Vital Stats - 28 August, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving!
No, it's not really Thanksgiving, but it is time for Turkey...
Time: 11:15 am
Location: Delhi (map)
Health: Perfect
Weather: Hot, wet, hot, wet, humid, hot, and wet. And hot.
Mood: Annoyed
Bowels: A+
Beard: Moderate
Next Destination: Ankara, Turkey
Yes, it's official. Officially official. Not that it was ever officially unofficial, unofficially official or unofficially unofficial. But one thing's for sure, it's now official. At least 90%... ish.
I'm going to Turkey! When? Well, tonight, hopefully.
I told some of you about this ages ago, and some of you again more recently after I started to receive some very confusing correspondence, but for those who know nothing of this, let me fill you in...
Round 1 - PJ vs. Turkish Postal Service
Way back, I mean waaaaay back in January, I applied to a programme run by Turkish Rotary to spend some time doing a bit of post-grad study in Turkey. I sent off my app and received a reply almost immediately: "insufficient address".
Not a good start.
I scanned the addressed envelope and emailed a copy to Turkish Rotary to ask what was wrong - they said the address was fine, so I resent. All good.
Round 2 - PJ vs. Turkish Rotary
Then I hear nothing. Nothing for months. And then, just days before I left for India, I received a rather cryptic (Engrish) email, which basically said "congratulations you are accepted into consideration", which I now know meant "you're in". I sent a copy of this letter to a few of you, and the jury was split, no-one could quite decide what it was saying.
So I replied to Turkish Rotary politely asking for clarification. Then nothing. I emailed again, nothing. Anyway, after a lot of pestering I finally got a response: I was accepted.
Round 3 - PJ vs. Turkish Embassy New Delhi
So I was in, but the war wasn't over yet. In fact, the worst was still to come...
I haven't really written a lot about Delhi in my blog because even though I've visited twice and spent nearly 2 weeks here, most of those 2 weeks were spent waiting outside the Turkish Embassy, on my way to the Turkish Embassy, calling and emailing the Turkish Embassy, or just sitting in my hotel room cursing the Turkish Embassy. I've never before met such a painful, uncaring bunch of bureaucrats!
And even after a month of visits, calls, emails and a stack of paperwork, it's still not over. I received an email 2 days ago saying my visa was finally approved. Good? Well, you'd think so. But when I turned up at the Embassy they surprised me by telling me "Oh, it still takes 4-5 days to come through even after it's approved". Through from where??? Who knows.
I'm supposed to be leaving for Turkey tonight as my course starts on Monday! So in about an hour I'm going to head down to the Embassy to see if my visa has arrived from it's mystery origin. If it's not there, I'll be stuck in Delhi for the weekend and be late for my first week of school. *sigh*.
And the winner is?
Me! I think.
I don't want to sound ungrateful, because if I can push my hatred of the Turkish Embassy from my mind, then I'm very much beyond, under, around and over the moon about the opportunity.
If I don't get my visa, I'll probably be back on here to bitch some more. And I am sorry for all this venting, but it's been a frustrating experience, and one probably made a lot worse by the fact I've been trying to deal with it alone and in the middle of a holiday. I dare say, this has likely been the biggest Aus-Turk battle since 1915. And a few times, I honestly contemplated just giving up on Turkey altogether. But I'm glad I didn't; my ANZAC spirit pulled me through.
So, my dear readers, please keep your fingers crossed for me. If all goes well today, this may well be my last post from India!
I'll update you again very soon!
Love
Pj.
Friday, August 28, 2009
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Varanasi
I'm not sure if India uses a national holiness index to measure and compare the holiness of its cities, but if it does, I'm sure that the holiness index of Varanasi would be through the roof.
Other indexes that would be busting holes in their respective ceilings include: the national cow shit index, buffalo shit index, goat shit index, dog shit index, and human shit index. It's likely that Varanasi would take out almost all gold medals at India's Faecal Index Olympics.
Varanasi is basically a huge holy toilet for animals and humans alike. It sits on the Ganges River, in the middle of the north east-ish corner of India, or in Uttar Pradesh if that means anything to you. The river is polluted. Heavily polluted. And pardon all the poo talk, but I'm not quite done yet. Here are some more smelly facts for you:
If you can get past all that, Varanasi is quite an amazing town. The people here absolutely worship the river. Thousand and thousand of locals flock to the ghats each day to bathe, brush and get blessed. And millions more from all across India make regular pilgrimages to the The Ganges, or the Ganga as it's known in India, to "cleanse" themselves of sin.
If you're a Hindu, Varanasi is also one of #1 spots in the country to be cremated. At several sites in Varanasi you can actually sit and watch the cremation ceremonies taking place. They usually start in the alleyways behind the ghats where the family of the deceased carries the cloth-wrapped corpse on a wooden stretcher down to the river. The body is doused with water and then taken up the banks and placed on a large wooden pyre. After walking around the body 5 times (once for each of the 5 elements, earth, fire, wind, water, and spirit), the pyre is set alight by the deceased's closest relative.
In the beginning it's fairly bearable to watch, but as the cloth begins to burn away it gets pretty gruesome. I'll spare you too much of the detail, but on more than one occasion I sat there transfixed, staring at smoldering half-burnt limbs which had fallen casually off to the side.
All in all there's not much to do in Varanasi than to not do much. The town is the main attraction. Most people just come here to wander the ghats and enjoy a bit of perverse ogling at such an unfamiliar way of life. Varanasi is a voyeurs dream.
Other indexes that would be busting holes in their respective ceilings include: the national cow shit index, buffalo shit index, goat shit index, dog shit index, and human shit index. It's likely that Varanasi would take out almost all gold medals at India's Faecal Index Olympics.
Varanasi is basically a huge holy toilet for animals and humans alike. It sits on the Ganges River, in the middle of the north east-ish corner of India, or in Uttar Pradesh if that means anything to you. The river is polluted. Heavily polluted. And pardon all the poo talk, but I'm not quite done yet. Here are some more smelly facts for you:
- 400 million people live along the Ganges River.
- 89 million litres of raw sewage is pumped into the river every day.
