all ten days, would not eat a meal after 11 a.m, would wake up everyday at 4:00 a.m. and spend eight hours of my day meditating, and that in addition I would not lie, steal, kill, indulge in sexual activities or take any intoxicants. I would not even be permitted to read or write.

Despite all of this, let me tell you that I really had no idea about what I was letting myself in for, for I had naively assumed that the hardest part would be observing the five precepts; but once I was actually there, I did not find myself craving food or wanting to corner the others and force them into conversations. Instead, I was thrown into a pitched battle with my mind. Every day was a struggle to concentrate, every hour brought with it new challenges and new questions.

I was initially horrified to discover that by some unwritten code everyone else was dressed entirely in white; I on the other hand wore a red pair of track bottoms and a black t-shirt. As you can imagine, I not only stood out like a sore thumb, I also felt awkward enough to ensure that any attempt to ‘calm my mind’ before meditation would be something of a failure. It was at this time that I met two wonderful women who demonstrated true metta (love) and promptly gave me – a complete stranger – two sets of white clothes.

The first three days were spent in anapana meditation, and all of us were asked to focus on the sensations we felt as we inhaled and exhaled. Initially, my mind would go flitting away within moments, and I despaired of ever disciplining myself; however by the third day things had improved and I could actually feel a pulse in my upper lip. On the fourth day we began Vipassana meditation. This is what we were to practise for the next six days.
What is Vipassana?

It is a way of self-transformation through self-observation. Vipassana, which aptly means to see things as they really are, is the name given to the technique perfected by Gotama Buddha more than 2500 years ago. He believed it to be “a universal remedy for universal ills”, i.e., an Art of Living. In Vipassana, theory and practice must go hand in hand. I was glad to discover this as it transformed the experience from being yet another intellectual exercise into a journey down the path of ‘living wisdom’.

At Dhamma – Kuta, meditators listen to the taped instructions of S.N. Goenka and watch his teacher’s discourse on videotape in the evenings. Goenka is a delightful man, filled with humour and compassion. He is addicted to telling stories and manages to find something appropriate every single time. Appointed ‘assistant teachers’ actually conduct the course and are there for the mediators to approach at any time.

The foundation of the practice is sila - moral conduct. Sila provides a basis for the development of samadhi - concentration of mind; and purification of the mind is achieved through panna - the wisdom of insight. We observed Sila in the form of the five precepts; living for those ten days as a monk or nun would, renouncing both the joys and the miseries of the ‘real’ world. My samadhi grew stronger with each sitting and as my control grew I began to slowly become a better observer of myself. I was taught how to simply observe myself at a physical level; observe both my pain and my pleasure and actually experience for myself the truth of annica - impermanence. Very little of what I heard was new to me, but the technique, the technique took all my ‘wisdom’ and made it come alive for me.

It was hard; I will not pretend it wasn’t. Many times I found myself wanting to simply pack my bags and run away down the hill, and yet in the silence, breathing in the cold clear mountain air, I found myself really examining my life and myself – strangely not something I usually find a lot of time for. And so it went, for nine days nearly eighty of us lived in silence, speaking only to the management or our teachers. We lived lives of solitude and discipline. This changed however, on the 10th and final day of the course. We were taught metta bhavana and then set free to talk to each other. I remember all of us weeping as we embraced, so overcome by our shared knowing; united in Vipassana.

Later in the same day I spoke to Aunty Kalyani and Aunty Swarna (who had lent me the clothes) and they explained to me that while they had studied the teachings of Buddha from their childhood onwards, they had only learnt of Vipassana recently.

It seemed sad to me that what many consider Buddha’s greatest legacy, was still largely unknown to those who followed Him. Amongst the younger meditators a similar attitude prevailed; they explained to me that as schoolchildren some of them were taught to meditate, but had never been guided as they had been through these ten days. Vipassana, apparently, was as much of a revelation to them as it was to me.

The Vipassana technique is entirely non-sectarian – and anyone from anywhere in the world can practise it successfully. As with all the teachings of the Buddha – the Enlightened One – Vipassana is meant for all, regardless of what religion one belongs to. In fact Mr. Goenka emphasised time and again how important it is to honour what is at the core of all religions – love and compassion. As part of the code of discipline, one is not allowed to indulge in any of our usual rites or rituals and prayers, chanting and reading of scriptures are strongly discouraged for the duration of the course. This is done for a reason, as is everything else in the course. Vipassana is not about blind faith; in fact you are challenged to examine it and understand it for yourself.

There are some things in particular about Vipassana that simply captivated me. One was how it promised me results in the here and now and so from the day I started to practise it I began to see my life become somehow happier and fuller. Another thing was that Vipassana, I learnt, all about joy; from the word go it was about learning to overcome the mindless suffering that is inherent in life. It offered me both hope and strength; it offered me a way to live a truly liberated life.

A complete introduction to the theory and practice of Vipassana can be found on the website - www.dhamma.org; also available are details of the centres, courses available and the code of discipline. Schedules and such are not always up-to-date and so those interested should contact the centres directly. The address for the Vipassana Meditation Centre in Sri Lanka is - Mowbray, Hidagala, Peradeniya, Sri Lanka. Tel: (081) 238-5774; (060) 280-0057; Fax: (081) 238-5774. E-Mail:dhamma@sltnet.lk

As you can imagine, the gift of Vipassana is a priceless one, and so fittingly, the courses are entirely free of charge. When you attend one you are there because someone else made it possible through a donation.

Its history and practitioners
The history of Vipassana is fascinating. Buddha Himself in His lifetime, taught it to thousands of people and by the time of His death Vipassana had spread throughout northern India. For five hundred years after the death of Buddha, Vipassana continued to grow in popularity. One of its better known practitioners – The Emperor Ashoka – sent teachers of Vipassana all over the globe. Soon after though, Vipassana died out completely in the land of its birth and while it was still practised after a fashion in various other countries, only in Myanmar (Burma) did it remain unsullied – passed down a long line of teachers – so that when the time came it would be resurrected. And it was, exactly 2500 years later, by an Indian born teacher from Burma – Mr. S.N Goenka. He brought Vipassana back to his motherland in 1969 and since then it has only grown in popularity.

Today there are thousands upon thousands of practitioners the world over and meditation centres have been established under Mr. Goenka’s guidance in India, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, France, the United Kingdom, Japan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Burma, Nepal and in many other countries.
It is taught in prisons and in schools and has been embraced by the young and the old, by monks and nuns and by businessmen and scientists – such is the appeal of Vipassana that it knows no barriers.

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