Practical advices
Here are some practical
advices below that might be helpful.
1.
Choose the place of Vipassana retreat and book
it in advance.
a.
Some places such as Himalayas are booked
pretty fast
b. Not
all courses have a teacher, the
smaller retreats have only an assistant
teacher.
c.
Check the annual temperature on the retreat. During
some months, the warmth or rain could be unbearable.
2.
Support your physical fitness by exercising
yoga asanas (stretching). Practice a butterfly asana regularly.
3.
Prior to attending the session, regularly sit
on the floor in a meditation posture, keeping your back straight whether
listening to music, watching TV, etc.
4.
Before your session, try to reduce the amount
of meat you consume if you are not a vegetarian.
a.
Avoid eating meat every second day at first,
slowly reducing the amount of the meat, replacing it by legumes.
b.
Fasting 24 hours once per week would be
beneficial.
c.
Acquaint yourself with Indian cuisine at local
restaurants. And, why not try to cook some Indian dishes at home?
5.
Apply the same rule (see number 4) to alcohol,
smoking, and drugs — reduce
them steadily but surely.
6.
It might be useful to acquaint yourself with
any meditation methodology prior to the entering the course, however, it's not
essential.
7.
To prevent unnecessary worries, prepare your
relatives and friends that you are going to be away from any communication
means for 10 days. Create an automatic reply on your email and/or phone.
8.
If you have time and budget travel through
India’s spiritual places. I will provide a number of the spiritual places in
India with hints and tips in a separate article.
9.
You can use your normal prescription medications
from your doctor. In the case of the serious health problems, contact the
training center for advice prior to arrival.
Where to go for retreat
·
India versus homeland
Thanks to Mr. Goenka,
Vipassana meditation has been spread all over the world, and people can attend
the training even in their own country. However, due to continuously increasing
popularity of the technique, there might be a problem to book a place in your
own country. In some countries. the places are all gone in the first 20 minutes
after the opening a registration.
Personally, I prefer to
get the meditation technique in the country of origin — India.
Vipassana retreat near Pushkar, India
·
Big versus small size retreats
There are tens or maybe
hundreds of Vipassana meditation centers throughout India, and I divide all of
them into two main groups: the smaller meditation centers and the bigger ones.
In the small meditation
centers, such as Pushkar, there are around 50 men and 25 women. The advantages
of a smaller place are: cozier atmosphere with less noise, perhaps bigger space
for fresh-air walking, and more time of an assistant teacher to dedicate to
each student. The food preparation is outsourced, which is also positive because
of reduced extra activities around you and noise.
The advantages of a bigger
center are: larger variety of the people with different geographical backgrounds,
you will be taught by a fully
credentialed teacher (not an assistant teacher) with his high spiritual
awareness in the Vipassana.
·
Himalayas
Very many foreigners, as
well as locals, are attracted by gorgeous views of the Himalayas, nice weather
and desire to participate to Vipassana meditation there. However, please be
aware that the retreat is closed for the winter season; it might be not as warm
as you think in spring and autumn seasons, and during the summer, the premises
are pretty badly infected by mold.
*Note: This article
is based on my personal experience and thoughts after my first 10-day
meditation course of Vipassana, and is not presented to be an absolute truth. –
Jacklyn A. Lo
Next article will tell about which things to take with you to Vipassana
and after the course.