- At Varanasi, the river contains 60,000 faecal coliform bacteria per 100 millilitres - this 120 times more than is considered safe for bathing, never mind that the fact that people brush their teeth with this water and even... drink it! Bleeerrrrgh!!!
- 6 kms south of Varanasi, the faecal coliform content jumps to an incredible 1.5 million/100 mL. 3,000 times the safe limit!
If you can get past all that, Varanasi is quite an amazing town. The people here absolutely worship the river. Thousand and thousand of locals flock to the ghats each day to bathe, brush and get blessed. And millions more from all across India make regular pilgrimages to the The Ganges, or the Ganga as it's known in India, to "cleanse" themselves of sin.
If you're a Hindu, Varanasi is also one of #1 spots in the country to be cremated. At several sites in Varanasi you can actually sit and watch the cremation ceremonies taking place. They usually start in the alleyways behind the ghats where the family of the deceased carries the cloth-wrapped corpse on a wooden stretcher down to the river. The body is doused with water and then taken up the banks and placed on a large wooden pyre. After walking around the body 5 times (once for each of the 5 elements, earth, fire, wind, water, and spirit), the pyre is set alight by the deceased's closest relative.
In the beginning it's fairly bearable to watch, but as the cloth begins to burn away it gets pretty gruesome. I'll spare you too much of the detail, but on more than one occasion I sat there transfixed, staring at smoldering half-burnt limbs which had fallen casually off to the side.
All in all there's not much to do in Varanasi than to not do much. The town is the main attraction. Most people just come here to wander the ghats and enjoy a bit of perverse ogling at such an unfamiliar way of life. Varanasi is a voyeurs dream.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Taj Games
I don't know what to write about the Taj Mahal. I mean, you've seen pictures of it a thousand times before, you've probably viewed it on TV and read about it dozens more. So today I promise you I'll keep the history lesson short, but I'm afraid that just leaves more space for my love-drunk drivel. But it's not my fault, really! The Taj is something very special. It was everything I expected it to be and much much more...
It really is a magnificent sight. It's by far the most beautiful structure I have ever seen. It lacks the delicate detail of the Ranakpur Temples, but there is something so perfect about its composition that completely overwhelms you.
I arrived at 6 am when the gates opened--I wanted to avoid the crowds and hopefully get some nice sunrise pics--alas, the sun didn't come out to play, but it wasn't completely overcast so it still provided a nice backdrop for the early-morning shots.
That Taj took 20-something years to build and was finished around 1653. It was commissioned by the then Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife who'd died in childbirth. Shortly after its completion, poor Shah was overthrown by his son, and imprisoned in nearby Agra Fort. Unfortunately, the next time Shah would visit the Taj was for his own funeral.
It's not cheap to get into the Taj grounds; 750 rupees it costs! Granted that's only AU$18.50, but it's a 3,750% premium on the price that Indian Citizens have to pay. It's quite common to have separate Indian and Foreigner prices here - something that really rubs me the wrong way.
Anyway, it's really is worth way more than $18.50, so I shouldn't complain too much.
All of the above shots were taken during sunrise and from the south side of the Taj. This last photo was taken late-sunset, north side, from the gardens across the river.
It really is a magnificent sight. It's by far the most beautiful structure I have ever seen. It lacks the delicate detail of the Ranakpur Temples, but there is something so perfect about its composition that completely overwhelms you.
I arrived at 6 am when the gates opened--I wanted to avoid the crowds and hopefully get some nice sunrise pics--alas, the sun didn't come out to play, but it wasn't completely overcast so it still provided a nice backdrop for the early-morning shots.
That Taj took 20-something years to build and was finished around 1653. It was commissioned by the then Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favourite wife who'd died in childbirth. Shortly after its completion, poor Shah was overthrown by his son, and imprisoned in nearby Agra Fort. Unfortunately, the next time Shah would visit the Taj was for his own funeral.
It's not cheap to get into the Taj grounds; 750 rupees it costs! Granted that's only AU$18.50, but it's a 3,750% premium on the price that Indian Citizens have to pay. It's quite common to have separate Indian and Foreigner prices here - something that really rubs me the wrong way.
Anyway, it's really is worth way more than $18.50, so I shouldn't complain too much.
All of the above shots were taken during sunrise and from the south side of the Taj. This last photo was taken late-sunset, north side, from the gardens across the river.
Monday, August 17, 2009
PJ in Wonderland
During my short stopover in Chandigarh, I had the very surreal pleasure of visiting one the most unusual sights in India, Nek Chand's Rock Garden. It's amazing. It's even dare I say it... spectacular. The description in Lonely Planet begins with the words "step down the rabbit hole...", and that's exactly what it feels like. It's Gaudi vs. Alice in Wonderland... on acid.
This waking-dream is the creation of an entirely untrained artist by the name of Nek Chand. Displaced by the India-Pakistan partition in late 40s, Chand moved to Chandigah--Punjab's newly-built capital after the former one (Lahore) ended up on the Pakistani side of the line. Appalled by the amount of waste generated in building the Chandigah, Chand developed a secret identity to help solve the problem and became an engineer by day, stealth sculptor by night. Chand spent years dragging waste materials off to a secret site on the outskirts of the city where he would give them new aesthetic life.
The illegally-built garden went undiscovered for 17 years until city planners stumbled upon the (by now 12-acre) site in 1975. It technically should have been torn down, but it's value must have been obvious, as instead Chand was reassigned to work full time on the garden and given a staff of 50 to help.
The whole crazy experience begins when you have to lean down to pay the 10 rupee (AU$0.25) entry fee at the knee-high ticket window. You then walk through the gates and are led along a twisted path of bridges and tunnels, past waterfalls, ponds, and through thousand-strong armies of 100%-recycled sculptures.
After wandering the maze for about an hour, the garden opens up into a huge park. Down one side is long open-air auditorium which hosts the occasional symphony and recital, and snaking through the middle winds a huge lawsuit-inducing swing set - one thing I love about India is the no-safety-rails approach to life. Unlike the western world, where everything is someone else's fault, here you're entirely responsible for yourself. This is partly driven by public attitude, and partly by the fact that civil cases often face a 2 decade (and sometimes as long as 5) wait before they make it to trial. So with an average lifespan of 67.5 years, there's not much point in filing a suit when you're unlikely to be around to hear the verdict.
