Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

curiousjuice.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 93 posts

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#21

Post by endlessvoid94 »

up_and_up wrote: post #16
DenisM wrote: post #12

My take on Vipassana, in a nutshell (having gone through one 10-day course): An experience gets memorized based on its emotional strength, so, for example, a strong negative experience (a trauma) will get memorized quite well. Later on, in a sort-of realed situation one gets to recall and relive such stored experience - the brain sort of "believes" it's important to remember. If the re-living is also strongly emotion…

12 year meditator here. You describe well the process of cleansing/polishing the memory. > I found it impossibly hard to keep meditating on my own Couple things to keep in mind: 1. Daily practice in some form is the real key. Just get up and do it. 2. There will be ups and downs, high and lows in meditation. 3. Vipassana is a pretty austere form of meditation. You are directly confronting the mind with little outside…

I couldn't find an email to shoot you a message, so I'm responding here.

I meditated for a few months back in 2006 and it was fantastic. I, too, have trouble maintaining it. What other sorts of practices would you recommend?

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#22

Post by initself »

Guys, what you are calling "Sarkanas", the Goenka tradition is calling "Sankhara".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%85kh%C4%81ra

Nothing woo-woo about "conditioned phenomena". And it's not really a "Vipassana" term as much as a philosophical term in general. That's just the Pali name for it.

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#23

Post by initself »

DenisM wrote: post #9
uberuberuber wrote: post #2

I completed my first 10 day Vipassana course recently, and genuinely believe that a slightly modified version of the course should be an essential component of any person’s psychological maturation/development. The course I did was the ‘Goenka course’ (dhamma.org), and I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about meditation. It is free of charge to attend, and you can actually only donate to the o…

>'Maladaptive neuronal connections' That's a mouthful, and just as obscure for most people. Might as well go with "Sarkana" - it's easier to pronounce. Besides, the script worked well for a few thousand years now, there is hardly a reason to change it now. But yeah, if you're scientifically inclined and the ancient Indian mythology is rubbing you the wrong way, you can safely skip it, and it still makes perfect sense…

I think by "Sarkanas" you really mean "Sankharas".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sa%E1%B9%85kh%C4%81ra

Nothing woo-woo about "conditioned phenomena".

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#24

Post by initself »

uberuberuber wrote: post #15
DenisM wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>'Maladaptive neuronal connections' That's a mouthful, and just as obscure for most people. Might as well go with "Sarkana" - it's easier to pronounce. Besides, the script worked well for a few thousand years now, there is hardly a reason to change it now. But yeah, if you're scientifically inclined and the ancient Indian mythology is rubbing you the wrong way, you can safely skip it, and it still makes perfect sense…

I should have fleshed out that thought more fully. I agree it's a mouthful, but I was trying to convey that we no longer have to believe in such strange (bad) ideas because we have a new set of strange (better) ideas (connectomes and such) that actually have evidence underlying them. The way the course described Sakarnas was as 'bad non-physical spirits/objects/states' that were generated by the body, and that medita…

If you think sankharas are non-physical, you missed the point. They are entirely physical and experienced as "vedana", bodily sensations. Nothing woo-woo. You just feel your body objectively.

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#25

Post by initself »

laglad wrote: post #10
gesman wrote: post #7

I loved about the course: - Amazing food - Donation/karma-driven sustainability. Sort of Open Source Meditation :) - Silence (no bullshit talking and no bullshit listening for 10 days) - Heightened sense of creativity achieved - Heightened sense of humor achieved - Great attention to needs to everyone from organizers. - It's funny - I always gave funny nicknames to everyone. I didn't mind: - Goenka parables. I didn't…

Re: maintaining gains. Isn't the point to live free of the very measure of gain/loss this present moment?

Continuity of practice is the secret of success.

http://www.dhamma.org/en/qanda.shtml

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#26

Post by initself »

dpnewman wrote: post #18

i have recently done the 10 day course and it was one of the best things i have ever experienced. have continued meditating (near) every day because it keeps me returning to a sense of deep calm and focus and enjoyment – feelings prior far more rare even tho i would have described myself as happy and digging life. the new digging is at a deeper level and much of what i used to perseverate upon seems reduced in import…

I'm happy for you!

>> practically the whole notion of "intellect figuring out and resolving issues", seems now completely a misguided process"

Makes me feel like all the book learning I ever did was all for naught (aside from technical learning that helps me do my job).

