Vipassana - Is the 10 day course really difficult?

 Short answer - Yes.

Vipassana is a 10 day meditation course with a strict schedule based on the teachings of Buddha. You think, to stay with 10 days of absolutely no connect with outside world will be difficult but..

• 10 days of no interaction with family
• 10 days of no mobile
  
• 10 days of no speaking
• 10 days of no reading
• 10 days of no writing
• 10 days of no non veg or Swiggy
• 10 days of no alcohol or smoking
• 10 days of no dinner
• 10 days of no instagram, whatsapp or any social media
• 10 days of no netflix or any content
• 10 days of no stock market or investments
• 10 days of no checking your work email
• 10 days of waking up at 4:00 am
• 10 days of walking for an hour as only exercise

And yet, none of these were actually any difficult. The real challenge, at least that I faced, was something very different.

What is Vipassana?

The course is focussed on the ancient teachings of Buddha towards liberation from misery and is centred around Shila (morality through 5 precepts), Samadhi (mastery over mind), Panna (purification of mind & wisdom). I will not attempt to explain the technique as there is already material present on the official Dhamma Vipassana website. But for anyone curious, you can go through this Day 5 video to get a good overview- do not go through other day discourse videos if you are seriously contemplating going for a Vipassana course. 

I took the course at the Belapur centre - Dhamma Vipula 

1. Facility: 10/10

The facilities at this particular center were very modern. 24x7 hot water, AC in every room, western toilets, extremely clean premises, all meditation halls & pagoda cells were AC, nice garden area for walking, electricity was always available. We even had a Laundry service for Rs.15 per cloth for washing + ironing.

2. Food: 9/10

To everyone's surprise, the breakfast & lunch was very tasty, with a good spread, unlimited quantity and daily new dishes.

Breakfast (06:30 am) had a daily main item like poha, upma, idli, dhokala, uttapam, sabudana khichadi etc. Fixed items included nuts, tea/coffee, banana & papaya, khakra, sprouts, bread jam.

Lunch (11:00 am) has 2 veg sabji (like aloo gobi, pulses, paneer etc), chappati, daal, rice, salad, curd, buttermilk, banana and even some days desert like kheer or ladoo

Evening snacks (05:00 pm) was very sad with all 10 days of kurmura (puffed rice), banana, tea/coffee - became very monotonous and hence one point deduction :)

Dinner - nothing :)

3. Teaching: 10/10

All centres world wide play the exact same audio  / video recordings of S.N. Goenka Guruji of 1991 - for 35 years its the same content. 
We had 1 Male and 1 Female teacher with who we could daily discuss any questions regarding the technique.

Evening discourses by Guruji were the most looked after event of the day and they were so insightful with a sense of humour.

So, if everything was so hunky-dory then what was the challenge?

10 days with daily 10 hours of deep focused meditation. 2 aspects are challenging here:

1. Mental: Focusing your mind on very small parts of the body, like below the nostril, for 1 full day continuously is no easy task. The transition from one day to another is also very slow. Some folks also could not easily sleep at 10 pm and were all alone & awake in their rooms till 12 or 1 am - this too takes mental toll.

2. Physical: Sitting on the floor with folded legs daily is painstaking. During some sessions, you are expected to sit for an hour without moving a muscle.

Since the day starts at 4 AM, by the time you reach lunch, you begin thinking of still another 5 hours of meditation to go. Alternate day, you think to quit, find ways to escape the place, keep counting down towards day 10. You keep motivating yourself with a commitment not to quit, look at your fellow colleagues and push yourself to day 10. 

So, is it worth it then?

In 10 days, you learn the technique to focus your mind on different sensations in your body and not to react - whether session is pleasant with a reaction of craving or if its unpleasant with a reaction of aversion. The benefits off course depends on how you practice it daily after the course is completed.

For me personally, some key realizations

1. I could survive 10 days without any connect with the external world including family

2. I could sit in a still position for an hour

3. I could understand my mind & body and identify different sensations

4. I could easily focus my mind calmly without any distractions

5. Having never meditated with any other technique, this was my first formal exposure to a structured meditation learning course

6. Understand the wonderful teachings of Buddha, the science behind mind & matter and the rich intellectual heritage of India.

7. Realization & understanding of the chain of Misery -> Attachment -> Craving / Aversion -> Sensation -> Sensory organs and how to break this.