This week I spent 3 days in silent meditation at Dhamma Makaranda Vipassana center.

Context

To date I’ve completed two 10 day Vipassana courses, the first in 2018 in Myanmar, and the second in 2022 in Australia. Committing to 10 days is difficult, but I think there’s a lot of benefit in refreshing my practice every so often and meeting other meditators, so I applied and was accepted last minute to this 3 day course.

Process

• Wake up 430am

• Meditate, eat twice, have a few breaks, listen to a discourse

• Go to sleep at 9pm

• Repeat

Learnings

• This was my first 3 day course, and I felt rushed. During my 10 day courses it has taken me the first 3-4 days to sweep out the mindjunk before I can get to work. Here I only had the first day to do that, the second day and a half to work seriously, and then the last half day for metta and chatting with other students

• Nonetheless, it was challenging and rewarding

• I always meet super interesting, accomplished, and worldly people on these retreats. This one was no different!

Next steps

• Meditate daily

• Work on equanimity

• Apply to be a server on a 10 day course, perhaps next year