It took more than a decade for the wish come true when I saw a small notification in local english newspaper that Vipassana course was being held in Muscat itself. Now, this was like mountain coming to Mohammed and I grabbed the opportunity and got myself registered. After the initial euphoria subsided and the emails were exchanged, I realised that this was not to be a recreational thing if that was the stuff which I had assumed. Following was made clear to me:
- Course was a residential one with no charges. Totally free.... now thats great, isnt it!
- During the course no contact with the outside world, so no mobile, no emails...... Hmmmm.
- All time during the course total silence to be maintained. This meant 24X7 for full 10 days. Only for queries with the teacher you are allowed but that too on a minimal basis.
The later two were intimidating and I started realising the situation which I got myself into as the date started drawing near. Frankly speaking, I would have withdrawn my participation but by then many people had come to know about my plans and my ego thus refrained from chickening out.
So on the previous evening, I was it 
Asas Oman- Service Apartments where the programme was to be run. Was already late so could not get into intros and check who all will be with me etc etc. Was shown my room- which was to be shared but as I was a first-timer I was given the Queen-sized double bed. I was under the impression that we would be required to sleep on floor etc etc. But for a start, the luxury gave some comfort.
Was briefed that during the stay for 10 days participants have to abstain from ;
- killing any being
- stealing
- sexual misconduct
- wrong speech- means lieing
- any intoxicants
Jokes apart- the five tenets and the confinement is basically needed to create environment which makes your mind ( चित्त) not to get bogged by distractions. As mentioned earlier the Pali word Vipassana means to see things things as they are. And here we were to see inside, to close out and look inwards, to turn introvert. Moreover, these ten days it was to be an experience of living life of a Sanyasi- eating whatever has been donated by others, frugal existence and away from the प्रपंच. Would be pertinent to mention here that the course does not require any thing to be paid- in cash or in kind. So whole of the ten days, one survives on the donations other people might have given.
The schedule was a rigorous one. Get up at 4 AM and hit the sack at 9:30 PM with breakfast at 6:30 AM, lunch at 11 AM and dinner at 5 PM. Meditation being the main activity throughout. Ofcourse some rest breaks after the meals. It worked out to about 10 hours of sittings everyday. But no sitting went beyond 60 minutes at a stretch. Within these 60 minutes also we were free to take 5-10 minutes break if feeling stiff, sleepy or restless.
Silence or rather Noble Silence- आर्य मौन meant that not only we were not to talk but also not to get into eye contact or communicate through gestures. And so strongly was it maintained that only when the programme ended I came to know that there were two couples amongst the partipants. No way others could make out that the spouses knew each other. Not even a fleeting expression on their faces when accidentally happened to see eachother in all of those 10 days.
I had got into this thinking that this is meditational technique but as the programme progressed realised that its a philosophy in itself. The programme is irreligous ( one Pakistani gentlemen was also attending) but the technique was propounded by Gautam the Buddha. 2600 year before after Gautam acheived enlightment- he introduced Vipassana to common man. For 500 years after his nirvana it was popular in India but then gradually faded out. Along with Buddhism it spread out of India and the techinique in its purest form survived in Burma through closed chain of Guru-Shishya parampara. Mr Satyanarayana Goenka- a Burma born Marwari industrialist came in contact with Sayagyi U Ba Khin and learnt from him for 14 years before bringing Vipassana back to its homeland- India. In 1969 Mr Goenka started imparting this training at Dhammagiri in Igatpuri. There has been a rapid growth and now the organisation boasts of numerous centres around the globe.
The programme consists of three and half days on Anapan and six and a halfdays of Vipassana. Former consists of bringing your Chitta or Mind to concentrate by focussing on breathing. Once we get a little control on the wavering mind we are taken to Vipassana which makes us see look inward.
As regards my progress was concerned..... I was mighty nervous how I would be surviving the ten days and decided to take one day at a time- nay each hour at a time. And thus entered... There were ups and downs and lot of frustrating moments. Restlessness and waywardness of mind was the most challanging aspect to tackle. Hours went and I would realise that I had concentrated or my mind could stay focussed for few minutes in those long hours. But gradual excercise of meditation started working and thecount started going up. Another issue was to sit still on the floor. There I sat squirming and shifting every 2 minutes. And whenever tried having a peek would see my fellow paticipants still and peacefully meditating as live statues of Buddha and Mahavir. But then gradually my body also fell in line and I could maintain a steady sitting of upto 45 minutes at one stretch.
At the end of each day, Mr SN Goenka's video was played giving theoritical explanation of what all was being done as regards the technique etc. More than that the philosophical dicsussions were of much interest as he spoke on the universal Dhamma and related features.
Details about Vipassana, per-se will be posted separately. As regards my experience, it was very fruitful. Not that I have become the Enlightened one but atleast realised that there is something which can be worked for. Requires disciplined efforts further. Can only say that everyone of us should take this experience atleast once- whether or not you would like to continue on the path is immaterial but the experience of 10 days in itself is a very enlightening one.
