With Vipassana, explore the worlds within

 Kushalrani Gulab

It had taken Aditi Govitrikar about 10 years to get to the point where her doubts about taking a vipassana course were last minute ones. It had been something she’d thought about over those years, but never got around to doing. “But around August 2009, I was at a crossroads in my life,” says Aditi. “I needed to figure things out. So I tried various things, like an Art of Living course, but nothing helped. Then I realised I needed a detox programme for the mind. And my sister suggested vipassana.” ....

More Information: http://www.hindustantimes.com/Brunch/Brunch-Stories/Explore-the-worlds-within/Article1-754944.aspx

Vipassana liberates

...... The absence of communication with others in any form forces you to go within the depths of your psyche. This prompts reactions ranging from tears, anger, reliving past traumas to catharsis, bliss and peace.The goal of Vipassana is to make you more calm compassionate and tolerant towards others. It leads to a realisation that a simple life can be a joyous one. The ultimate aim is to attain nirvana or liberation from the cycle of rebirths.

Read more : http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2011-09-26/holistic-living/30203787_1_meditation-vipassana-gong

Ten Days In Silence At A Meditation Retreat Changed My Life

...... On the tenth day I left feeling like a new woman. I was liberated. I knew I could always come back to meditation to deal with stress, anxiety and day-to-day life stressers that often consume us. I was ready to face the world head on. I didn’t really understand how it worked, but somehow meditation changed my outlook on the world. With every step of my life thereafter and every hurdle I found, meditation –and that retreat particularly–helped me get through it. It has helped me appreciate the things around me and live life day by day instead of always worrying about the future. I still stress and I still worry. I am human after all. But the meditation has helped me see life as it truly is—wonderful.

Read more: http://blisstree.com/feel/meditation/ten-days-in-silence-at-a-meditation-retreat-changed-my-life-612/

Vipassana: a most wonderful experience in Auckland

These teachings go deep in your subconscious mind, when you are in meditation. They go deep in your receptive mind in that mode and one really understands the truth of “impermanence” of this life to the core. The only truth of our life is the “breathing”. The constant message of “impermanence” of life, changes your attitude to look at what happens in real life and the urge to “react” weakens. Anger lessens.Read more: http://www.indianweekender.co.nz/Pages/ArticleDetails/19/2628/Travel/Vipassana-a-most-wonderful-experience-in-Auckland

Vipassana meditation popular with youth

The idea of cutting off communication from the world might be a cause for panic attacks. But as Vipassana centres around Mumbai report, the number of stressed-out city dwellers between the ages of 22-30 who’re opting for the intensive meditation technique is steadily increasing.

The number of people below the age of 30 who opt for Vipassana has increased noticeably in the past year. “While Vipassana was considered to be popular among the older crowd, we now find that the number of people below the age of 30 outnumber the senior crowd.”

She adds that during the vacation season, the ratio of women to men is higher: “Most come because they cannot handle the stress in their daily lives.”

Read More : http://www.hindustantimes.com/Vipassana-meditation-popular-with-youth/Article1-732516.aspx

Ten days of silence- why is it so popular?

Here's the interview Leon did on Monday (July 18) with Patrick Given- Wilson, a former merchant banker, now meditation instructor.

He spoke at length about his extraordinary story and why ten day courses of absolute silence (Vipassana meditation) are becoming more and more popular.

Listen to the full interview here: http://blogs.abc.net.au/files/patrick-given-wilson.mp3

Introduction to Vipassana Meditation

For those who are not currently familar with the ancient technique of Vipassana Meditation, its non-sectarian nature and its benefits, a video discourse approximately 17 minutes in length is available for viewing in both English and Hindi languages.  

A short video with subtitles in multiple languages that consists of a series of interviews with Vipassana students. They talk about how they first came to a Vipassana course, and what the practice of Vipassana has meant to them in their lives. The title of this film is "Practicing Vipassana: Meditator Experiences". The interviews were conducted of students from various countries and were recorded at the Italian Vipassana Center.

