The 10 Day Vipassana Course and Why You Should Do It.

This article is inspired by my own personal experience from the ten day course offered by them and why I will recommend that course and remove the doubts and misinformation around it.

Published in

ILLUMINATION

6 min readFeb 5, 2022

The ten days vipassana course is offered by the Vipassana organization that got promoted by S.N. Goenka in the tradition as taught by Sayagi U Ba Khin.

Disclaimer

So, while there are plenty of schools out there, with an ever-growing number of teachers and Gurus who are teaching people meditation, Vipassana stands out with its simplicity and effectiveness. This article doesn’t indulge in downplaying any other form of meditation, school, or sects as they might be benefitting many people who practice them.

This is simply an introduction to the Ten Day Vipassana Course and why it’s worth a try for anyone and everyone. Various re-known spiritual teachers have learnt this technique and later opened their own schools and organizations.

Before I proceed further I want to quote J.Krishnamurti, one of the finest exponents of spirituality who ever lived. Calling him just a philosopher would be limiting the impact this world teacher has had on the world.
Krishnamurti has inspired many brilliant minds and continues to do so even after his death through his various discourses and books available. He says and I quote —

“The ability to observe without evaluating is the highest form of intelligence.”

Buddha got enlightenment under the Bodhi tree but not before he experimented with various forms of meditation and it is said that it was Vipassana that finally took him to Nirvana, the stage of full enlightenment.

When Buddha taught Vipassana and Dhamma he focused on the thought that he was simply teaching people how to be happy. And depending upon the level of intelligence of the listener he taught them accordingly. He didn’t believe in getting into intellectual debates which are just words at the end of it and merely massage the ego, but rather he believed in actions that lead to active results that could bring peace and joy to the people.

Keeping these thoughts in the background, I shall ever so humbly try to expand on Vipassana to the best of my knowledge.

There are 3 things that I feel like mentioning at the beginning that I really like about the way Vipassana is being taught.
1. It’s free of cost which is in accordance with Buddha’s original teaching that Dhamma should be taught freely and it should be available for everyone.
2. Second that you don’t bow to anyone. Unlike in many sects which require you to bow to some person and take them as the Guru here in this it is not the case.
3. The technique of Vipassana is taught in a secular manner and anybody from any religion can learn this technique and can benefit from it.

Vipassana quite literally means the art of observing carefully. To observe you need to possess a focussed mind. Only a concentrated mind is capable of going past the gross and look at the subtle nature of mind and matter. And the close relationship between mind and matter can be only observed by a mind that is focused.

During the ten-day Vipassana course, the first three days are spent in getting the mind focused. The course is designed for all sorts of people. There are people who have never had the experience of meditation, those who have never even had the time to reflect on the spiritual aspects of things even for once. And there are also people who have already begun their journey of self-exploration and perhaps way further ahead in their understanding of themselves, nevertheless, the ten day course treats every individual as a beginner and provides an opportunity for growth to the advanced students.

The technique used to gain concentration of the mind is called Anna Panna which basically involves observing one’s breath. Now, there are various techniques out there that can be used to concentrate the mind such as reciting a mantra or some visualization, but here in Vipassana it is emphasized to simply make use of the unforced breath.

The breath is a truth, an unchangeable fact that stays with a person from their birth till their death. And the idea is to make use of the breath to concentrate the mind.

The next seven days are used to learn Vipassana. Vipassana is based on the idea of observing body sensations.

Often you hear — observe yourself. So what exactly does it involve to observe oneself? Is it observing the emotions, feelings, or thoughts? And if that is the case then a question arises how can somebody observe something abstract? If you make use of imagination which will only take you away from reality you risk further complicating their being.

Buddha had rediscovered that every time a human being comes in contact with a thought or matter a sensation is produced on the human body. And this sensation is what can be observed by the mind. For every sensation that’s produced on the body, the mind either generates a craving for it or creates an aversion to it. It is this to which a person keeps constantly reacting. The nature of an Equanimous mind is to not react to a happening. And it is this equanimity that a person builds through Vipassana.

This ancient Indian technique finds its mention many times in the old Indian scriptures and has been found in many sacred texts of various religions. Prone to be misunderstood and misinterpreted, the technique had been lost.

It has been used by many people who became fully enlightened beings across time and space.

This is the gift of Vipassana. A gift from Buddha.

Why Ten Days?

Doesn’t a person spend years studying something? People go to colleges and leave their houses to learn something new.

People go to boot camps to lose weight and get in shape. it is something similar to that. The ten days is not make you fully enlightened. The ten days is to learn the technique and get a good grasp over it. This study of this technique requires practice. Just like dancing or singing cannot be learnt by reading books on it, and has to be practiced to master it, so is the case with Vipassana.

And this technique requires undivided attention and a certain seriousness on the part of an individual.

Can you expect to lose weight if you keep consuming junk food all the time? No, you cannot or at least most people cannot and rules are made to accommodate most people. So how can you clear your mind if you keep feeding your mind junk?

Hence are the rules made of this retreat, where phones and televisions and other sources of entertainment are not allowed, so as to not let your mind wander off.

The Vipassana course is not for someone who is looking for a quick fix. It is for someone who has decided to do something about their life condition and wants to improve it.

In a world of instant gratification and instant messaging we forget that certain things require diligence and complete attention. And all those things are always worth it.

I can tell you from my own experience that it is one of the best things that I have done in my life. I feel doing Vipassana was course was an act of self-love and everytime I have always gained positive insights from it.

I hope this helped you in answering your queries and helps you in forming a decision.

Be Happy. :)