This waking-dream is the creation of an entirely untrained artist by the name of Nek Chand. Displaced by the India-Pakistan partition in late 40s, Chand moved to Chandigah--Punjab's newly-built capital after the former one (Lahore) ended up on the Pakistani side of the line. Appalled by the amount of waste generated in building the Chandigah, Chand developed a secret identity to help solve the problem and became an engineer by day, stealth sculptor by night. Chand spent years dragging waste materials off to a secret site on the outskirts of the city where he would give them new aesthetic life.
The illegally-built garden went undiscovered for 17 years until city planners stumbled upon the (by now 12-acre) site in 1975. It technically should have been torn down, but it's value must have been obvious, as instead Chand was reassigned to work full time on the garden and given a staff of 50 to help.
The whole crazy experience begins when you have to lean down to pay the 10 rupee (AU$0.25) entry fee at the knee-high ticket window. You then walk through the gates and are led along a twisted path of bridges and tunnels, past waterfalls, ponds, and through thousand-strong armies of 100%-recycled sculptures.
After wandering the maze for about an hour, the garden opens up into a huge park. Down one side is long open-air auditorium which hosts the occasional symphony and recital, and snaking through the middle winds a huge lawsuit-inducing swing set - one thing I love about India is the no-safety-rails approach to life. Unlike the western world, where everything is someone else's fault, here you're entirely responsible for yourself. This is partly driven by public attitude, and partly by the fact that civil cases often face a 2 decade (and sometimes as long as 5) wait before they make it to trial. So with an average lifespan of 67.5 years, there's not much point in filing a suit when you're unlikely to be around to hear the verdict.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Vipassana Finished!
Day 11 - 02 Jul, 2009
Dear Diary,
Huzzah! I'm done!
I'm far from enlightened, but it certainly wasn't useless. I'm really glad I did it.
Here are some interesting facts for you. During the 230 hours of Noble Silence I...
Leaving the centre we had to wade through the river which had swollen considerably since we arrived.
So in conclusion...
10 days silence gives you a lot of time to contemplate; it makes you think hard about what's important to you, but... there were no shattering revelations, no blinding epiphanies, just a few strong reminders of how I feel about myself and the other people in my life. There was nothing I learnt that I didn't already know, but still, it did force me to face aspects of my personality that I don't like - something that's easy to avoid doing with the distractions of the real world.
I doubt I'll continue to practice my meditation on the outside, at least not while I'm travelling.
Would I do it again? Yes, but not for a while. Beer first, meditate later.
Dear Diary,
Huzzah! I'm done!
I'm far from enlightened, but it certainly wasn't useless. I'm really glad I did it.
Here are some interesting facts for you. During the 230 hours of Noble Silence I...
- Spoke 0 words
- Meditated for 97 hours
- Had my eyes closed for 164 hours (17 hours of every day!)
- Ate 30 chapatis
- Spent 223 hours not standing up
- Killed 0 mosquitoes
Leaving the centre we had to wade through the river which had swollen considerably since we arrived.
So in conclusion...
10 days silence gives you a lot of time to contemplate; it makes you think hard about what's important to you, but... there were no shattering revelations, no blinding epiphanies, just a few strong reminders of how I feel about myself and the other people in my life. There was nothing I learnt that I didn't already know, but still, it did force me to face aspects of my personality that I don't like - something that's easy to avoid doing with the distractions of the real world.
I doubt I'll continue to practice my meditation on the outside, at least not while I'm travelling.
Would I do it again? Yes, but not for a while. Beer first, meditate later.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Pics of Things and Stuff
Jalebi! Street treats. Deep fried batter soaked in sugar syrup (you don't eat the leaf, that's just to hold it). Probably the most unhealthy snack in the universe.
Vipassana Diary - Day 10
Day 10 - 2 Jul, 2009
Dear Diary,
Woooooooooooooooooooo! I can speak!
... and wow, it feels so weird. The first few words almost made me feel dizzy. My voice was dry and raspy, and articulating sentences was very awkward. But it was such overwhelming sense of relief. I've been living with these people for 10 days and had only met a couple of them before Noble Silence began. I never even looked my neighbours in the eyes until this morning.
It's changed the whole mood of the place. Everything feels really joyous now, not serious like it was before.
Anyway, aside from the morning sessions, today's meditation was a total write-off. I can't concentrate at all now. It feels like day 1 all over again. Oh well, only one session left tomorrow morning and then it's home time!
Dear Diary,
Woooooooooooooooooooo! I can speak!
... and wow, it feels so weird. The first few words almost made me feel dizzy. My voice was dry and raspy, and articulating sentences was very awkward. But it was such overwhelming sense of relief. I've been living with these people for 10 days and had only met a couple of them before Noble Silence began. I never even looked my neighbours in the eyes until this morning.
It's changed the whole mood of the place. Everything feels really joyous now, not serious like it was before.
Anyway, aside from the morning sessions, today's meditation was a total write-off. I can't concentrate at all now. It feels like day 1 all over again. Oh well, only one session left tomorrow morning and then it's home time!
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Vipassana Diary - Day 9
Day 9 - 1 Jul, 2009
Dear Diary,
Best day yet! And the end is so close now.
Beer craving is still holding strong, so enlightenment might be a while off yet. I'm pretty sure I'm going to break at least 3 of the core precepts the day I leave this place.
My back pain hasn't disappeared completely, but it's much much more manageable. Unless I'm concentrating on my back, I never even think about it or notice it now.
Noble Silence ends tomorrow at 10am. We still have a full day's meditation, but we're allowed to talk while we're not in sessions. It's our "shock absorber" before we get back into the real world, says Goenka.
Even though it's been a tough 9 days, it's been wonderful to not have to fend for myself for a while. No hunting for accommodation, no haggling over rickshaw fares and no dirty restaurants. We're pretty well looked after here.
