A Guide To Hacking Vipassana Course

I've been to two Vipassana 10-day meditation courses. First in Dhamma Dipa in United Kingdom and second in Dhamma Sobhana, Sweden which I finished very recently.

In this article I would like to share my experience from these courses and see how to use them. The courses are free (including food and accomodation) so they seem to be a good opportunity either for trying with good intentions or for parasiting on the system (donations after the course as a saintly thing are encouraged and you get them inserted into your washed and deprived brain on regular basis).

You may be motivated to attend the course by listening to stories of your friends about this wonderful technique. Or they're just shining when they return. So let's start with experiences of people who have had not so good experience.

(include

http://thehumanist.com/magazine/september-october-2007/features/can-meditation-be-bad-for-you

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8877737

http://adamcadre.ac/calendar/14/14292.html

http://livingvipassana.blogspot.se/

)

Now you had opportunity to learned how people broke into manic-depressive state; how the spiritual experiences may be caused by temporary brain malfunctions and can lead to apathy and depression. Your excitement is hopefully cooled. You're ready to look at what the course has to offer to you.

So let's skip the introduction and get to the point.

I figured out 3 potential ways how to use this vipassana stuff:

1. A fair try to the technique (in the jargon of vipassana people) - it means Trust them and follow the practice as they ask you to do.

2. Skeptical approach (this is what I tried) - Follow the practical stuff, but decide and discard what is not beneficial or harming

3. Plain use/parasiting - Trying to avoid as much schedule as possible, using as much time as you can doing your own stuff and enjoying free food and facilities; this approach may not be ethical, but who cares, right?

So how is it practically?

You can read the Code of discipline (http://www.dhamma.org/en-US/about/code) to see what you have to deal with. By the end there is a timetable which I'm going to cite here (with my notes in brackets):

4:00 am Morning wake-up bell

4:30-6:30 am Meditate in the hall or in your room (nobody controls)

6:30-8:00 am Breakfast break (eating possible from 6:30 to 7:15)

8:00-9:00 am Group meditation in the hall (your presence is strictly controlled)

9:00-11:00 am Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's instructions (usually you have to stay for approx. 1/2 hour and then leave. Sometimes you have to wait longer.)

11:00-12:00 noon Lunch break (eating from 11 to 11:45)

12 noon-1:00 pm Rest and interviews with the teacher

1:00-2:30 pm Meditate in the hall or in your room (no control)

2:30-3:30 pm Group meditation in the hall (strict control)

3:30-5:00 pm Meditate in the hall or in your own room according to the teacher's instructions (same as 9-11 am)

5:00-6:00 pm Tea break (and 2 pieces of fruits for new people, eating 5-5:30)

6:00-7:00 pm Group meditation in the hall (strictly controlled)

7:00-8:15 pm Teacher's Discourse in the hall (probably controlled; not tested)

8:15-9:00 pm Group meditation in the hall (probably controlled; not tested)

9:00-9:30 pm Question time in the hall (you can leave)

9:30 pm Retire to your own room--Lights out (people usually go to sleep)

Another very fundamental thing is stopping any human contact with other people which is called Noble Silence.

Another, on arrival you will be asked to give them all your valuable stuff, musical instruments, mobile phones, laptops, papers, pens, other writing materials; even legal documents like passports etc.

If you want to see what you're dealing with, check some course materials. Some should be available only to people who already passed at least 1 course (old students):

discourses (generally available) (http://store.pariyatti.org/10-Day-Discourses-All-Formats_p_4724.html)

http://store.pariyatti.org/os password: behappy, (or directly http://store.pariyatti.org/behappy)

http://www.sobhana.dhamma.org/Old-students.sobhana_os.0.html (login: oldstudent pwd: behappy), browse on the left; food recipes are also available which is nice.

http://www.dhamma.org/os/ (login: oldstudent, password: behappy)

1. A Fair try

If you want to try the technique as they teach it, just do what they ask you to do. I assure you there will be no room for guessing. The rules are very strict, clear and you just do what they ask. However, some of them are not controlled in practice.

