[PRISONER Like - Nepal]

Unlike most inmates I actually volunteered to be here... I just attended a 10 day Vipassana course in Katmandu, which is the same meditation technique that Prince Gautama (Buddha) taught.

It was probably the closest thing I have experienced, other than the casual day trips, to a prison life! We had to hand in our passports and we were not 'expected' (i.e.- permitted) to leave before the 10 days...I can hear the song now by the Eagles "welcome to Hotel California..".

Being a meditation course I expected it to be relaxing....not! It was a grueling and strict schedule; up at 4am, meditating for 10 hours a day till 9pm and sleep by 9:30pm. A strict code of no communication was enforced and I was once quietly told that I was caught smiling at another male 'inmate' and not to do it again.... After 14 months of living my life as I pleased when I pleased this strictness got up my nose REAL FAST.

But the non-communication was not the hardest part as I expected, it was the sitting for 10 hours a day on a cushion that was painful, particularly for westerners like me who hasnt sat in such a position since primary school. My legs and backside hurt so much....constant pain and the only suggestion we were given by the instructors was to 'beat' it....

I actually attended the course because I heard it was 'good' but never actually heard why it was good or what the purpose was. On my first day, I had to sit for 10 hours and just observe my breath through my nose....nothing more or less; to say that is tedious is an understatement. My mind had a will of its own and it wandered onto anything else like a goat in the Himalayas...infact, I challenge any one to sit for 1 minute and actually do this and see if they fully observe their breath without becoming distracted :-)

It was not until the end of the first day that I actually understood why I was here and the purpose of such misery, and it was misery! In essence we were taught that the meditation technique is aimed at removing us from misery by merely observing the body sensations. The body is a flow connected to the universal truths and these can be experienced within our own body. If we learn to experience our subtle body sensations that we normally dont feel we begin to understand the truths in life and become free from our conditioning and stop reacting in life and purposefully act instead. "Great" I thought, that a goal worth sticking around for 10 days.

Well it didnt get easier but I really did begin to feel knots of energy of passed locked up emotions...and they have began to slowly dissolve. I didnt meet anyone who 'enjoyed' the course, after all, it never was intended to be fun. However nearly everyone enjoyed their own progress. By the end of the 10 days my body senses were so heightened, I could smell the perfume of the spring flowers so clearly, hear the birds in the adjacent national park so distinctly and to my surprise, my memory has sharpened. I could never imagine I had such capabilities.

It certainly was an experience and I highly recommend everyone and anyone who is slightly interested to give it a try. Centres are around the world, see the website http://www.dhamma.org

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