Adhivāsanā: Ten Days of Silent Contemplation
“Within a few hours, I was accepted. I half-chuckled, a twinge of dread squeezing my heart, and conveniently forgot about what I had just done for a few weeks.”
For the last year or so, I’d been wrestling with the idea of doing a vipassanā meditation course, with the goal of taking my practice more seriously. Throughout this June, the topic would keep coming up with a few friends of mine and in the material I’d consume on a daily basis.
In the last week of June, I was having coffee at my friend Sachin’s place. We spoke at length about his experience at Dhamma Karuṇā in Youngstown, Alberta, and he lent me some resources for the sake of context.
The pamphlet described the overarching philosophy and methodology of ‘modern’ vipassanā technique, developed by Burmese-Indian entrepreneur-turned-teacher S. N. Goenka. Goenka’s approach — dhamma, ‘the path’ — was notable in that it was non-sectarian, results-oriented, and approachable.
Goenka’s method was deceptively straightforward, if a bit intimidating. A new student of vipassanā attends a ten-day course at one of many meditation centres around the world. Every day of the course entails anywhere between 3 and almost 11 hours of meditation, two small vegetarian meals, and an hour-long discourse.
While a student is at the centre, they must observe five precepts:
• Abstinence from killing any being
• Abstinence from stealing
• Abstinence from sexual activity
• Abstinence from lying
• Abstinence from all intoxicants
Simple, right? Goenka even made students’ lives easier by holding them to an oath of ‘noble silence’ — a promise to abstain from verbal and nonverbal communication with all participants except select staff members.
Sachin’s stories intrigued me. I looked at the class schedule a few days later. Dates in July right after Bass Coast lined up, and without doing much research at all — for once — I applied.
Within a few hours, I was accepted. I half-chuckled, a twinge of dread squeezing my heart, and conveniently forgot about what I had just done for a few weeks.
A day after Bass Coast, I was on my way to Youngstown.
What follows is a day-by-day recounting of what I experienced and recall.
Side note: As I progressed through the course, Goenka-ji warned against using particular sensations and experiences as markers of progress. He also described the optimal approach to one’s practice as a departure from the use of I, me, mine and other such descriptors — to reduce the hold one’s ego and ‘ownership’ has on one’s emotions. However, in the interest of keeping this account approachable and context-heavy, I forewent these conventions for your reading pleasure. Enjoy!
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INDEX:
Day Zero — Uncertainty
Day One — Anxiety
Day Two — Grief
Day Three — Confidence
Day Four — Lust
Day Five — Avarice
Day Six — Determination
Day Seven — Dissolution
Day Eight — Understanding
Day Nine — Restlessness
Day Ten — Elation
Day Eleven — Uncertainty
Day Twelve — Overwhelm
