In search of enlightenment, or at least an altered state of awareness (the long way round), before I leave this little island, I signed up for a 10 day Vipassana meditation retreat in Taichung county, Taiwan.
The rules: no speaking, sex, meat, drugs, drinking;exercise restricted to walking around the garden
Location: Taichung county,some sort of converted farmhouse. segregated dorms, gardens teaming with life, peaceful.
The timetable: 4AM Gong 4.30-6.30AM meditate 8-11AM meditate, 1-5 meditate, 6-7 meditate, 7-8.15 discourse 8.15-9PM meditate
In other words the timetable looks like this:
mmmmmmmeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeddddddddiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttaaaaaaaaaaaatttttttttttteeeeeeeeeee
Day 1: Sitting in a hall with about 100 other people. Long periods of silence, broken by even longer farts....triumphant farts. Ah Asia.
I am "seated" (crosslegged on a cushion) beside two old Taiwanese men herein referred to lovingly as Gummy and Boo.
Gummy is a wise old man. He teaches me. He teaches me that the most annoying sound in the universe is the incessant gumming of old men. Boo is like an Asian version of the peanut headed old guy from “The Simpsons’’. He randomly exclaims 'booooooooooo'. This seems to upset Gummy’s rhythm. I come to love Boo. When it rains gummy gums blend into the pitter patter. I come to love rain. I am full of love already.
Day 2: My nose clears and I begin to focus as instructed on my breathing. I learn something I have long suspected. I am insane, we are all insane. Time passes....
Day 3: Focus has noticeably improved.
I sit in the garden watching the 10's of swallows swooping and gobbling up insects. Some sort of gnat is eaten by a dragonfly which is almost immediately eaten by a swallow. In my meditation induced Zen like state I nod sagely to myself. Ah, the circle of life, it is all becoming so clear. I resolve name any future daughter ‘Swallow’. 3 hours of deep contemplation later I realize why this might not be such a good idea.....
Day 4: We are instructed in the Vipassana technique; as an added bonus "determination sittings" are announced. 1 hour a session, 3 times a day, absolutely no movement. Like an extended game of statues, a very painful one. I half anticipate the announcement of low energy gruel.
Day 5: starting to get to grips with the technique and am really sensitive to my body. I can also create a really cool body buzz at will, mixed with some funky visuals; this is a thoroughly enjoyable experience,mushroomesque....the good kind. I relate this to my teacher, apparently this is not the way to go...bummer
Day 6: Feeling lethargic from all the sitting I do some sneaky push ups in my bedroom. The Catholic in me feels guilty and wants to confess. What, no speaking...oh joy
Day 7: I break my vow of silence. Walking in the garden I almost step on two snakes, the first noise I make in 7 days is a pathetic girly "eughoooow!" The man who constantly stares wondrously at his hands as if he's just grown them also breaks his silence as he laughs at the girly Irishman "没有毒'' "no poison''. I decide now is no neither the time nor the place to get into St. Patrick and his heroics.
Day 8: The meditation is actually getting really intense at this stage and I’m really making some 'progress'. I have also written 5 new songs and half a science fiction novel...in my head of course, writing is forbidden
Day 9: Last day of no speaking. the long and short of it is I realize I have to get access to a computer and access to the outside world isn’t allowed, so, at 5pm I find myself, despite warnings of 'storms' from the management, hitching a lift with a pastor to the nearest net cafe in Taichung. If there is a word that describes vivid to the point of painful I would use it right about now.
Conclusion: I'm intending on keeping up the meditation,the technique itself is highly logical, practical and beneficial and if you're so inclined(which i most definitely am), trippy. The food was great too ;-)
I’d recommend anybody who is even vaguely interested in this sort of thing to give,or failing that, anybody who finds they're spending too much on psychedelics Certainly one of the more intense experiences of my life.
Like a really, really, really quiet roller coaster.
For more details on the course and organization
http://www.dhamma.org
2 comments:
I've definitely enjoyed the peak you've given into this experience. Keep bloggin', boy! You make the path to enlightenment seem a little, well, lighter, and hopefully this can inspire the rest of us 'tryers' to just do it. Funny how this was the second time in your life you had to maintain silence. Trust you found it a very different experience this time around. Enjoy the Phillipines, say hello to Malapascua for me, and all the best in Shanghai. Lots of love to you!! xxoxox
Wonderful glimpse at your stay good buddy. similar experiences on my end. Your command of the technique is quite fitting a man of your nature. To have such a grasp of the "free flow' so early in your meditation, is something worth exploring. Naturally good at whatever you do... I wish I could say the same.
Be well my brother.
Write when you can.
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