And I haven't mentioned this yet, but it's all totally free. It's run entirely on donations from past students and it's stressed that you should only ever donate if you feel you got something from the course; if you didn't get anything, you shouldn't give anything. Crazy!
Dear Diary,
Best day yet! And the end is so close now.
Beer craving is still holding strong, so enlightenment might be a while off yet. I'm pretty sure I'm going to break at least 3 of the core precepts the day I leave this place.
My back pain hasn't disappeared completely, but it's much much more manageable. Unless I'm concentrating on my back, I never even think about it or notice it now.
Noble Silence ends tomorrow at 10am. We still have a full day's meditation, but we're allowed to talk while we're not in sessions. It's our "shock absorber" before we get back into the real world, says Goenka.
Even though it's been a tough 9 days, it's been wonderful to not have to fend for myself for a while. No hunting for accommodation, no haggling over rickshaw fares and no dirty restaurants. We're pretty well looked after here.
And I haven't mentioned this yet, but it's all totally free. It's run entirely on donations from past students and it's stressed that you should only ever donate if you feel you got something from the course; if you didn't get anything, you shouldn't give anything. Crazy!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Beard Games
Beard Games: Away from gainful employment, and fueled by a cocktail of curiosity and laziness, it's the right of every young man to play silly games with his facial hair.
Vipassana Diary - Day 8
Day 8 - 31 Aug, 2009
Dear Diary,
AWAKENING!
No, not really. The only awakening I received today was of the rude 4-am variety.
Today's entry will be a short one, I don't really have a whole lot to add.
I've settled into the meditation really nicely and can almost sit for an entire hour without moving, stretching or slouching once.
The technique is still basically the same but we've progressed to 'scanning' entire areas (rather than just square inches) of our body. As I've become more and more aware of the sensations on my skin, I can now concentrate my attention huge chunks. It's really strange; it's almost as if I give myself a full body massage using only the power of my mind. And when I scan my body from head to toe in one quick wave, it tingles all over.
I felt a bit restless this afternoon, but that's only because the end is in sight. 8 days meditation hasn't put the slightest dent in my craving for cold beer.
Dear Diary,
AWAKENING!
No, not really. The only awakening I received today was of the rude 4-am variety.
Today's entry will be a short one, I don't really have a whole lot to add.
I've settled into the meditation really nicely and can almost sit for an entire hour without moving, stretching or slouching once.
The technique is still basically the same but we've progressed to 'scanning' entire areas (rather than just square inches) of our body. As I've become more and more aware of the sensations on my skin, I can now concentrate my attention huge chunks. It's really strange; it's almost as if I give myself a full body massage using only the power of my mind. And when I scan my body from head to toe in one quick wave, it tingles all over.
I felt a bit restless this afternoon, but that's only because the end is in sight. 8 days meditation hasn't put the slightest dent in my craving for cold beer.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Vipassana Diary - Day 7
Day 7 - 30 Aug, 2009
Dear Diary,
Day 7 done! Only 3 coat hooks left and then I can sing sing sing to my heart's content!
Today was a successful day, the best day so far. I'm starting to feel like a real meditator now. Concentration is coming easily and time is screaming by.
The food here has been surprisingly good. It's always filling, nutritious and reasonably tasty. With 60 different mouths to please, I'd expected it to be pretty bland. In 7 days I've almost never eaten the same thing twice. The food is all vegetarian (Rule No. 1 - No Killing), but as with most Indian veg food, you never leave the table with a half-empty stomach.
I thought I had a hair in my food today but it turned out to be a moustache hair... still attached. My designer stubble (which was always more hobo than Hugo anyway) has grown so long that my moustache has begun to tickle my lower lip. I considered shaving, but then an image flashed through my head of how awesome it would look if my mo grew so long it merged into the hairs below my mouth. It'd be as if I had no mouth at all, I'd be all beard! So it's staying for now.
Dear Diary,
Day 7 done! Only 3 coat hooks left and then I can sing sing sing to my heart's content!
Today was a successful day, the best day so far. I'm starting to feel like a real meditator now. Concentration is coming easily and time is screaming by.
The food here has been surprisingly good. It's always filling, nutritious and reasonably tasty. With 60 different mouths to please, I'd expected it to be pretty bland. In 7 days I've almost never eaten the same thing twice. The food is all vegetarian (Rule No. 1 - No Killing), but as with most Indian veg food, you never leave the table with a half-empty stomach.
I thought I had a hair in my food today but it turned out to be a moustache hair... still attached. My designer stubble (which was always more hobo than Hugo anyway) has grown so long that my moustache has begun to tickle my lower lip. I considered shaving, but then an image flashed through my head of how awesome it would look if my mo grew so long it merged into the hairs below my mouth. It'd be as if I had no mouth at all, I'd be all beard! So it's staying for now.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Vipassana Diary - Day 6
Day 6 - 29 Aug, 2009
Dear Diary,
Today we got to meditate in the Pagoda! I'm rather pleased about this.
The Pagoda is a circular, temple-like building with around 80 individual meditation cells. There is an outer and inner ring of cells. The inner ring also has a 2nd level, but I think that's unoccupied. Each concrete cell is about 1.5 x 2m with a solid door and a small round window for light and fresh air. Aside from the square blue cushion on the floor, my cell is otherwise bare.
The 3 key group sessions are still done in the main hall, but outside those we can meditate in the Pagoda whenever we like. To be honest, I much prefer meditating in my cell, cell #31. It's quiet, fart free, and best of all, I can sit with my back against the wall. There really are no words to describe just how much of a relief that is, except maybe aaaahhhhhhhhh.
Feeling good now. I'm getting used to Noble Silence and my brain is definitely becoming quieter and my thoughts not so wild. I won't say I'm enjoying this (you're not really supposed to), but I'm content and am feeling a lot more optimistic about the final 4 days.
Dear Diary,
Today we got to meditate in the Pagoda! I'm rather pleased about this.
The Pagoda is a circular, temple-like building with around 80 individual meditation cells. There is an outer and inner ring of cells. The inner ring also has a 2nd level, but I think that's unoccupied. Each concrete cell is about 1.5 x 2m with a solid door and a small round window for light and fresh air. Aside from the square blue cushion on the floor, my cell is otherwise bare.
