Vipasanna, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India’s most ancient techniques of meditation. It was taught more than 2500 years ago as a remedy for universal ills.

Was catching up with a friend a couple of days ago and he told me about this Vipasanna meditation center in Cambodia that he visited earlier this year. Basically, he participated in a 10 days course where he was supposed to be silent from beginning to end(this is scary, especially for a chatty person like me), and any form of distraction (tech gadgets, books, magazines and physical contact) was prohibited. Through this entire process, you are to clear yourself from all impurities and take a vow of silence (called Noble Silence)  to encourage self-observation and to explore and discover things from deep within your own heart and mind. All these, amidst a beautiful countryside environment.

Sounds really spiritual I know but when he told me about it, I was thoroughly intrigued and captivated by the idea. When he mentioned that there was one such mediation center in Kyoto, Japan (which is where I think I might be heading to after Taiwan), i had a seemingly impulsive but awesome notion sprouting out from my head right there and then. Why not try it out if I am going to be there? Even if it is painful or even worse, boring, it would still be an experience that I would live to know and tell. Also, two meals a day and accommodations are all provided free-of-charge (of course there is a obligatory donation fee at the end, but it will still really help me save on daily expenses and hopefully learn a great deal about myself along the way). It is the perfect opportunity, especially since I am already embarking on a journey of self-discovery,  the perfect icing on my cake.

However, if you are thinking of trying this out as well, do research extensively about it first and be thoroughly comfortable with the whole idea before signing up. Apparently, it is a rule that one must remain within the course boundaries until the end and dropping out halfway is strongly discouraged (I suspect this rule was implemented because it happened to a lot of people before).

Being one who is almost always dependent on worldly comforts to pass my time, I see the part where I cannot even read a book as the hardest part of taking on this challenge. What will I do? How can I think… what can I think about? 10 days, seriously?

On the other side of the coin, I had gone through quite a fair bit since I made the decision to leave it all behind to see the world as much as I can and I really don’t I have much things to lose anyway. That being said, I am in a very good position to be gamed for almost anything that comes my way at this point of my life. Time, is largely more on my side than most of the people I know currently anyway so…why not?

To find out more about this, please visit http://www.bhanu.dhamma.org/index.php?id=4790&L=0