Could you actually stop using your phone for 10 days and be totally disconnected with your family, friends and the outside world?
Could you imagine not speaking to other people for 10 days?
How will you feel after not eating meat, drinking alcohol or doing any sports for 10 days?
What will long hours of meditation over a longer period of time do with you, and what will you learn from it?
When I first heard about the Vipassana meditation camp, these were questions that went through my head. I believe it will be hard for most people to imagine the answer to them, as it's something we don't usually consider as an option. Our lives are busy with work, obligations and socializing, stopping all these activities for a longer period of time seems unreasonable, scary and almost impossible. This total change of pace and my curiosity about it has convinced me to give it a try, and to sign up for the Vipassana meditation camp in Chiayi, Taiwan. I have already tried meditation before (but have been fairly unsuccessful with it), so I thought a 10-day retreat would give me the chance to really learn it well.
About Vipassana meditation
Vipassana is one of India's oldest meditation techniques. The story goes that it was actually discovered by Buddha himself and is a technique that can eradicate all suffering - it is said to be the way to a happy and fulfilled life. If you want to become liberated from the suffering of life, you have to walk on the path (Dhamma) of enlightenment, and Vipassana meditation is the key for it.
Vipassana is described on the official website of the organization in the following way:
Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2500 years ago and was taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art Of Living. This non-sectarian technique aims for the total eradication of mental impurities and the resultant highest happiness of full liberation.
Having read several articles and watched videos about Vipassana before, I was quite curious to find out more. The technique promises to offer a way to clear the mind from impurities and to offer a way out of all misery in life - it even says to be an art of living. It sounded like an interesting concept, but of course you tend to get skeptical when the promises are too high, so I had to find out for myself what it is all about.
Signing up for the course was pretty simple: The website lists courses for every location, Taiwan actually had many options to choose from. The courses here are either offered in Chinese or bilingual (English/Chinese), and are separated by gender (male/female). In hindsight, I really recommend everyone to take the course in English, as this is the original language which teacher S.N. Goenka used, so you will hear the content directly from him (instead of through an interpreter, who might slightly change the content and delivery of the messages).
All courses currently offered worldwide can be found here.
In order to make it easier to take time off for work, I chose a course scheduled during Chinese New Year in 2022, as most of the time was a public holiday anyways.
The 10 days program
The technique of Vipassana is taught in a 10-day course by S.N. Goenka, who developed the course in its current form. The course is taught step-by-step, every day some slight changes are made which will lead to an increasingly deeper understanding of the technique. When joining the program, you have to comply with the code of discipline which you have to follow during the whole duration of the camp:
In addition to the steps mentioned here, the code of discipline also has many more rules such as no cellphones, no books or taking notes, no sports or no interaction with other students. Basically anything that might distract you is not allowed, so you can really focus on the meditation and give a fair trial to the technique.
The course itself is taught in a regular daily schedule, which starts very early every morning (yes, 4am is correct!), and includes more than 10h of meditation each day. It was hard to imagine in advance how it will be like to follow this strict time table every day, but it sounded like an interesting challenge:
One more quite interesting thing is that it is completely free to join the course - even though food, accommodation and training are all provided, there is no charge for it. The organization is relying on donations, which are accepted only from students who have completed a 10 day course already.
Day 0: Arriving at the camp
On the first day, students must arrive in the afternoon to check in. The first activity is to fill out some paperwork: Providing an emergency contact, making a commitment to stay for 10 days and to follow the code of discipline and rules of the camp (as mentioned above).
I was looking forward and was excited when I arrived, but then later when I filled out all the forms and the organizer asked me to hand over my phone and wallet, I was panicking for a second: "Already? Is it starting now already?" But well, in this moment you just comply and seal your phone and wallet. It was a bit scary, but I immediately felt quite free afterwards, and was curious what would now await me. After all, not using my phone for 10 days was among the things I was most looking forward to.
First thing was to get my room assigned and to check in. Due to Covid restrictions, most participants got the single room and their own assigned shower in the public bathroom, so actually it was quite spacious for one person. Blankets / pillows were provided, I even saw a large mosquito net (I didn't know at that time how much I would need this one later). The first impression was okay - it was not a luxurious hotel room, but it seemed doable to stay here for 10 days.
After moving in, there was still some time available, so I went out. I saw some other fellow students, and as the course hadn't officially started yet, it was still allowed to talk and socialize a bit. It was great to have the chance to talk to some other students before, to feel some sense of community before changing into complete silence. Soon, too soon, for the first time a loud gong started to make some noise - the sound which would rule over us and dictate the next 10 days of our lives. It was time to officially start with the camp.
What happened during these 10 days? Find out in Part II
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