The 3 key group sessions are still done in the main hall, but outside those we can meditate in the Pagoda whenever we like. To be honest, I much prefer meditating in my cell, cell #31. It's quiet, fart free, and best of all, I can sit with my back against the wall. There really are no words to describe just how much of a relief that is, except maybe aaaahhhhhhhhh.
Feeling good now. I'm getting used to Noble Silence and my brain is definitely becoming quieter and my thoughts not so wild. I won't say I'm enjoying this (you're not really supposed to), but I'm content and am feeling a lot more optimistic about the final 4 days.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Vipassana Diary - Day 5
Day 5 - 28 Aug, 2009
Dear Diary,
Today was a good day. A quick day, too. Vipassana requires a lot more concentration but makes time fly by. It's also becoming a lot more natural; the beast has nearly been tamed.
It's amazing how quickly you can train your brain so that it can detect the subtlest sensations on your skin, things that you would have been totally unaware of before. All of a sudden I'm feeling everything everywhere.
I should explain something before I continue crapping on. There's a point to all this, these aren't just meaningless relaxation techniques, they're supposed to be connecting my conscious to my subconscious mind.
Here's my quick 10-second guide to enlightenment.
It does make some logical sense. By having complete control of your mind and emotions, you essentially control how you want to feel. Want happiness? It's yours! Want love? It's yours!
It's not all roses and rainbows here though. The guy in front of me is a sweater. A horrendously bad sweater. Granted it is fairly humid, but by the time there's a slight hint of dampness in my armpits, his back is challenging Niagara for a water-flow record. It floods through his white shirt at a torrential rate, and by the end of each day it's turned a horrible grey-brown colour.
I'd have more sympathy for him if he'd stop farting. He sounds like he's dropping rabbit pellets when he does. He's not the only one either, all the Indian guys fart. Burp too. It's incredibly distracting, especially when it's less than 2 feet from your face.
Ok, bed now. I feel exhausted.
Dear Diary,
Today was a good day. A quick day, too. Vipassana requires a lot more concentration but makes time fly by. It's also becoming a lot more natural; the beast has nearly been tamed.
It's amazing how quickly you can train your brain so that it can detect the subtlest sensations on your skin, things that you would have been totally unaware of before. All of a sudden I'm feeling everything everywhere.
I should explain something before I continue crapping on. There's a point to all this, these aren't just meaningless relaxation techniques, they're supposed to be connecting my conscious to my subconscious mind.
Here's my quick 10-second guide to enlightenment.
- Become aware of your subconscious mind
- Learn how to disconnect your conscious and subconscious mind
- Done. Enlightenment
It does make some logical sense. By having complete control of your mind and emotions, you essentially control how you want to feel. Want happiness? It's yours! Want love? It's yours!
It's not all roses and rainbows here though. The guy in front of me is a sweater. A horrendously bad sweater. Granted it is fairly humid, but by the time there's a slight hint of dampness in my armpits, his back is challenging Niagara for a water-flow record. It floods through his white shirt at a torrential rate, and by the end of each day it's turned a horrible grey-brown colour.
I'd have more sympathy for him if he'd stop farting. He sounds like he's dropping rabbit pellets when he does. He's not the only one either, all the Indian guys fart. Burp too. It's incredibly distracting, especially when it's less than 2 feet from your face.
Ok, bed now. I feel exhausted.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Vipassana Diary - Day 4
Day 4 - 27 Aug, 2009
Dear Diary,
Today I blew my nose.
I didn't really. When I said Noble Silence is driving me crazy, I meant it. The strangest memories have started popping into my head. Some good, some bad, and some just little trivial snippets of long-forgotten moments.
"Today I blew my nose" is actually an old diary entry of AJ's. Way back in early primary school he was asked to keep a diary as a school project, and showing early signs of the creative powerhouse that he would grow up to become, those 5 words once constituted and entire day's entry. Just one example of the junk that's bubbling up from the depths of my stimulation-staved brain.
I found out in the post-lunch session that we haven't even started practising Vipassana yet! This breath-watching is just a precursor, a foundation, 4 days of ground work, 40 hours of getting ready, basically. Oh, it has a name too, Anapana.
Vipassna is really not all that different. It's basically just Anapana, but instead of just watching your breath, you watch everything. You shift your concentration from head to toe, one square inch at a time, analysing each part of the body carefully. All you do is look for sensations, the touch of your clothing, the breeze from the fans, pins and needles, tingles, heat, cold, anything. You keep your mind focused on a specific spot until you can feel something/anything there, and then you move on.
It might sound easy, but it's not. Trying to pinpoint the slightest of sensations on area like your lower back is near impossible.
All afternoon we practiced the new Vipassana technique and now I feel incredibly drained. I'd never have imagined meditating could be so unbelievably taxing.
Dear Diary,
Today I blew my nose.
I didn't really. When I said Noble Silence is driving me crazy, I meant it. The strangest memories have started popping into my head. Some good, some bad, and some just little trivial snippets of long-forgotten moments.
"Today I blew my nose" is actually an old diary entry of AJ's. Way back in early primary school he was asked to keep a diary as a school project, and showing early signs of the creative powerhouse that he would grow up to become, those 5 words once constituted and entire day's entry. Just one example of the junk that's bubbling up from the depths of my stimulation-staved brain.
I found out in the post-lunch session that we haven't even started practising Vipassana yet! This breath-watching is just a precursor, a foundation, 4 days of ground work, 40 hours of getting ready, basically. Oh, it has a name too, Anapana.
Vipassna is really not all that different. It's basically just Anapana, but instead of just watching your breath, you watch everything. You shift your concentration from head to toe, one square inch at a time, analysing each part of the body carefully. All you do is look for sensations, the touch of your clothing, the breeze from the fans, pins and needles, tingles, heat, cold, anything. You keep your mind focused on a specific spot until you can feel something/anything there, and then you move on.
It might sound easy, but it's not. Trying to pinpoint the slightest of sensations on area like your lower back is near impossible.
