Vipassana Meditation

In my Psychology class we have looked a little bit into Vipassana Meditation. It is based off a minimal ten day ordeal where you do not speak. I am not sure of the complete details of it, but this is what I know of it.

You spend ten days in a house, building, complex perhaps, with others who are partaking in this. No one speaks, and there is limited to no connection to the outside world. I suspect there may be no connection at all. There is also an absence of any sort of drugs and media. Everyone is expected to do what they can to help around the house without verbal communication. I always imagine an eerily clean house due to everyone cleaning a lot. I think I would in this situation, because I would have nothing else to do at times. I spend so much of my time in communication with the outside world, taking in media, and speaking a fair amount of time.

I think this would be a nice experience, from my short samples of it which I will speak of later on, and just from the description of it. I enjoy the quiet, and disconnecting from the world every once and a while must have its advantages. Would I be able to do it though? I think that is more of a quesionable idea.

I am sure I could go without speaking, I do that fairly frequently at my house unintentional. I am fairly introverted by nature, so cutting myself off from others would not be a difficulty. I think the hardest aspect would be time management. I may have homework, but I think I would get that done is much less than the six hours I am regularly at school. I may have more trouble getting it done, or atleast started though, due to the lack of school to inspire me. I could do chores, though I avoid them in most cases that I already find myself in. My down time could be spent reading (although I'm not sure if that is permitted), speedcubing (I'm sure I could get so much memorized in this time, but this may loose its interest even more than it already has), exercising to the best of my ability (I am not sure the area I would be able to use would be, or what may be in it), and there's always the fall back of writing. At the moment I'm learning to, well improving, my limited ability to write with my left hand. It's enjoyable. Anyways.. A large amount of time is spent in the actual act of mediation though. I think this would pass the time.

The mediation part of this relates to the simple sitting in the silence that would devour you already, and focusing on breathing. When you try to clear your mind of thoughts normally, you find yourself thinking of more. Try to think about nothing, do it right now. It won't take more than a moment. You'll find that it is impossible. In meditation the concept becomes much more possible.

During class we have done this a couple times, in short amounts of time. You sit however you wish (though I beleive if you were to go to one of the houses where this is practiced there may be more regulation) and focus on breathing. With your eyes closed you have nothing to look at, with the scilence you have nothing to listen to (although perfect scilence in a class room is not always possible and the guitar class is not all that far away so I can hear it sometimes). After not all that long, I may interrupt my relaxed state, but I realize my thoughts are quiet. It is quiet enjoyable.

Time also seems to move at a different speed than it normally would. If you look back a few posts you may find some of my thoughts on time, well a lot of my thoughts on time. To summerize one of my ramblings, time is subjective. It is invented in the mind of the preserver. When you are in such a relaxed state, time slips by very quickly. I've experienced this several times outside of my class, along with during our two to four minutes sessions in class. At first we went for two minutes, then three, then four. The first time it felt to be quite an amount of time as the act of sitting with my eyes closed, waiting to be told it was over. Once it was over though, it did not seem as much time had gone by. The second time flew by, and the third time amazed everyone. It felt like a short amount of time for the two minutes we were told it was going to last, even though it turned out to be double.

This was kind of mind blowing, and lead me to be curious about how fast longer amounts of time would go by like this. I may try for ten to twenty minutes by myself, or with someone if I can find someone to do this with. From what I have observed, the time should feel like longer than just a few minutes but go by much faster than expected.

This reminds me of the time capsule side plot from Dragon Ball Z, but that's a different topic for a different time.

I have done this many times before, however since this concept of Vipassana was introduced I have spent many more bus rides sitting in scilence. I have a marked point, right as we leave the school property, where I close my eyes. I sit forward, in the most comfortable state I can considering the bus seat, avoid movement, and just wait to feel the bus stop. I have noticed I note when we get to definitive spots; such as hard corners, hills, and stops; but the travel time between these just disappear. It is very relaxing, and gives me time to think. I'm not sure how much more or less I think in this time though, considering my thoughts are not at the front of my consciousness always through this time.

The result of just not speaking for an extended amount of time has occurred to me many times. During one day of school last year, I did not speak from the first bell to the last bell. Several people were doing it in support of children who did not get to speak (or something like that). It supported the recognition of children in poverty. I saw it as a fun opportunity, and it was. Shortly into the day I noticed my thoughts felt, almost, less cluttered. I wouldn't say they are cluttered now, but they seemed more focused. There were less background thoughts and more on what was present at the time.

My vision felt a bit different also. Everything seemed a little bit more in tune, along with my hearing. What I heard was.. somehow different? It is hard to describe. The only phrase I could match to it was the concept that my senses were heightened slightly. All of this has happened to me after listening to music for a long amount of time and not interacting with anyone verbally. I enjoy the odd difference, even if I can't put my finger on what it is exactly.

After the ten day experience, it is said that your senses are ever so heightened that you can feel the air move over your upper lip as you breath through your nose. I think this is a bit expected, considering a large amount of time is put aside to meditation that focuses on your breath. I want to try this some time, but I don't think I will ever get to it. I don't feel like I have the time, and the free time I have I wish to put toward something even if it may seem pointless to someone else. Perhaps when I am older and have the opportunity to do so I will try this. I may try it for just a few days over the Winter break, even if it involves only avoiding speaking. I may avoid the use of the computer, I would like to interact with people during this time but it may be difficult to do so with the majority of the people who I would do so anyways.