Ten Days in Silence

In the last post I mentioned I wanted to do two things in India, to wwoof and to do a ten day vipassana meditation course. 

Vipassana is a meditation technique which Gautama Buddha practiced and through which he attained enlightenment. With that said though, it is a completely universal method, which can be practiced by anybody of any religious or cultural background. The introductory/first course is always ten days long and noble silence is practiced throughout. You also get up at 4 am and sit in meditation for about twelve hours a day. 

You may be thinking already what kind of a crazy person would do that voluntarily. Actually all kinds. There are literally people from any background you could possibly imagine. Young, old, poor, rich, students, professionals, travelers. There was one girl sitting next to me in the meditation hall and she seemed very young. After the course she told me she was only nineteen. I think it's amazing for a nineteen year old to take a part in a meditation course.
We are constantly fed by negative news by the media. I don't go out of my way to follow the news when I'm traveling (or ever) but even then, a lot of it still reaches me, rarely talking about something positive. It is easy to get a bit skeptical about the world. 

Seeing so many people at the course who come for ten days to dedicate the time to themselves and challenge themselves is really special. I believe the intention everyone at the course (an even outside of it, sometimes not realizing) shares is to become happy, or happier. Coming to a course like this, you are aware that it is you who has all the tools to achieve that goal or at least come closer to it. Of course you are guided through the process but how much benefit you get is up to you.  

I don't want to go into details about the technique or what exactly I felt during the meditation sessions. Everyone's experience is unique, nothing is better or worse. All you experience is raw reality in the present moment which is very hard to escape in a setting like this. In daily life we have many opportunities to distract ourselves from dealing with whatever is happening inside.
One thing that came out of being silent for ten days was the realization that most of what we say are empty words. There is really very little we need to share with the ones around us. With that said, maybe I've written enough already :)
Perhaps one more thing. During one vipassana sitting a thought suddenly came to my mind: "Wow, everyone should do this!" I know as much as I would like to, not everyone is thinking the same way I am. But if you are considering attending the course, please do it. Maybe you're not sure whether you're ready or whether it would really be something for you. Give it a try and decide for yourself if it works or not. How do you know when you're ready anyway? You are as ready as you can be to live your life now.

No need to be out of gold to be a Buddha, necessary to realize the preciousness of ones life

Living the Himalayan Village Life

Trying to summarize what I've done in the past two or three months when I didn't write a single blog post would be quite a challenging task. I would be enough material for a whole book. 

I do want to share some of the highlights though, for my memory and hopefully your inspiration. 

Back in January when I was in Nepal I was considering what to do in India besides my yoga therapy training, something slightly beyond just being a tourist. My original thought was to go back to Nepal which for certain reasons was not an option anymore. Suddenly many possibilities opened up for me. I could go anywhere and do anything. Something I didn't know how to appreciate enough when it was happening in that moment. I made two decisions. One was to wwoof - volunteer on an organic farm, the second was to do a 10 day vipassana (silent meditation) course. I almost ended up doing neither but am very grateful I found the courage to do both (especially the latter!).

I chose to wwoof at Brahma home stay in Parvati Valley at the foothills of the Himalayas. Brahma is run by an amazing couple Laura and George who were most definitely the main reason for the absolute enjoyment of my stay (besides the fabulous views and fresh air). My first thought was to stay for one week which turned into three (and still didn't feel like it was enough!). Laura and George encourage their wwoofers to take initiative and come up with their own projects. How cool is it to paint your art on a wall and call it work? :) It was beautiful to see the progress in which the fences were built, paths paved, plants planted, walls painted, windows cleaned. One of the most enjoyable moments for me though was helping with cooking dinners. There is somewhat more beauty in the meal when you know it was you who carried the fifteen kilograms of vegetables up the hill :)
I know this might sound cliche but it really is eye-opening to see how simply one can live, how little we need to be happy, how self-sufficient we can be, how much work we can do ourselves or with the help of others. Below are some photographs of Brahma and the work we did.

the view is alright ;)

snow came

the house

fencing

path i made

mead making

trek up to Kheer Ganga

a bit of Holi in Barshani