Tryst with Vipassana - Deepak Salwan

Trains, Planes, Buses, Car and a Jeep – Had been wandering through the mountains of Himachal, Uttrakhand and plains of Punjab. Was practically living out of my suitcase with my extemporized travels and then I thought it was time for me to rest my butt, brain and heart for few days somewhere. I was headed for Vipassana meditation course in Jaipur. Though I had to stop the course on the fifth day but what an experience it turned out to be.

Day 1. I checked into a peaceful ashram on the outskirts of Jaipur. Surrounded by hillocks, the place was serene with myriad of trees, sounds of birds chirping, peacock calls, friendly Langurs; just what I needed leaving behind my inane life for few days. A gentle cool breeze and warm winter sun made the whole environment very calming.

Rules for ten days: Up at 4 AM, light off at 9:30 PM, No screens, no music, no reading material, no looking at other “Sadhaks” , 9 hours of meditation and most importantly no talking… nothing but Quiet… for 10 DAYS!! Perfect! – I thought it will be good riddance to my idiosyncratic tommyrot. I was told by a dear friend that I need to act my age and not talk too much. Anyways, topic for another day .. this, “acting one’s age”!

First 3.5 days were learning to be in “Smadhi”. Sit in cross legged position ( Sukhasan or Padmasan”)  for nine hours ( with some breaks) and take your entire attention to your natural relaxed breathing; feeling it as you inhale and exhale. Then, progress to next stage with narrowing the focus area to just below the nostrils and the upper lip. Mind kept playing various scenes from past and potential future happenings, eventually became quiet after being vacuous. But the body! – Man! My lower back, my legs, my calves were so sore that I requested for a back support and it was denied politely and was asked to endure it. Boy – By third day all my pains disappeared miraculously and it became so easy to sit for long hours. Something was really working – Until….

…Until, my fellow “sadhaks” truly showed the meaning of “Detachment” and “Letting Go”. 110 hungry souls made our meditation group; at least half of them were old aged gentlemen and a good number of young chaps. So, up at 4AM, we were in the mediation hall promptly at 4:30AM. Then, it happened… during the meditation, goes one burp, then another one from another corner and another series of them from yet another one. The air didn’t make it’s way out from just one opening; it found another orifice and some body “Let Go” one loud one! There was snoring, coughing and lot of other distractions. But these “Sadhaks” were really detached from the feeling that they are suppose to be quiet .. Hello! Silence!.. that’s the whole point of meditation. But no! Nada!... they were so detached in “Letting Go” that I thought, did these souls , who have already attained nirvana, really needed this course. Not to be disrespectful to them , I tried to eschew the disturbances thinking that in old age it is common.

The mind thinks of random stuff; mine did too. When the “Sadhak” sitting in front of me decided to "let go" one not so redolent and a loud one right at the perfect moment when teacher asked us to breath in and narrow the focus only on nostrils. I felt like getting up and giving him one. Then better sense prevailed; I was in non-violent Buddhist meditation. However I tried hard to stop my laugh when I thought, what will the SOP ( Standard Operating Procedure) if one got up and gave a tight one to fellow Sadhak. Then a weird, random scenario played in my mind… what if, then prince Charles, farted during his coronation ceremony! Aaaaannnyways…
 
It’s the little things, the smallest details that matters in life. And I experienced the same there. Devoid of any reading material, the smallest details of Ingredients and direction of use of my moisturiser were my new friends… Read them over and over again till it all sank in and I drifted to sleep. 😊 Read all the details on my medicine boxes; the salts, the manufacturer, the distributors… yada, yada…  I now have new level of respect for the “directions of use” for the body lotions!

Fifth day! I couldn’t take the deucedly distractions while I really tried being duteous to the meditation. I finally called it off. So, did I see the light ? No! But I felt the calm, I felt the normalcy, I felt I was ok. Biggest thing I became aware of… If you give it some love; your body loves you back; unlike the unrequited worldly love. 

Will I do Vipassana again ? Oh, Yes, I will !!!!!