October, 2010
Surviving A Monks Lifeor
the 10 Day Silent Vipassana DiscourseSchedule:
Wake up at 4 am for meditation
Meditation begins in the hall at 4:30 am.
Meditate with 70 other people for 10-11 hours per day.
Eat what is offered to you for breakfast and lunch. No dinner meal is offered other than fruit.
No talking except on rare occasions when you need to ask a question at specific times.
Some times you want to leave. Some times you can't remember why you came. You see some empty meditation cushions and know they have left probably after day 2 or day 6. Some times you know you want to leave. But there is always a curiosity of what is there for you to learn. So you stay. And then you find out. After 9 1/2 days, you are SO elated that you can talk again! What a joy!!! You can share questions, concerns, what you think you learned, get to know the names of your seven roommates, and say all the things you wanted to share but could not.
All in all, it was a very valuable experience. You have no idea what you're going to take away with you, but you know it's going to be interesting in some way or another. http://www.dhamma.org/