All afternoon we practiced the new Vipassana technique and now I feel incredibly drained. I'd never have imagined meditating could be so unbelievably taxing.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Vipassana Diary - Day 3
Day 3 - 26 Aug, 2009
Dear Diary,
Ouch ouch ouch!!!
Sorry, it's only been 3 days and all I've done is whinge, but $#@%, I'm just not built for sitting unsupported. 3 days of meditation can't right the wrongs of 28 years of bad posture. Still, it was another marginal improvement of the previous day.
I'm starting to feel a lot better about the daily routine now, I've settled in nicely. The pain in my back is my only real complaint. And my ability to concentrate improves with every hour - we have to practise, practise, practise to tame the wild cecentration beast, Goenka keeps telling us. My beast is still far from tame. My beast foams at the mouth like a rabid dog and savages any thoughts that dwell in my mind for more than a few mins. But that foam is slowly turning to drool and the bites to nips. A few more days and I might even consider petting him... with a long stick.
Aside from the book-on-tape teachings we receive from the wise Goeaka, we also have our very own Enlightened One that presides over the class. If he does have a name, I never heard it and it's too late to ask now. I refer to him as the White Wizard in my head, and he does look a lot like a wizard. He must be 80, or very close to it, and he wears a white cotton outfit that's so loose you could easily mistake it for a gown. Atop his head sits a neatly wrapped, small white turban, and a a wispy beard flows like a white waterfall from his lower jaw. If you took this man out in a blizzard, you'd never see him again.
At least once each day, the assistant teacher will come around and tap my cushion, this means it's time to meet the Wizard. Silently I sneak up to the front of the mediation hall and sit down in front of him. He then proceeds to ask me if I understand the technique, and if I can feel the touch of my breath. I nod. You can speak to the Wizard if want to, but I don't. The Wizard and I meditate together for a few mins and then it's back to cushion #24 to finish off the session.
The main objective of the Vipassana technique is to ultimately free your mind from craving and aversion (the two key causes of misery according to Buddha), but right now if Buddha was standing between me and a cold beer, I'd probably set him on fire to get to it.
Tonight, for the first time a long time, I feel genuinely lonely. Most likely just a nasty side effect of Noble Silence, but it's not a very pleasant way to go to bed.
Dear Diary,
Ouch ouch ouch!!!
Sorry, it's only been 3 days and all I've done is whinge, but $#@%, I'm just not built for sitting unsupported. 3 days of meditation can't right the wrongs of 28 years of bad posture. Still, it was another marginal improvement of the previous day.
I'm starting to feel a lot better about the daily routine now, I've settled in nicely. The pain in my back is my only real complaint. And my ability to concentrate improves with every hour - we have to practise, practise, practise to tame the wild cecentration beast, Goenka keeps telling us. My beast is still far from tame. My beast foams at the mouth like a rabid dog and savages any thoughts that dwell in my mind for more than a few mins. But that foam is slowly turning to drool and the bites to nips. A few more days and I might even consider petting him... with a long stick.
Aside from the book-on-tape teachings we receive from the wise Goeaka, we also have our very own Enlightened One that presides over the class. If he does have a name, I never heard it and it's too late to ask now. I refer to him as the White Wizard in my head, and he does look a lot like a wizard. He must be 80, or very close to it, and he wears a white cotton outfit that's so loose you could easily mistake it for a gown. Atop his head sits a neatly wrapped, small white turban, and a a wispy beard flows like a white waterfall from his lower jaw. If you took this man out in a blizzard, you'd never see him again.
At least once each day, the assistant teacher will come around and tap my cushion, this means it's time to meet the Wizard. Silently I sneak up to the front of the mediation hall and sit down in front of him. He then proceeds to ask me if I understand the technique, and if I can feel the touch of my breath. I nod. You can speak to the Wizard if want to, but I don't. The Wizard and I meditate together for a few mins and then it's back to cushion #24 to finish off the session.
The main objective of the Vipassana technique is to ultimately free your mind from craving and aversion (the two key causes of misery according to Buddha), but right now if Buddha was standing between me and a cold beer, I'd probably set him on fire to get to it.
Tonight, for the first time a long time, I feel genuinely lonely. Most likely just a nasty side effect of Noble Silence, but it's not a very pleasant way to go to bed.
Thursday, August 6, 2009
Pics of Things and Stuff
Continuing the 'by night' theme, misty Shimla as seen from my hotel balcony.
Vipassana Diary - Day 2
Day 2 - Aug 25, 2009
Dear Dairy,
Well, that was painful. Very painful. But it was slightly less painful than yesterday, so at least things are heading in the right direction.
This is going to be a long 10 days. A very very long 10 days.
During what little free time we had yesterday, I realised just how few moments of my normal day-to-day life are spent doing nothing. It's rare that I'm not occupied with something. When you have an hour to kill, and your only weapon is the spacey, abstract thoughts of your subconscious, then it become a lengthy hour indeed.
There is a coat rack above my bed. There are 4 hooks on this coat rack. I've calculated that if I hang the small drawstring cover from my sleep-sheet on the hooks, then I can use it to count like this:
I forgot to take a photo, but it looked like this:
Noble Silence has already started to send me slightly batty. No man should ever be left alone with his own mind for this long. I'm genuinely scared about what might begin to poison my contemplations after an entire week without external stimulation.
To relieve some of the boredom, I did some exercise during our break after lunch. Nothing fancy, mostly stretching and strengthening exercises for my legs - something I've been doing most days to help compensate for my lack of running. It did help the time pass.
All today's lectures were identical to yesterday's: just breathe and watch it. Breathing I can handle, watching it is still hard, even after 20 hours of practice.
Yes, 20 hours already. We meditate for 10 hours of every single day! That's more time than most of you spend at work. More time than all of you spend at school. There are probably wheelchair-bound PlayStation addicts that spend less time on their arses than I do.
I'm going to bed now. I'm trying to stay positive, but 3rd August seems like a long way away right now. *sigh*
Dear Dairy,
Well, that was painful. Very painful. But it was slightly less painful than yesterday, so at least things are heading in the right direction.
