Vispassana Retreat Review

[monucka]

So I finally took the ten days off to attend one of S.N. Goenka's Vispassana retreats.

 

Length: Ten days. No talking, no sexual stimulation, eye contact, or communication with anyone but the teacher. Meditation instruction and theory every night for three hours, to be practiced the following day. Almost 11 hours of sitting per day, two meals and a light fruit and tea snack in the evening (for new students, old students are permitted no food after noon).

 

Cost: absolutely free, although donations are accepted after students complete the full ten-day program. The reasoning is this: the process is so intensive and so mentally painful (there's a depth reached that I haven't experienced with any other practice) that -any- expectation of "getting what you paid for" could be used as an excuse not to confront the demons that arise in the practice. They even take your car keys before the course begins so you can't drive away in the middle of the night. It really is that rough. <grin>.

 

Experience: Possibly the hardest and most rewarding thing I've ever done. I've been thinking about writing this review for the month and a half I've been back, trying to be as concise as possible. For the record, I did experience a number of the physical effects of meditation practice that Nan Huai Chin describes in Tao and Longevity, and that Bill Bodri likes to write essays on. Specifically the following concept: sila (discipline), samadhi (meditative concentration), and prajna (transcendental wisdom) are the causes, while jing, qi, and shen are the results, in ascending order: first jing must accumulate and refine, then qi follows, and ultimately shen is produced. Not that I'm done that process, but I experienced the initial stages enough to convince me that the whole thing follows that pattern, and I would speculate that emptiness comes after shen. So my experience is that buddhism explains better (or at least more consistently) what to -do- to have the effects the taoist manuals describe. The old schooly daoists and the buddhists described what I now believe is essentially the same transformative process, using different perspectives and different terminology.

 

Another Major Realization: following one practice in deeply enough that the ego becomes frightened and begins major psychological resistance is necessary for deep transformation. This process is described as the ego's fear of death by both Chinese buddhists (Ru Ding, I think it's called) and Jungian psychological theory. There is nothing truly there to die, nothing is lost, and that's the whole point: an inherently unreal self-identification and limit fights to preserve it's own (powerful) delusional existence. It's a set of thought patterns amplifying themselves in a feedback loop. The practical implication, though, is that I'm more convinced than ever that exploring a ton of different paths is really a self-defeating avoidance of true transformation. One path feels good for a time, and then (right around the time it would really start working, it seems) another path comes along or is 'discovered' that looks even cooler, man... and so the jumping from one qigong technique to another to shamanism to hatha yoga to tibetan buddhism to native american spirituality to chanting bhajans to internal alchemy... whatever new thing comes along looks better to the ego than sticking it out with one truly effective technique. Which is why the ten days of silence, no taiji, no yoga, no physical exercise except walking, no other paths or practices: participants are forced to confront themselves in the absence of any other options for distraction.

 

Other observations: Segregation of the sexes was observed, and helped greatly to minimize distractions. There was a female and a male teacher present to answer questions from female and male students and to ask them about their progress and give feedback. The actual lectures and meditation instruction are given by this guy on audio and video tape: it sounds super cheesy, but I was very suprised at the depth and accuracy of his instructions and expectations. I stopped bothering to ask questions after the first day because the guy on the tapes, after having led probably thousands of these retreats in person, knew exactly what questions would come up on which days and answered them. The food was great, vegetarian (there were vegan options) and mostly organic. I went with a wheat-allergic vegan friend, and she did fine. Eating only two meals a day -is- conducive to meditation. Lots of water helps with the physical aspects of intensive meditation.

 

Outcomes: There are more intensive and deeper retreats in the Vispassana tradition that are available to students as they enter more deeply into the practice. The retreat I did was the most basic prerequisite for anything deeper. I consider Vispassana and taijiquan my two practices for the next year, at least, although so far I'm pretty sure I've found the elegant, extraordinarily effective practice that I've been looking for, and I am pretty sure I'm done searching, after seven years. Now what remains is practice, which is a daunting prospect, but far more rewarding, perhaps, than scanning bookstores for the latest eastern spirtuality titles.

 

For those interested: Vispassana retreats are held all over the world, year-round, and are always free. For more information, check www.dhamma.org. If you don't see a retreat center close to you check the listing of "non-center courses". The retreat I just took was "non-center" and was actually held at 8500 ft, in a pine-forest valley of the Colorado rockies. Which was really nice, for a nature-headed hippy taoist kid like me. <grin>. Much love to y'all. - j

[Max]

Thank you for this post- I really appreciate it.

I'm thinking of taking a 10 day retreat at the end of this year, probably the end of December through New Year.

[Trunk]

Wow. Excellent, excellent post.

Thanks for sharing.

[Lozen]

I hated Vipassana. I hated how they said that you have to choose between it and every other practice. I thought the videos were cheesy. I thought the teachers were more like video librarians and didn't know very much. I didn't think the little beds with the see-through curtains were very conducive to meditation. I stayed the whole time to prove that I could but was very glad to leave. Just another perspective. Oh, and I found the segregation of the sexes EXTREMELY distracting. And of course the no-meat thing... You know they will eventually make you choose between Vipassana and taiji if you go deeper.

