Dear Diary,
This December, My birthday month, I took a long vacation from my job, and decided to find my self. Declutter my thoughts and try to know who i am after all. My best friend told me about Vipassana, It's a meditation course.
I wanted to find myself, I wanted to find solutions to my problems in meditation, I wanted to discover the mysteries of the universe by looking inside, I had to do some solo traveling. And in my hidden mind i also wanted to build my image in front of everyone that i do such kind of things. Being a man, I have to do things sometimes which people frown upon. I had to prove my family that I am different. Plus it’s free, they don’t take any money upfront. So I registered for the course in Leh, Ladakh center, and my application was accepted.
My Expectations
Before going to the course, I dint read much about it, because i wanted it to be an adventure. I only knew one thing that it would be a very serious course. I saw their time table and I was super excited about trying such thing where the entire day’s schedule had 12:30 Hrs of meditation and no dinner. No meals after 11. I imagined myself in those buddha pose and doing serious meditation with a monk, attaining some magical qualities in my brain, opening up all my chakras. like in movies a hero goes to a guru and learn some vidya and come back as an amazing person. I was imagining that, it’ll change me entirely. Really!
Day 0: Course registration
My center was in ladakh and outside temperature was around -20C. This itself was a mind boggling thing for me. Then I found out we have to keep the Sheel of noble silence for the next 10 days. No talking to anyone, no looking into each other’s eyes, not giving any signal, in any means you should not convey anything to any other student. Ok. You have to submit all your gadgets, mobile, laptop, ipods, watch. All reading and writing material. You can't keep any books, any diary, any pen. No snack, No Chips or chocolates. You submit all these to them.
Then in the evening at 5:00 , the course induction begins and I get to know that the entire course will be done using S.N Goenka ji’s audio and video clips. There is no monk, and this is not related in any way with Buddhism or any religion. And even in this cold, the timing, the schedule of the course for the entire 10 days will remain the same. Everywhere it's taught, it's always exactly the same.
I had a little notion from earlier that, maybe this thing is also about a guru, creating his hype, and asking people to follow him blindly, because he may want to create his legacy or something. But since day 0, I started learning that it's not that, the man looked very self less.
He taught us Aana Paana on Day 0. Know your breath. When it's coming, when it's going. Don't control it. Just keep looking. Just keep looking…
After learning that we take rest before the next day begins at 4 o clk in morning.
I'll write in the part 2 about what happened later...
Love you ❤️