Here we go... THE MAGIC OF MEDITATION- 10 days in a Vipassana center, Budhanilakantha Memorylane-7 We were around 150 souls there for the real journey into mind and our main objective was to penetrate the deepest level of the unconscious mind and learn how to eradicate the complexes lying there. People from different parts of the world were there. And we could see the people from eighteen years to eighty years; great numbers of foreigners were with great curiousity. But all of us wanted the same and have had the same mission "Deep surgical operation of mind" through ancient art of meditation Vipassanna. It was ten days course at Muhan Pokhari, Budhanilkantha, Nepal Vipassana Centre in the laps of Shivapuri National Park just 30 minutes drive from Kathmandu. The place was just perfect and appropriate in the middle of the luscious jungle far away from hustle and bustle of the city. Vipassanna, an ancient yet very much scientific art of meditation was taught by Lord Gautam Buddha around twenty five hundred years ago. Vipassana means, "to see the things as they really are". And also "the process of self-purification by self observation". Similarly the ultimate goal of it is to give the highest spiritual goals of total liberation and full enlightenment. It does not believe in theory or in any religion. This technique was vanished for many hundred of years but in 20th century a business tycoon of Myanmar (then Burma) Satya Narayan Goenka popularly known as SN Goenka took the mission to help the people of the world with this wonderful technique Vipassana. As a result now there are many vipassanna centres around the world including in Nepal, India, Australia, USA, Japan, New Zealand, Canada, Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka and in other countries. Millions of people around the world have learnt this art and changed their lives entirely. Be it Hindu, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Jain, Shikh or from any other religion; everyone has benefited from it. In Nepal, Nepal Vipassana Centre was established in 1981AD and there are four such centres in Nepal in Kathmandu, Birgunj, Chitwan and at the birthplace of Lord Buddha Lumbini. Well, as our first day began at four in the morning, I could see all excitement in everybody's face. The life at Vipassana was totally different and unbelievable. Those ten days in one sense were the most suffering and difficult days of my life physically, mentally and psychologically. We had to follow all the rules and regulations and should be self disciplined. We all were not allowed to speak even a single word, if we had any questions then only we could talk to our teacher and management. For the whole ten days we had to maintain "Noble Silence". Noble silence means not just maintaining silence of verbalisation but also of gesture, signals, eyes and action. The main objective of this was to keep oneself focused which helps tremendously in meditation. There, we should cultivate the feeling that we were working in isolation. There was one more thing, which we had to follow conscientiously during the whole Vipassanna course. The five precepts which include to abstain from killing any living creature, stealing, telling lies, all sexual activities and to abstain from all intoxicants. The life at Vipassanna was not different than of prison. There in jail you could speak and share your feelings of happiness and sorrow ness to your fellow prisoners but here that was also not allowed. No newspapers, no TV, no radio, no telephone, no magazines, no book, no pen nothing as a whole out of communication world to concentrate on oneself. Any form of communication was strictly prohibited. In Dhamma Hall there were blue cushions over the sophisticated carpet. Hard to believe we had to sit for meditation ten hours a day. Yes every day ten hours. To be contd.............. Thanks for reading