[Trunk]

I hated Vipassana. I hated how...

5451[/snapback]

lol!

The beauty, and great advantage, of these online discussions is that it really takes half a dozen or so very different views to get a rounded look at any topic. Dig it.

[monucka]

You know they will eventually make you choose between Vipassana and taiji if you go deeper.

5451[/snapback]

 

Actually, they won't. I checked on that in advance, since I'm a taiji teacher. But then I don't claim my taijiquan practice as a spiritual path, any more than i'd claim hatha yoga as a spiritual path. The grey area seems to be that long term, they're not big fans of visualizing ethereal energies. Neither am I, so it's not a big deal.

[MatthewQi]

Monucka,

 

Thanks for the write up. Very interesting. I was checking out Vissapana on the net and found some interesting stuff. But aside from that I found a link to this site which is full of great free stuff including Vissipana meditation instruction... for anyone interested...

 

http://www.buddhanet.net/

 

Inner Peace,

 

Matt

[Lozen]

Actually, they won't.  I checked on that in advance, since I'm a taiji teacher.  But then I don't claim my taijiquan practice as a spiritual path, any more than i'd claim hatha yoga as a spiritual path.  The grey area seems to be that long term, they're not big fans of visualizing ethereal energies.  Neither am I, so it's not a big deal.

5454[/snapback]

 

Ah, okay. That is just what my instructors told me, as well as the advanced students I talked to.

[Munch]

I did one about four years ago. I hated it, but had to acknowledge that it seemed to work. At one point I felt the unmistakeable pain of my tattoo rise to the surface and leave.

 

I missed a couple of the early morning sessions and was warned to behave.

 

Sometimes it was agony, sometimes really smooth. I could not believe how much anger was stored in my body, nor the absurd daydreams my mind would invent to distract me. Like the school hall was really going to be invaded by gun toting weirdos, from whom I would have to rescue attractive young women....

 

Totally, totally agree about persevering with one practice, rather than shopping around when it gets tough.

 

Great post. Thanks.

 

P.S. I took my contact lenses out for the whole ten days and wandered around in a haze. At one point I came out of a session, went over to my favourite tree and said "hello beautiful", unaware until just afterwards that there was a big bald bloke sitting just behind it...

 

PPS I've since done very similar retreats, seven days rather than ten, with much more sophisticated instruction. Goenka's tapes are good and funny, but there's much to be said for a live teacher who can evaluate your progress.

[thelerner]

Retreats like that take you way outside of the ruts of everday patterns, laying naked the inner working of your mind. It would be great to try one. I'll have to put it on my to do list

 

Peace

 

Michael

[Lozen]

From the Vipassana Old Student Guide:

 

One Path Only

 

"Do not mix this technique with others. If you have been practicing something else, you may attend two or three Vipassana courses to help you decide which technique you prefer. Then choose the one you find most suitable and beneficial, and devote yourself to it."

 

Also:

 

There are a number of special courses for old students in this tradition of Vipassana meditation practice. These courses have certain requirements which an old student must meet in order to qualify for admission. The basic qualification requirements are as follows:

 

1 Day or 3 Day Old Student Course for Vipassana:

 

*Completion of at least one 10 day course with Goenkaji or one of his assistant teachers.

 

*Those practicing energetic healing on others should not attend.

 

*Should be keeping all precepts to the best of one's ability.

[monucka]

Yup. As far as I understand, "one path only" means don't mix any other enlightenment/spiritual practices with vispassana. As in, no kundalini yoga, no pranayama practice with spiritual overtones, no lesser kan and li, etc. Taiji practice is not (or at least, isn't in my system) an enlightenment practice. The folks who taught at the course I attended both practice yoga for health. They don't visualize prana flowing through channels, and explained (lucidly) why I should avoid mixing vispassana with qi visualization in taijiquan practice. I have no problem with that; qi visualization is not part of the system I practice. I only speak here from personal conversation with the teachers, from questions I asked and answers I received. I did ask, point blank, if continuing with vispassana means I must quit taijiquan practice. The answer I received was a qualified "no". I can't speak to what old students told you when you took a course. - j

[monucka]

Although, who knows? I'll come back and apologize if my understanding turns out to be wrong in a year or three. - j

[Lozen]

Did you get any more info? I heard vague rumors about someone who did reiki self-treatment in the Vipassana hall and like, lost it, her spirit burst, she was shaking and convulsing in a corner for a while. So that's when Vipassana decided energy work was evil. I'm really curious to hear more.

 

I know people that practice both Vipassana and reiki--not at the same time of course...

 

As far as practicing yoga for health... I don't know, a long time ago I went to a yoga class, got in some pose, closed my eyes and had visions of goddesses in a temple in ancient India. I was an avid atheist at the time, and was like, "Holy SHIT, I did not ask for THIS! I just wanted to stretch!!" There is a power and a history behind these movements that we can stir awake or tap into, voluntarily or not.

