Vipassana – again…
This time my destiny led me to the birthplace of Buddha – the town of Lumbini in Nepal. A small place visited by Buddhist pilgrims from all over the world ( there are estimated 350 million Buddhists worldwide ).
A relatively small area became a construction grounds for Buddhist monasteries representing different branches of Buddhism. From Japan and China to Sri Lanka, Thailand and Tibet.
It was not the Buddha’s place of birth that was the main reason for my visit though. I came here to take part in yet another experience of Vipassana meditation.
While many who had come here would enjoy the beautiful temples and monastery gardens, my journey will take me more “inside”, to the fertile gardens of my own mind. It was time to do some pruning and weeding!
The fact that I would not be spending much time admiring what’s outside was readily reflected in the stark architecture of the Vipassana meditation center where I was to spend the next ten days.
Actually, the place looked more like a prison than anything else.. The purpose of it being – not allowing the distractions of the outside world to weaken the focus on the world inside..
Vipassana – it is not an experience for everyone. Not everyone is inclined to test his or her body and mind with the severity of silence and intense inner work, meditating ten hours a day for ten days straight.
The first few days are always difficult but the results of this tremendous effort can be as surprising as the intensity of the effort itself. Intensity that is difficult to compare to anything else.
Ten days of absolute silence, nearly continuous meditation and observation of the many inner processes taking place in each and everyone of us, reveals the truths and realizations about ourselves that sometimes we wish we didn’t know.
And all of this takes place in the company of twenty to hundred and twenty silent people who just like me, try to learn something about themselves, figure out why they are the way they are and why their life is unfolding the way it does.
It is not very often that we have an opportunity to ask and answer ourselves questions like these.
It is not very often that we have the time and environment to go this deep inside.
Perhaps it is why many European Vipassana centers are booked full well in advance and every year new centers are built all over the world…