This is going to be a long 10 days. A very very long 10 days.
During what little free time we had yesterday, I realised just how few moments of my normal day-to-day life are spent doing nothing. It's rare that I'm not occupied with something. When you have an hour to kill, and your only weapon is the spacey, abstract thoughts of your subconscious, then it become a lengthy hour indeed.
There is a coat rack above my bed. There are 4 hooks on this coat rack. I've calculated that if I hang the small drawstring cover from my sleep-sheet on the hooks, then I can use it to count like this:
- 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> 4
- and then back to the left:
- 7 <- 6 <- 5
- and finally over to the right again:
- 8 -> 9 -> 10
I forgot to take a photo, but it looked like this:
Noble Silence has already started to send me slightly batty. No man should ever be left alone with his own mind for this long. I'm genuinely scared about what might begin to poison my contemplations after an entire week without external stimulation.
To relieve some of the boredom, I did some exercise during our break after lunch. Nothing fancy, mostly stretching and strengthening exercises for my legs - something I've been doing most days to help compensate for my lack of running. It did help the time pass.
All today's lectures were identical to yesterday's: just breathe and watch it. Breathing I can handle, watching it is still hard, even after 20 hours of practice.
Yes, 20 hours already. We meditate for 10 hours of every single day! That's more time than most of you spend at work. More time than all of you spend at school. There are probably wheelchair-bound PlayStation addicts that spend less time on their arses than I do.
I'm going to bed now. I'm trying to stay positive, but 3rd August seems like a long way away right now. *sigh*
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Vipassana Diary - Day 1
Day 1 - 24 Aug, 2009.
Deary Diary,
I'm in so much pain. And meditating is not relaxing, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise.
At precisely 3:50am, the morning gong rang. There's not much point in harping on about just how early 4am is, you know how early it is. So early that I've never once called it early before - when discussing the hour of 4am, it should only ever be referred to as late.
I lay bed for a few mins before I staggered to the bathroom and poured some cold water over my head to wake up. The showers here are traditional Indian showers (buckets). One big bucket to hold the water, one little bucket to do the pouring.
My room is actually quite nice. It's simple but clean. It also has two beds, and since I have no roomie, I have some privacy and plenty of space to spread out.
After my cold water wake-up call, I dragged myself up the hill (it's not a very challenging hill, more like a gentle slope, but everything feels steeper before dawn) to the meditation hall to commence our 2-hour pre-breakfast meditation. Again I just sat there and daydreamed, squirming a lot to try and find a comfortable position.
At 5:30 Teacher joined us. He started playing the first of our course lectures. It began with about 5 mins of chanting, and then a series of meditation instructions in Hindi and English. And I'm not summarising when I write this, but all I have to do is watch my breath. That's it. Just sit there, eyes closed, and focus my entire attention on the breath flowing in and out of my nostrils.
I know that seems simple enough, but I could barely go 30 seconds before images of cricket, beer and naked ladies would begin to commandeer my thoughts. I didn't have a good session this morning.
6:30 was breakfast, followed by a few mins of free time to organise yourself.
We started meditating again at 8:30. Another poor session. Concentration has never been my strong suit. I keep getting angry at myself for not being able to do something so seemingly simple.
At 9:30 Teacher joined us again and we started the 2nd of our lectures. Same instructions: just breathe. 2 more hours of watching my breath. Well, 2 hours of sitting, and about 3 minutes of actual breath watching.
By lunch (11 am), my back was really starting to hurt. I never get back pain in the outside world, but in the outside world I never sit unsupported. The searing pain only made my concentration worse and the 4 straight hours of post-lunch mediation useless.
We had our dinner at 5pm, followed by another hour of meditation. I must have adjusted my position at least 20 times and never once found one that provided any relief.
At 7pm we sat down to watch our daily DVD discourse, taught be the lovably charismatic Goenka, the father of the modern day Vipassana movement. He talks, he talks a lot, but he's great to listen to, and when he made a joke about how much people hurt after the 1st day, everyone let out a relieved laugh. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one in agony.
Another quick half hour of spine torture at 8:30 and then off to bed.
This is going to be a horribly long 10 days.
Deary Diary,
I'm in so much pain. And meditating is not relaxing, don't let anyone ever tell you otherwise.
At precisely 3:50am, the morning gong rang. There's not much point in harping on about just how early 4am is, you know how early it is. So early that I've never once called it early before - when discussing the hour of 4am, it should only ever be referred to as late.
I lay bed for a few mins before I staggered to the bathroom and poured some cold water over my head to wake up. The showers here are traditional Indian showers (buckets). One big bucket to hold the water, one little bucket to do the pouring.
My room is actually quite nice. It's simple but clean. It also has two beds, and since I have no roomie, I have some privacy and plenty of space to spread out.
After my cold water wake-up call, I dragged myself up the hill (it's not a very challenging hill, more like a gentle slope, but everything feels steeper before dawn) to the meditation hall to commence our 2-hour pre-breakfast meditation. Again I just sat there and daydreamed, squirming a lot to try and find a comfortable position.
At 5:30 Teacher joined us. He started playing the first of our course lectures. It began with about 5 mins of chanting, and then a series of meditation instructions in Hindi and English. And I'm not summarising when I write this, but all I have to do is watch my breath. That's it. Just sit there, eyes closed, and focus my entire attention on the breath flowing in and out of my nostrils.
I know that seems simple enough, but I could barely go 30 seconds before images of cricket, beer and naked ladies would begin to commandeer my thoughts. I didn't have a good session this morning.
6:30 was breakfast, followed by a few mins of free time to organise yourself.
We started meditating again at 8:30. Another poor session. Concentration has never been my strong suit. I keep getting angry at myself for not being able to do something so seemingly simple.
At 9:30 Teacher joined us again and we started the 2nd of our lectures. Same instructions: just breathe. 2 more hours of watching my breath. Well, 2 hours of sitting, and about 3 minutes of actual breath watching.
By lunch (11 am), my back was really starting to hurt. I never get back pain in the outside world, but in the outside world I never sit unsupported. The searing pain only made my concentration worse and the 4 straight hours of post-lunch mediation useless.