 

What rubbed me the wrong way was that it seemed the Vipassana teachers/students thought *their* path was the deepest/best/most useful, etc. And also that they were very critical of people doing energy work as trying to change reality instead of accepting it. I do a bit of energy work when I'm instructed/called to, and I don't see it as trying to change/defy reality, I see it as a PART of reality... people go to the doc when they are sick too, instead of "accepting" it...

 

This can get really deep so I will stop now...except to say that I know many Buddhist reiki practitioners who also do qi gong and they are well along the path...

[monucka]

There was a vague reference in the introductory speech about someone who had done herself grievous harm by mixing a retreat with "another technique"... I followed the retreat rules really closely, figuring that for ten days I could give up just about anything, even taiji. :-) As far as "our path is the best", yeah, I've found that attitude in just about every spiritual tradition I've looked at and i'm sure it's in the vispassana community as well. The folk at the retreat I attended were very open and accepting of other methods, though- just clear on how two traditions could aim for the same result but be at cross-purposes in technique. I agree that qigong is not antithetical to buddhist meditation: the whole shaolin tradition comes out of that fusion. As a side note, if you compare Goenka's vispassana technique to BK Frantzis's internal/external dissolving process, they're really similiar, except vispassana advocates simply equanimously watching the sensations, including those of blockages, and observing them -changing-, while 'water-method' asks for conscious intent to -dissolve- (placing it at odds with vispassana, i think). I suspect the similarity is more than coincidence, Frantzis's teacher was a tian tai master in addition to being a taoist lineage holder.

 

There's an old argument about the concept of qi itself: is it an ethereal energy that exists outside of the body as well as within it, or is it a functional term for metabolism, body/mind relation and specific practical effects of certain practices? Bodri suggests that what is now usually called qi (and manipulated by imagination) is synonymous with the wind element of the body (called ghost qi in some traditions): real, maybe, but not what the old-schooly taoists were writing about. I mention this because there are many health-oriented qigong techniques that do not require visualization, which possibly make them suitable for vispassana practitioners- i don't think i'm qualified to make pronouncements on the subject, but it's something i've been thinking about. I got a copy of Vispassana: Art of Living yesterday. If I find any quotes that relate to the mixing of paths I'll be sure to post them. - j

[monucka]

The following is all there was in "The Art of Living: Vispassana Meditation As Taught By S. N. Goenka", by William Hart. The book itself is mostly paraphrase and direct quote from the teacher himself, and is probably the most authoritative book on Goenka's teaching. This is from a question and answer session.

 

"Q: I practice yoga. How can I integrate this with Vipassana?

 

A: Here at a course, yoga is not permitted because it will disturb others by drawing their attention. But after you return home, you may practice both Vispassana and yoga - that is, the physical exercises of yogic postures and breath control. Yoga is very beneficial for physical health. You may even combine it with Vispassana. For example, you assume a posture and then observe sensations throughout the body; this will give still greater benefit than the practice of yoga alone. But the yogic meditation techniques using mantra and visualization are totally opposed to Vipassana. Do not mix them with this technique.

 

Q: How about the different yogic breathing exercises?

 

A: They are helpful as physical exercise, but do not mix these techniques with anapana. In anapana you must observe natural breath as it is, without controlling it. Practice breath control as a physical exercise, and practice anapana for meditation."

 

My note: anapana is one part of the technique taught at courses: there are three interlinked meditation techniques that are taught, with anapana being the first. - j

[dorshugla]

Vipassana is the best because you have to let go of on'e false impression of self and many peiople prefer to feed the false perception. It is truly unadorned, no special anything-just bring self.

 

Like the Dzogchen expressoion of 'like a dog chasing its own tail" we enjoy it but do not understand why we do not receive the fruit of its experssion!!

 

sarva mangalam

[affenbrot]

Did you get any more info? I heard vague rumors about someone who did reiki self-treatment in the Vipassana hall and like, lost it, her spirit burst, she was shaking and convulsing in a corner for a while. So that's when Vipassana decided energy work was evil. I'm really curious to hear more.

5849[/snapback]

my own conspiracy theory regarding this topic :

 

they forbid to practice any energy work alongside because it simply would work too powerful.

Vipassana is a One-size-fits-all teaching , so it's their responsibility to make absolutely sure nobody gets hurt and burn their brains. It has to be a safe system for everybody otherwise the karmic consequences will be heavy.

Vipassana by itself is already very powerful, many people would not be prepared to take any additional energy work that is supercharged by previous or parallel applied Vipassana-meditation.

But some may...!

Vipassana in combination with energy work is riding the bronco! It's the real deal! Check it out! Buy my newly released DVD! Only 99.50 if you buy this month! Plus free secret how to grow an extra leg!

 

 

Affenbrot

Edited November 14, 2005 by affenbrot

[Lozen]

I just remembered that the reason they gave me was because energy work is trying to change things, and Vipassana is about accepting them as they are. I still didn't think it made much sense, though, because they still go to doctors, etc.

 

Anyways, I prefer Shambhala meditation or just plain old zazen. Eyes half-open.