Some of you may have been very patiently waiting for updates on my Vipassana meditation experience. And on my part, I need to write about it to get it out of my system, before I can move on to something else or other posts on the blog. Whatever I write here, I hope it is of benefit to some reader who would be encouraged to take a 10-day Vipassana Course as taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of U Ba Khin.
It’s been more than one month since I returned from my first 10-day course and almost two months since my last post. Since that first course, I did two more courses. A 1-day course in Singapore on 30 Sep and a 3-day course from 4th to 7th Oct in Dhamma Malaya in Kuantan.
Doing Vipassana Meditation has been a life changing experience for me. I’ve always searched very hard for a path. This may be because I have a religious gene. I’ve always wanted to work towards self-mastery and self improvement but did not know how. “How?” was always the big question in everything I wanted to work towards, be it overcoming my weaknesses (having some awareness of the great store of faults within me that my loved ones were kind enough to warn me about) or practising the morality and purity of mind that all great religions teach. And now, through Vipassana meditation, I feel I’ve discovered my path and the “How” to answer my questions. Wonderful, indeed is this technique, so simple, so deep and so effective.
I feel it from very deep within that I’ve changed, that I’ve benefited greatly. Some of the benefits (even from attending the 10-day course, a first baby step on this path) include:
Less aversion to work, especially housework. I’ve been blogging much less because it’s the last priority for me now, after meditation and housework. Even the guitar, which I used to play everyday, has dropped in priority to meditation and housework.
More positive attitude of mind. During the meditation course, I’ve started to learn how not to be deterred or disappointed by constant failure but to always work arduously, continuously, patiently and intelligently despite repeated failure. This is an extremely valuable attitude to bring home.
[protect] I have less sexual passion in me. [/protect] I found it easier to control my unhealthy and previously daily addictions, which have dramatically declined. I consider this a key change given how I’ve lived my life for the past 13 years.
My bouts of anxiety and negativity have lessened in frequency.
I have learnt to be more sensitive to my body, especially my stomach, in what I eat and the quantity I eat. I’ve always been sympathetic to the animal rights movement but out of force of habit was not able to become a full fledged vegetarian. After the first 10-day course, I managed to eat less meat by having at least one or two meals each day consisting fully of rice and vegetables. When I eat meat, this is normally only when dining with my wife or when my wife cooks. I’m not a full fledged vegetarian yet though I have become a 30% or 50% vegetarian.
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[protect]That said, my wife has not mentioned that she has seen any change in me though she did mention I have become more patient and has encouraged me to continue to go for the 3-day course in Kuantan even though she fell very ill during my first 10-day course. Her silence and encouragement for me to go on the 3-day course could mean any or none of the following, I can’t say for sure which: She wants to see how lasting the changes in me are before she says anything (you know how speaking too soon can sometimes destroy the magic of something or cause deeper disappointment); she thinks I thinks it helps me so she encourages me to continue in my practice, she genuinely sees me changing for the better because of the meditation and hence she wants me to continue to benefit from it through continued courses, she saw my emotional reaction and repentant attitude and recognition of all the wrongs I’ve done to her after the first course and hopes that such feelings in me will continue to surface if I keep going for the meditation courses. Any of the above, none of the above. It doesn’t matter. In me, very clearly, like someone who has drank water and knows that the water is cold, I know that I have taken the first step on the path of change. [/protect]
I leave you with a video on Vipassana Meditation by S.N. Goenka. In my next post I will talk about my experience at the courses and post the next video in the series below.
Dhamma Podcasts: A Simple Path – Part 1
[...] recordmymind placed an interesting blog post on Vipassana MeditationHere’s a brief overviewSome of you may have been very patiently waiting for updates on my Vipassana meditation experience. And on my part, I need to write about it to get it out of my system, before I can move on to something else or other posts on the blog. … [...]