Entering Vipassana

Today my youngest child, 22, called before turning in her phone and entering ten days of silent meditation at Dhamma Salila in Dehradun India. She says she is looking forward to it and to the rigors of it, and to emerging from it feeling lighter.

During this time about 80 people gather from all over the world to commit to these disciplined days. Although the orientation is Buddhist, you can keep your existing religious tenets with you. Honna says one of the nice things about the place where she is is that nearly 90% of the attendees are from India. Many have done this multiple times. The programs run continuously, with one Vipassana session a month.

During this time you keep silent, called "noble silence"- you don't read or write, you don't make eye contact with anyone, you sit in structured meditation up to ten hours a day. There is a guide who gives a lesson at the end of the day. There is also a person assigned to address any concerns that may arise requiring communication, such as health issues, family emergencies, etc. Of course not everyone lasts the full ten days, and some will fall by the wayside, and that's ok too. There is light breakfast and a vegetarian meal served for lunch, and only tea after that. The day begins at 4AM and ends at 9PM.

You slough off the world and delve into the infinite, gradually, day by day. The technique is ancient, thousands of years old, and used to go on much longer than ten days. There are Vipassana centers all over the world, including here in the good old USA.

Honna called this morning to say that she had ridden a bus out of town, then tracked through some muddy paths, then waded across a churning river to get to the Vipassana Center. She is assigned a clean room with a 25 year old Dutch girl who has travelled extensively in India with Deloite-Touche in the past. They have their own bathroom. The Dutch girl is worried about whether she'll be able to maintain silence because she is a talkative type, but Honna said it will be fun having this roommate. Men and women are housed in separate quarters and do not see each other very often (if at all), apparently. No eye contact allowed anyway!

So she's off and incommunicado until I am ready to board my plane for India. Namaste!