Vipassana is an ancient meditation technique rediscovered and taught by Gautama Buddha 2,500 years ago. It was reintroduced in India by SN Goenka in the last century.

Vipassana means “to see things as they really are”. It is a mindfulness meditation where one involves both mind and body. Any form of meditation helps in rewiring the brain and increasing its neuroplasticity. Vipassana has a profound effect not just on mind and body but also on the way one perceives and cognizes life and the world. SN Goenka calls it the surgical operation of mind. Vipassana has the ability to penetrate through the deepest levels of mind if practiced correctly and consistently.

When the meditator observes sensations through each part of the body, one learns that different sensations arise and vanish in body. These sensations, pleasant and unpleasant, keep changing during each observation. You should not react to these body sensations with craving or aversion as craving and aversion leads to suffering. This experience through one’s own body is self-realised as ‘Anicca अनिच्च ಅನಿಚ್ಚ’ (Impermanence/Everything is changing). Everything in life is ‘Anicca’ and reacting to them leads to the development of craving or aversion and ultimately suffering.

To learn Vipassana, one needs to enroll to a 10-day residential course, which is totally free of cost including the food and accommodation. You need to deposit your mobile phone, gadgets and books at the office.

During the course, you should maintain 10 days of complete silence and maintain a frugal diet. The last meal is at 11 in the morning. You will be totally cut off from the outside world and stay aloof from everyone inside the campus. The daily schedule starts at 4 am and ends at 9pm. There will be 10 hours of meditation everyday with frequent breaks in between.

Vipassana meditation is challenging and intensive. It requires strong determination and willpower to complete the course and it builds these qualities in great measure during the process. However, the course is designed in such a way that any person who goes out of one’s own motivation can complete it successfully.