While on a trip to Colombia, my websites went down due to an attack. It took two weeks before my precious sites were fixed. In the past, I sure would have gone ballistic but this time it was different, I was able to center myself and stay calm. “Everything is temporary, everything happens for a reason.”

At the height of waiting for my websites to be restored, I was given a one-day sitting slot in Vipassana Meditation Center in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada. Thanks to this opportunity and what I learned from a 10 Day Silence Retreat two months ago, I found the tools to tame my emotions and skip the stress.

Vipassana Meditation Guru S.N. Goenka said, “It is this simple truth: before you harm others, you first harm yourself by generating mental negativity; and by removing the negativity, you can find peace within and strengthen peace in the world.”

10 days of silence?

Yes, I immersed myself for 10 days of no speech. During the retreat, a Code of Noble silence for the body, mind and speech is required: absolutely zero speaking, glancing at other students, gestures, and written notes.

Day in and day out we are to sit still, merely observing respiration and sensations, and how our mind and body react to them. As easy as it may sound, doing these are certainly never easy. To purify the mind at its deepest level is self purification itself. S.N. Goenka is right when he said that we can delegate a lot of things but self-purification can only be done if one will work hard on it. As in everything else, no one can help us be successful on anything. It must come from within us through self-discipline and the power of strong determination.

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10-days of sitting for meditation, breathing in and out, no spoken word, no connection to the outside world. It was the hardest thing I went through and yet the best investment of my time and energy.

From British Columbia, Canada, I traveled to Northwest Vipassana Center, Dhamma Kuñja, Onalaska, Washington, USA. I heard about Vipassana Meditation after my diagnosis of cancer two years ago. At the time, I was owning and managing a business, doing speaking tours, and had a hurried household life. I thought there’s no way I can spare 10 days for this course.

Time quickly changed. A couple of years later after surgery, being cancer-free, surviving the scars of a broken relationship and going through the process of a deeper internal self-examination, a traveler I met during my South American trip mentioned this Vipassana course. On the quest of calming my mind, body and spirit, I immediately took action and enlisted my self online. After two months in the waiting list, I was informed that a registrant dropped off the last minute and I was in! As a saying goes “when the student is ready, the teacher will appear.”

Vipassana is one of India’s most ancient meditation techniques discovered by Gautama Buddha more than 2500 years ago. Vipassana means seeing things as they really are not how we would like it to be. It is a process of self-purification by self-observation, an ancient path of inner peace through inner wisdom through the power of connecting to our respiration.

As easy as this may sound, it is not. It is hard work and only an individual can make it or break it. Sounds weird? Vipassana allowed me to experience a state where my mind was at its highest lucidity and clarity. I would definitely recommend Vipassana meditation to anyone in the process of self-examination towards living a happy, peaceful, and harmonious lifestyle.

Many considers meditation as a spiritual practice, but it has enormous benefits to our physical, mental, and spiritual health.

Meditation Benefits for Physical Health:

• It lowers oxygen consumption and increases blood flow.
• It decreases muscle tension and relaxes the body.
• It decreases anxiety, pain, and accelerates healing.
• It enhances the immune system which aids in the body’s fight against cancer cells and viruses.
• It increases serotonin production which influences mood and behaviour. Low levels of serotonin are associated with depression, obesity, insomnia and headaches.

Meditation Benefits for the Mind:

• It allows the mind to focus and have clarity.
• It improves mental strength and concentration.
• Overall, meditation strengthens the mind, it comes under control and is able to provide effective guidance to the physical body to effectively execute all its projects.

Meditation Benefits for the Spirit:

• Meditation helps build self confidence.
• It helps decrease and expel negative thoughts.
• It allows an individual to focus on one’s being and self-value.
• It helps resolve fears, anxieties and mental causes of stress.
• It helps an individual to gain a deeper understanding of one’s identity.

As Vipassana Teacher S.N Goenka shared, “Everyone seeks peace and harmony. From time to time we all experience agitation, irritation, disharmony. And when we suffer from these miseries, we don’t keep them to ourselves; we often distribute them to others as well. Unhappiness permeates the atmosphere around someone who is miserable, and those who come in contact with such person also become affected. Certainly this is not a skillful way to live.”

Words are no measure for the unique experience I had at Vipassana. It was extreme meditation, but one that brought me to a deeper peace, and understanding of myself and spirit.

One thing is clear, I highly recommend that you experience it too!

• For more details about the Vipassana Meditation, visit http://www.dhamma.org.
• Meditation Benefits Reference: http://www.healthandyoga.com/html/meditation/objectives.html

“Everyone seeks peace and harmony, because this is what we lack in our lives… Unhappiness permeates the atmosphere around someone who is miserable, and those who come in contact with such a person also become affected. Certainly this is not a skillful way to live.”

- The Art of Living – Vipassana Meditation

“When you meditate, the silence of the senses illumines the presence of God within.”

- Gurumayi Chidvilasananda

***

As you are reading this, I am already off to a 10-day silence retreat at the Dhama Meditation Center in Onalaska, Washington, USA. After waiting for two years hoping my name will be selected, I felt blessed to receive an email from the non-profit organization informing me that I have been enlisted  to experience this free course.

My purpose is to get my mind clear, to focus on my purpose, to feel my spirit. In the process, I am also channeling my energy on what I should like to write on my second book.

No computer, no phone, no TV, no outside world distractions. My routine, as sent by our coordinator, will be as follows:

About Vipassana

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India’s most ancient techniques of meditation. It was taught in India more than 2500 years ago as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art of Living. For those who are not familiar with Vipassana Meditation, an Introduction to Vipassana by Mr. Goenka and Questions & Answers about Vipassana are available. The technique of Vipassana Meditation is taught at ten-day residential courses during which participants learn the basics of the method, and practice sufficiently to experience its beneficial results.

There are no charges for the courses – not even to cover the cost of food and accommodation. All expenses are met by donations from people who, having completed a course and experienced the benefits of Vipassana, wish to give others the opportunity to also benefit.* (http://www.dhama.org)

I’ll be back in 10-days!