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Meditate On ThatDec 17, 2006
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| So, I think I just joined a cult for the last ten days. Let's see... there were: -strict, seemingly arbitrary rules to be followed -no contact with the outside world, nor with fellow inmat-- I mean, practitioners -a strange, yet intensely charismatic man who chanted in an ancient language and lectured us each night via a series of videos from the 80s -a secure compound in the middle of nowhere, complete with a gated and locked driveway -sparse, ascetic accommodations -far-fetched, quasi-scientific, metaphysical theories being bandied about -and a strict timetable for the day, which began at 4:30. AM. That's eeeeaaarly. I had wanted to experiment with meditation for a while, and I recently met a Greek guy who recommended this course on Vipassana meditation. Intrigued, I got online and discovered there was a program starting a few days hence near Delhi, which I had to pass through anyway on my way east to Calcutta for my flight to Singapore. So after rescheduling my flight, I registered for the course and made my way to Delhi. The whole process of registering for and going through the course was shrouded in mystery, but not in an interesting, mystical way -- more in a sort of annoying, I-wish-I-knew-what-was-going-on kind of way. After we all arrived and were issued our black Nikes and given some refreshing Kool-Aid to drink (kidding), we had a brief introduction to the rules and regulations for the duration of our stay, and then jumped right into our first session. I didn't know any more about the technique itself or what the experience would be like than what I learned from quickly reading the Vipassana website and talking to my Greek friend briefly about his time there. To be fair, the grounds and regulations were perfectly suited to the work. I just don't think I had completely thought about what it would be like, and never having been to a retreat like this, was unprepared for the weirdness of feeling trapped in a place like that. The technique itself is interesting and I think could potentially be useful for me, even if I don't buy all the metaphysics of mind/matter dissolving and trying to reach nirvana, etc. Vipassana is a 2500 year-old method for exploring the depths of the mind and reforming it to alleviate the suffering of the human experience. It was this technique that was discovered and propagated by Siddhattha Gotama, the Buddha, in India 25 centuries ago. Over the millennia, various sects have arisen idolizing the Buddha, resulting in the religions we now know as Buddhism (ever heard of it?), but in fact, the Buddha never claimed to be a religious or divine man. He just claimed to have discovered a practical path to enlightenment that anyone can follow and hopefully reach total freedom from human suffering and misery (nirvana). While the emerging branches of Buddhism reinterpreted his teachings and venerated him as a holy-man in many parts of the world over the years, his original technique of Vipassana was protected and passed down in its pristine purity in Burma, which is where Mr. Goenka (the man from the videos) learned it in the 50s. The most appealing thing about it to me is its universality and practicality. Goenka stresses that human suffering, being universal and non-sectarian in nature, can best be alleviated by this universal, non-sectarian, practical and effective method of Vipassana meditation, which is free from any kind of supernatural rites or rituals, and can be practiced by Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Buddhists, etc. alike. But in spite of the non-religiosity of the teaching there is a lot of dubious metaphysical talk that I found hard to swallow. Nevertheless, there was much of the method that I found useful -- namely, achieving an equanimous mind -- or more accurately could imagine being useful with practice. Normal amounts of practice, like an hour a day, not ten hours a day like we were doing there. That was probably the hardest part for me, which contributed the most to turning me off -- the shear intensity of sitting there for so long, day after day. Going from barely ever having meditated in my life to immediately thrusting myself into a schedule of meditating for over ten hours a day was frickin difficult, to say the least. It resulted in wild oscillations of thought and mood ranging from "This is total nonsense, I am so out of here when that bell rings" to "OK, I get it. I am starting to feel sensations. I think I could really get into this," not to mention lots of experimentation with sleeping while sitting up and daydreaming (I think I solved Fermat's Last Theorem while I was there). Not to seem xenophobic, but I also think the fact that I was in a foreign country and not among any other westerners, except one whom I wasn't allowed to talk to, added to my sense of alienation. But, yesterday, the last day of the course, I bought some Vipassana books and intend on doing some more research on my own. The other thing I did yesterday was break out my iPod, which had been held by the management for the duration (no reading or writing materials, either), and blast Queen's "Don't Stop Me Now" which had been in my head lately until it was replaced by the Pali chanting of Sri Goenka, about the only sensory input I experienced for ten days. As a quick aside, I'd like to mention the unadulterated genius of Freddy Mercury as rock and roll front man and note how his unfettered gaiety on that track is the furthest thing on planet Earth from the serenity of silent meditation. Listening to that song after hearing nothing but this old guru chanting for all that time was like being run over by a vocal locomotive. Check it out; it's a hell of a tune. In conclusion, I would actually recommend a Vipassana retreat to anyone who is already interested in meditation. Cult jokes aside, it was definitely worthwhile and though trying at times, I'm glad I did it. But convincing someone to go through it who wasn't already intrigued by the idea, or a meditator himself, wouldn't really make sense, I don't think. |
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