We had our dinner at 5pm, followed by another hour of meditation. I must have adjusted my position at least 20 times and never once found one that provided any relief.
At 7pm we sat down to watch our daily DVD discourse, taught be the lovably charismatic Goenka, the father of the modern day Vipassana movement. He talks, he talks a lot, but he's great to listen to, and when he made a joke about how much people hurt after the 1st day, everyone let out a relieved laugh. It's comforting to know I'm not the only one in agony.
Another quick half hour of spine torture at 8:30 and then off to bed.
This is going to be a horribly long 10 days.
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Pics of Things and Stuff - Day 1
Just so I don't scare you all away from the blog forever, I've decided to add a few random pictures as sort of an antidote to my wordy Vipassana posts.
Here's your first pic:
Spinning the prayer wheels at the Dalai Lama's House, McLeod Ganj.
Here's your first pic:
Spinning the prayer wheels at the Dalai Lama's House, McLeod Ganj.
Vipassana Diary - Day 0
So I made it out alive (as you already know), but obviously a lot of other stuff happened over the past 10 days, so I thought I'd start filling you in on a few of my Vipassana experiences.
Since reading and writing were banned, I wasn't able top keep an actual diary, but using my mega memory (which is actually far far from mega), I will attempt to give you a reasonably accurate, blow-by-blow account of my time in solitary.
I'm going to split up this recollection into individual days. Partly because I'm too lazy to type the whole thing out now, but mostly because I'm certain that none of you, no matter how much you may care for me, could sit through 10 pages of drivel on what is essentially the 10 least eventful days of my trip.
So here we go...
Day 0.
Dear Diary,
I made it! After a very early start and an epic 2 bus, 12 hour trip, I arrived in Dehradun with just 2 minutes to spare. All of us soon-to-be mediators met at the city office, and in lots of 10 we were ferried by 4WD to the meditation centre about a half-hour out of town. The site is gorgeous! (satellite pic). It sits on the side of a shallow but fast-flowing river, far away from, well, everything. No car horns here, just the sweet sounds of whistling birds and the occasional monkey's screech.
There are about 50 mediators all up. About 3 quarters are male and roughly the same percentage are Indian.
Everyone was quite chatty on the way over, but after we arrived we all became strangely quiet. The course didn't officially start until 8pm, but hardly anyone uttered a word during dinner.
8pm. Course starts. Noble Silence begins.
Noble Silence means: "silence of body, speech, and mind. Any form of communication with fellow student, whether by gestures, sign language, written notes, etc. is prohibited".
There are also had 5 other precepts which I will have to obey for the duration of the course:
So, the first day was over pretty quickly. Following a short welcome/introduction speech from one of the assistant teachers, we walked up to the meditation hall where we were assigned our cushions. Mine is #24. I'm in the 2nd-back row, where all the meditation bad boys hang.
Our real teacher, the head honcho, greeted us very briefly and then simply said "now we meditate". So we did. By meditate I mean I sat there for an hour with my eyes shut and did nothing. My first ever hour of meditation(?).
Day 0 fin.
Feeling a little nervous now. All of a sudden 10 days seems like a very long time.
Since reading and writing were banned, I wasn't able top keep an actual diary, but using my mega memory (which is actually far far from mega), I will attempt to give you a reasonably accurate, blow-by-blow account of my time in solitary.
I'm going to split up this recollection into individual days. Partly because I'm too lazy to type the whole thing out now, but mostly because I'm certain that none of you, no matter how much you may care for me, could sit through 10 pages of drivel on what is essentially the 10 least eventful days of my trip.
So here we go...
Day 0.
Dear Diary,
I made it! After a very early start and an epic 2 bus, 12 hour trip, I arrived in Dehradun with just 2 minutes to spare. All of us soon-to-be mediators met at the city office, and in lots of 10 we were ferried by 4WD to the meditation centre about a half-hour out of town. The site is gorgeous! (satellite pic). It sits on the side of a shallow but fast-flowing river, far away from, well, everything. No car horns here, just the sweet sounds of whistling birds and the occasional monkey's screech.
There are about 50 mediators all up. About 3 quarters are male and roughly the same percentage are Indian.
Everyone was quite chatty on the way over, but after we arrived we all became strangely quiet. The course didn't officially start until 8pm, but hardly anyone uttered a word during dinner.
8pm. Course starts. Noble Silence begins.
Noble Silence means: "silence of body, speech, and mind. Any form of communication with fellow student, whether by gestures, sign language, written notes, etc. is prohibited".
There are also had 5 other precepts which I will have to obey for the duration of the course:
- abstain from killing any being
- abstain from stealing
- abstain from all sexual activity (no touching yourself to get in touch with yourself - my other favourite Vipassana paradox)
- abstain from telling lies
- abstain from all intoxicants
So, the first day was over pretty quickly. Following a short welcome/introduction speech from one of the assistant teachers, we walked up to the meditation hall where we were assigned our cushions. Mine is #24. I'm in the 2nd-back row, where all the meditation bad boys hang.
Our real teacher, the head honcho, greeted us very briefly and then simply said "now we meditate". So we did. By meditate I mean I sat there for an hour with my eyes shut and did nothing. My first ever hour of meditation(?).
Day 0 fin.
Feeling a little nervous now. All of a sudden 10 days seems like a very long time.
Vital Stats - 04 Aug, 2009
Vital Stats - 20 July, 2009
Hello My Much Loved Family and Friends!
Just a very short note to let you know that I'm still here on the planet (physically and spiritually).
Will update you on many things very soon...
Time: 11:55 am
Location: Delhi (map)
Health: Perfect
Weather: Sunny, hot and humid
Mood: Peaceful
Bowels: A+
Beard: Very Bushy
Next Destination: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
Hello My Much Loved Family and Friends!
Just a very short note to let you know that I'm still here on the planet (physically and spiritually).
Will update you on many things very soon...
Time: 11:55 am
Location: Delhi (map)
Health: Perfect
Weather: Sunny, hot and humid
Mood: Peaceful
Bowels: A+
Beard: Very Bushy
Next Destination: Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh
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