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#27

Post by up_and_up »

carbon8 wrote: post #19
up_and_up wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

12 year meditator here. You describe well the process of cleansing/polishing the memory. > I found it impossibly hard to keep meditating on my own Couple things to keep in mind: 1. Daily practice in some form is the real key. Just get up and do it. 2. There will be ups and downs, high and lows in meditation. 3. Vipassana is a pretty austere form of meditation. You are directly confronting the mind with little outside…

Regarding #3, when practicing Vipassana as taught by Goenka, you do indeed start with anapana, both in the courses (the first 3 1/2 days are only focusing on breath) and in daily practice.

By breathing technique I am referring to something slightly different than watching and counting breaths, which in itself is somewhat austere and easy for the mind to wander. You also are inherently relying on the mind to keep track of things. How to achieve no-mind using the mind? This is tricky.

I was referring more along the lines of pranayamas, mantras and other techniques that drive the mind into submission. The mind will be completely stunned after 10-20 mins. Look into any tradition be it buddhist, yoga, tantra etc and you find some other options.

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#28

Post by xk_id »

DenisM wrote: post #9
uberuberuber wrote: post #2

I completed my first 10 day Vipassana course recently, and genuinely believe that a slightly modified version of the course should be an essential component of any person’s psychological maturation/development. The course I did was the ‘Goenka course’ (dhamma.org), and I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning more about meditation. It is free of charge to attend, and you can actually only donate to the o…

>'Maladaptive neuronal connections' That's a mouthful, and just as obscure for most people. Might as well go with "Sarkana" - it's easier to pronounce. Besides, the script worked well for a few thousand years now, there is hardly a reason to change it now. But yeah, if you're scientifically inclined and the ancient Indian mythology is rubbing you the wrong way, you can safely skip it, and it still makes perfect sense…

(following up on uberuberuber's reply)

> Besides, the script worked well for a few thousand years now, there is hardly a reason to change it now.

Imo, that is a big fallacy. I believe religious beliefs can no longer provide sound ground for adjustment in today's world. It is harmful to have within your semantic environment both "spiritual" factors such as the notion of "aetheric body", and scientific factors such as the notion of "space-time" (which currently shape our civilisation). This is because the two belong to inconsistent sets, so they conflict.

Edit: For a more relevant example, consider the implicit assumption of many "spiritual" doctrines that there is a "soul", which is separated from a "mind", which is separated from a "body". This contrasts with our modern scientific assumptions, that there is just an organism-as-a-whole-in-an-environment, which functions as such. The word "organism" is more recent than "Sankharas"! As such, it doesn't carry with itself the older metaphysics.

Also, consider our modern scientific perspective that we don't drop into this world from a vacuum – we come from an environment, the uterus. This, again, stands in sharp contradiction with many "spiritual" doctrines.

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#29

Post by initself »

I completed my 4th course in December. Vipassana meditation is the single greatest human experience that I know of. The experience of "wisdom arising by objectively observing sensations without reaction" is easily the most profound experience I have ever had and feels like a miracle every time it happens. The answers we are all looking for to fulfill ourselves and become truly happy certainly are inside of us. We just have to be willing to sit and do nothing and watch as the "law of nature" (Dhamma) takes over and we act perfectly in accordance with it from moment to moment, as it is, not as we want it to be.

In every retreat, I experience the most mind-numbing boredom, severe burning fiery pain, full body bliss the likes of which I cannot even recollect properly and a huge gamut of sensations in between all of these extremes. I've misinterpreted the extreme experiences at given times and each retreat learn a little bit more about their true nature. I can then apply what I learn to my life when I experience boredom, pain and extreme joy and learn to experience each "properly".

The trick is finding the ardent awareness that allows you to stay there, on the path, without distraction. And then to learn how to stay that ardently aware as you go through life. Hopefully the retreat doesn't stay an isolated 10 day experience but its import, particular the technique itself, is something you can cultivate throughout your life, while sitting, walking, standing and lying down.

Re: Vipassana: 10 days of solitude and insights gained from it

#30

Post by up_and_up »

endlessvoid94 wrote: post #21
up_and_up wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

12 year meditator here. You describe well the process of cleansing/polishing the memory. > I found it impossibly hard to keep meditating on my own Couple things to keep in mind: 1. Daily practice in some form is the real key. Just get up and do it. 2. There will be ups and downs, high and lows in meditation. 3. Vipassana is a pretty austere form of meditation. You are directly confronting the mind with little outside…

I couldn't find an email to shoot you a message, so I'm responding here. I meditated for a few months back in 2006 and it was fantastic. I, too, have trouble maintaining it. What other sorts of practices would you recommend?

prgrmr75 at that gmail.com thing
Post reply on HN