My very own experiments with truth..

Who doesn't suffer from concentration issues these days? Mine was so bad that I thought I had ADHD and met a psychologist. The chimp in my head just won't stay focused on one thing at a time, and when I try to bring it back, it makes me feel like I am good for nothing because I cannot stay focussed. How do I relax my brain and stay focussed? Not having my phone on me in itself was unbelievably relaxing during the Vipassana course. If you are running like a headless chicken in your life you should really try switching your phone off for a few days and reflect. Trust me, the world will not end. It's easier said than done, but I have come to realise this truth through experience. The trick is pretty straight forward - if you want to focus, get rid of distractions; and there's nothing more distracting than having a working phone that has internet on it. You will notice that your thoughts will flow continuously and connect with other relevant thoughts seamlessly. The continu...

How do you pronounce Vipaasana? Is it Vipaaasana? Like Shavasana? No, it's not Vipaaa-sana. It's not a Yoga asana. It's Vi-pashh-ana (Pali) or Vi-pashyana (Sanskrit) - means to see things as they are, to see the right way, to see yourself the way you are, to observe everything the way they are. The correct pronunciation is 'vi-pashh-ana' - BUT learning how to pronounce it correctly won't make any difference, practice will, abundantly. Practice and determination will do a lot to your mind, even if you are not pronouncing the word correctly.  One of the things that Buddha wanted everyone to understand was that wisdom at an intellectual level, is not complete wisdom. Also, wisdom from discussions and thinking is also not complete wisdom. Wisdom gained from experience makes all the difference.  There are three types of 'Panya' (Wisdom): Sut-maya Panya (wisdom gained from others' experiences or through reading and other sources) Chinta-maya Panya (wisdom ...

I forced myself to sleep at 9 pm that night. I have never slept so early in the last 30+ years. I was scared that if I don't I wouldn't be able to wake up at 4 am the next day. I didn't want to yawn away to glory in front of 90+ meditators in the group meditation hall. At first, I thought it will be challenging to sleep so early but it didn't take too much effort. I didn't have my usual distractions - the phone, music, books & my cats. The only hi-tech gadgets we were allowed to carry were a torch and an alarm clock. At 4 am the next morning, my alarm woke me up along with the signature gong that they play on loud speakers. The gong is so loud and repeats so many times that you'd wake up even if you hit snooze on your alarm clock. I woke up at the first gong because I was super excited to learn new things. I showered and I was ready for the first session. At 4:30, you are supposed to assemble in the meditation hall to start the course, the first session ends...

I reach Dhamma Paphulla around 2 pm after the amazing ragi mudde & chicken lunch. Registrations opened at 2 pm and closed at 4 pm. Know that if you have registered and you don't show up by 4 pm, your reg stands cancelled and you may not get another chance to apply because of your punctuality issues. I enter the registration hall and immediately spot Beena di's husband in the queue. I say hi to him and he doesn't recognise me at first and then we chat up for a few mins and maintain silence as is the norm inside the campus.  At this point, my anxiety is at the peak of its tragedy. How does my room look, is the bathroom clean, will I be able to survive the 10 days, what if I crave for non-veg food, what if I crave for music, what kind of people am I signing up with - only B's husband seems like a decent person, everyone else looks like they just arrived after a double murder. What a f snob! (note to self) Reminder! If your autobiography does not put you to shame, you a...

I am excited. I can’t wait to switch my phone off and stop living other people's expectations. Human interactions are so exhausting I want to just disappear and not return. I am so freaking tired of socialising, it drains the life out of me. Tired of being available to everyone all the time. The plan is to spend 10 days in silence - no noise, no talking, no eye contact, just listening to myself and nature, in calm and isolation. But for someone who listens to music for 2-3 hours a day, I am wondering if I can pull it off without it for ten days. If I ever crave for music, I could just sing a song and scare people around me. But will I remember any lyrics? I don’t know. Beena di has been persuading me to take up the ten day Vipassana course for almost 5 years now. I have always found excuses to not go - I am such a busy person, I cannot survive without communicating with people, I cannot live without non-veg food, I cannot switch my phone off, the business will suffer in my absence,...