A Trip To A Deeper Place: Vipassana Meditation retreat in Bogor

It’s been years since the last time I wrote something on this blog. This time, I feel like I need to write this because to me it’s one of the most precious experiences I’ve had in my life.

Disclaimer: This picture was not taken during my meditation retreat. This was in Pancur Aji waterfall west borneo. Taken long after that meditation retreat.

A few monts ago I decided to register myself to Vipassana meditation retreat in Mount Geulis, Bogor West Java from August 24th to September 4th 2016. Random decision? Not really. I’ve always wanted to do it since I’ve heard about it from some of my friends who have done it.

Well, I put a lot of thoughts before I did this. The retreat requires you to stay for 10 days of isolation without your phone and without communication (no talking to your fellow meditators). Approximately 10 days of sitting meditation per day. Vegetarian menu for the whole 10 days (which I don’t mind). Needs a lot of determination, right?

I didn’t think I was going to survive the retreat to be honest. Because no one really told me that it’s a peaceful course, most of the time it takes a lot of hard work, focus, and sometimes it’s boring. But apparently I did survive. And I’m glad I did.

So what did I learn from it?

Well, I believe everyone experienced different results after the retreat. I personally realized that I understand all these theories way deeper than I used to. What theories you said?
1. That we are more than this flesh and bones. Yes, I believe that each one of us has this core deep down that always know what to do, always know the answer, wise, don’t know how to hate, full of love and compassion. The problem is, this core is sometimes polluted by our ego, crave, attachments, aversion, and hatred.
2. That craving, attachments, aversion, and hatred is the root of sufferings. Yes, why we crave something if we know it’s not going to last? Why we attach ourselves to things that is not going to last? Why we hate something when we know that the universe has its own law of giving each being what they deserve?
3. That everything in life is changing. Anicca…. Anicca… Anicca…. Everything in this universe is changing. It’s always arising and passing away. Nothing is permanent.
So how did I understand those theories in the deeper understanding? We heard about them way too many times, right?

This is what we did at the retreat. We observe sensation in our whole body during the meditation. Just observing. Without hating the unpleasant sensations. Without craving pleasant sensations. Just observe, with the understanding the law of universe, that everything is changing. This exercise will train our mind to see things as it is, not to see things the way we want them to be. This is the main purpose of Vipassana.

Will it change me as a person?

I hope it will. I’m not converting myself to be a Buddhist or anything, but I’d like to think that right now, I can be a little more objective in reacting to something. Not because of the grudge, attachments, hatred, that I get from the past, and not because I want to change it, but to see it as it is.

For example, I’m not as mad as I was to the traffic in Jakarta or people who are being rude in public area. I can see that all of these experiences are just another form of sensation. And as I know, sensations have the same characteristic: they all are arising and passing away.

So yeah, that’s what I get from the retreat. I agree that you don’t have to go to this particular course to dig in about yourself, to understand about the law of nature, and to be free from sufferings. We all have our own way, we just need to find what work for us, and keep digging.