Please, do your research first. Be aware that it's a serious stuff to do and it can be potentially harming to your mental health. Many people state that this practice is helpful to them (or at least this is what the tapes and videos keep imprinting to your brain) and the last day many people seem to be very happy. The last day people are also mentioning some bizarre experiences. A few people have episodes of crying or panic attacks during the sittings in the course.

Tips:

If you like to take a shower in the morning, set the alarmclock to 5-10 minutes before wake-up bell

Warnings:

You may be overmotivated to donate a lot of money at the end of the course. Set your limit before. You can always donate later when your mind is clear.

2. Skeptical approach

This was my approach, especially on the last course in Sweden. For people who want to do practical meditation and not get indoctrinated; or who want to do some calm intelectual work and use the place for that purpose.

What to take with you to the course:

writing material - pens, pencils, rubbers, papers (take it with you! important nobody controls it. You can keep it under your matrace.)

earplugs

reading material - not tested

Tips:

you can write in the bathroom, especially while others are meditating elsewhere

use earplugs for the evening discourses (7-8.15 pm) if you feel like it. the video with teacher Goenka was noisy enough to hear it even after that. You can cover the earplugs with hudy or hat. Nobody had any objections against hats and hudys.

you don't have to follow meditation orders. I suggest focusing on your breath first 3 days, then you can sometimes meditate and other times imagine something, play music in your head or do other stuff. There may be many ideas coming to your head.

If you like morning meditation with people but don't like chanting, just leave the hall at 6 am. There is a painful singing going on until 6:30 am. Nobody cares that you're not there.

I used most of the longer breaks for sleep and the short ones for walking in nature.

Warnings:

Lack of human contact can make you feel bad/lonely.

Bad reasoning in discourses can make you feel brainwashed (Every wise man knows... Law of nature is such...).

Repetition of some phrases over and over again can make you feel indoctrinated (be equanimous equanimous equanimous).

You won't do as much progress in the meditation and have less hallucinating experiences as in approach 1.

It can be very boring. I was dying of boredom at day 6.

It's tricky to exercise - they ask you to do it just by walking, but simply do it.

The presence of control can make you feel like in prison.

Goenka's talking and singing can get very annoying.

3. Plain use

I guess it is not so wonderful experience to try to use the system. It will become very boring for you and if you just want to have nice food and accomodation, it's not the best idea. You'll still have to spend approximately 5 hours or more every day on the group happenings. They'll make sure you're there. For several days you are asked to sit completely still for 1 hour 3 times per day. If you're not interested in meditation, it will be very very difficult. I found meditation to be the only way to push yourself through these sittings.

Tips:

You can eat very nice food in large quantities. It is self-served. Be picky; just wait a few minutes before the time of serving - you'll avoid the row of people waiting (untested). Food is vegetarian, tasty (personal opinion). You have a choice of preparing yourself different kinds of tea, chocolate, (?coffee).

Nobody controls whether you take just 2 fruits at 5. But you should try to do it in not obvious way (untested).

If you want to avoid hunger in the afternoon, you may need to store some bread etc. from breakfast/lunch. Eating this may sound very noisy in your dorm (everyone is silent) (untested).

Try to go with a friend and talk together during the course privately (untested).

Warnings:

The biggest warning is that it's just too hard to stay if you're not interested in meditation. I was interested but still I was going crazy from boredom, lack of stimuli and human contact etc.

Group sittings will be boring, bothering, painful if you're not meditating.

Just don't do it. It's not nice. Understand this simply as exploring boundaries.

Unexplored possible hacks:

Serving (volunteering)

Leaving course borders during night

Taking mobile phone/laptop to the course

Reading books against boredom

You can ask for the discourse in your native language (if they have it translated) and there may be no control while you're listening to them, so you may not have to listen to them. (untested)

I hope you've reached some enlightenment by reading material. Personally, I'm still undecided whether I should like this vipassana thing or not. I remain confused.