Watch videos online:  http://video.server.dhamma.org/video/intro/vintro.htm

The Life Out Loud: Sometimes You Need to Shut Up [Video]

Think meditation is only for monastic types? The kind of people who chant "Hare Krishna" as they dance about in their orange robes? So did I. Until I really tried it, that is.

In the fall of 2007, I attended my first 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat. Find out what happened -- and why you should do one, too -- by watching my 5-minute Ignite talk:

Watch video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meimei-fox/vipassana-meditation_b_868335.html

The Life Out Loud: Learning to Revel in Your Sorrows

.........After years of failing to avoid the darkness, I finally confronted it when I attended a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat in 2007. I had no choice but to sit, and sit some more, and then sit some more, because that's all we were permitted to do (aside from eating two meals per day). It turned out that the broken record player in my mind was stuck on one boring track: "You're a loser. You failed at your marriage. Your family is a mess. You're the only one of your friends not to have a partner and kids. You're nothing but a ghostwriter in your professional career. Whatever happened to you, MeiMei Fox? Where did you go wrong?"

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/meimei-fox/reveling-sorrow_b_862288.html

Ten days without talking

Was it possible to survive 10 days of meditating in an Indian retreat without speaking, reading or making eye-contact with fellow guests?

What I have to admit afterwards is that sensation-seeking is the very antithesis of meditation. It is not about the colours or the bliss; rather it's about strengthening the muscle that helps build resilience. A steady practice that leaves you a bit better equipped to pause before lashing out, to rise above perceived slights and not be put off by the usual setbacks. A little more able to face life's vicissitudes with equanimity, as Goenka would say.

Read more: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/mar/09/ten-days-without-talking

Meditation with the FT: Tim Parks

Through meditation, Tim Parks was able to cure himself of chronic pelvic pain
What do you learn in this school?

That the discomfort you feel sitting cross-legged is directly related to your mental activity which, deprived of all fresh input, reveals itself as an endless churn of self-regard, pointlessly rewriting the past, vainly scripting the future, stubbornly avoiding the present.

That the moment you truly focus on your breathing, thought subsides and everything relaxes, everything is easy.

That exploring the body with this intensity over so many days will change forever your perception of what it is and who you are.

At long last, when you do learn not to react to pain, pain itself is much diminished, even irrelevant, while pleasure is the more pleasurable when you learn not to hang on to it. The Buddhist context can be taken or left as you please. The meditation works fine without any belief.

Read more: https://www.ft.com/content/e544348c-33eb-11e0-b1ed-00144feabdc0

At End-Of-The Line Prison, An Unlikely Escape

Deep in the Bible Belt, an ancient Eastern practice is taking root in the unlikeliest of places: Alabama's highest-security prison.

Behind a double electric fence and layers of locked doorways, Alabama's most violent and mentally unstable prisoners are incarcerated in the William E. Donaldson Correctional Facility outside Birmingham. Many of them are here to stay. The prison has 24 death-row cells, and about a third of the approximately 1,500 prisoners are lifers with no chance of parole.

Read more: http://www.npr.org/2011/02/08/133505880/at-end-of-the-line-prison-an-unlikely-escape

At End-Of-The Line Prison, An Unlikely Escape

Deep in the Bible Belt, an ancient Eastern practice is taking root in the unlikeliest of places: Alabama's highest-security prison.

Convicted murderer Johnny Mack Young in the meditation stance he keeps for nearly 10 hours a day during the 10-day silent meditation course. Officials say the meditation program is reducing violence at Alabama's highest security lockup. "It changed my life," Young says.


Dr. Ron Cavanaugh, treatment director for the Alabama Department of Corrections, says many inmates put their defenses up, denying responsibility for their crimes and blaming others. But the meditation practice, he says, chips away at those defense mechanisms.

More information: https://www.npr.org/2011/02/08/133505880/at-end-of-the-line-prison-an-unlikely-escape