Introduction to Dhamma

Trip Start Sep 14, 2009

Trip End Jul 06, 2010

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Flag of Malaysia Kampong Melayu Gambang, Pahang, Malaysia
Saturday, February 27, 2010

My experience during the 10 day course at Dhamma Malaya is beyond the scope of words. I cannot relate my direct experience to you any more than I can directly experience your reality; reality as it is for you. However through words I can attempt to give an account or some kind of
explanation of the wisdom that I experienced during the course.

I came to know about Vipassana when I was in Bangkok from another traveler that I met in the hostel that I was staying in. After some discussions about our mutual interest in how the mind works, perceives, and interacts with reality she told me that I might be interested in trying a 10 day Vipassana course. I checked it out online (www.dhamma.org) and found that there were courses offered all over the world. There is even a center in Colorado. Since my new friend didn't really tell me anything about the course other than she thought that I would be interested in it, I read the information about the course that was provided online. The introductory course is 10 days long, has very staunch restrictions, and includes a very demanding day to day routine.
All religions practices are to be suspended during the course. All forms of prayer, worship, or religious ceremonies like fasting, burning incense, counting beads, reciting mantras, singing and dancing, are to be discontinued. All other meditation techniques and healing or spiritual practices should also be suspended. No devotional items such as images or statues of gods, masters, religious symbols, crystals, Mala beads, rosaries, talismans, or anything pertaining to another practice is to be brought to the course. This is required to give a fair trial to the technique of Vipassana in its purity. These other practices are not condemned in any way, it is only asked that they are suspended during the duration of the course so that one can face the
technique without any bias, so that one can experience it in its pure form. All electronics, reading, and writing materials are prohibited as well as any exercise other than walking. Men and women are separated for the entire duration of the course. Perhaps the most daunting of the
requirements is the noble silence taken for 9 of the 10 days of the course. This means that you are not to talk any of the other practitioners or make intentional physical contact with them. You are allowed to talk to the course facilitators about any problems about the accommodations or food that you may have, but these discussions are expected to be kept to a minimum. You are also allowed to discuss any questions about the technique that you may have with the teachers or assistant teachers during a daily time set a side for that purpose.These strict requirements are required to proved a distraction free environment so that each student may give their undivided attention to the technique. Each student is also required to take the following 5 percepts:

to abstain from killing any being;
to abstain from stealing;
to abstain from all sexual activity;
to abstain from telling lies;
to abstain from all intoxicants.

Old students are required to take 3 more precepts which include:

to abstain from eating after midday;
to abstain from sensual entertainment and bodily decorations
to abstain from using high or luxurious beds.

This means that the food is vegetarian, as one is indirectly participating in killing if one consumes meat. Breakfast and lunch are regular meals, but dinner for new students is only fruit and tea with milk or fruit juice. The old students are given only tea without milk or lemon water
for dinner. Granted the teacher can excuse this restriction if one has appropriate health reasons. Any special dietary requirements strictly pertaining to health are to be told to the course servers at the beginning of the course, but preferential food desires are not taken into account. The food was actually quite good and I never had anything that didn't agree with me, although I did not eat the things that I clearly knew to contain gluten, but now I am getting a little ahead of myself.

Basically the code of discipline is summarized as follows: Take great care that your actions do not disturb anyone. Take no notice of distractions caused by others. So after I read this long code of discipline I felt probably a little bit like you may be feeling right now: Being slightly worn out after reading all that, impressed at the scope and expectations of discipline, as well as some aversion to all those restrictions. However after taking note of all the restrictions I knew that it was an extremely serious course and that real work was expected of each student that attends. This feeling was deepened when I read the daily time table:

4:00am                   Morning wake up bell
4:30-6:30am            Meditate in your own room or the main hall
6:30-8:00am            Breakfast and rest
8:00-9:00am           Group meditation in the main hall
9:00-11:00am          Meditate in main hall or your room according to the teacher's instructions
11:00-12:00pm        Lunch
12:00-1:00pm          Rest and interviews with the teacher
1:00-2:30pm            Meditate in the main hall or your own room
2:30-3:30pm            Group meditation in main hall
3:30-5:00pm            Meditate in main hall or your room according to the teacher's instruction
5:00-6:00pm            Tea Break
6:00-7:00pm            Group meditation in main hall
7:00-8:15pm            Teachers discourse in main hall
8:15-9:00pm            Group Meditation in main hall
9:00-9:30pm            Question time in main hall
9:30pm-10:00pm     Retire to your own room
10:00pm                  Lights out

Another requirement of the course, a very big requirement, is that each student must commit to stay for the entire 10 day course. There is no leaving early. Now I was tired just looking at that, not even thinking about doing all that alone time. 10 hours of meditation everyday. Intense and seriously serious. I have done mediation in the past but it has never been more than two, 2 hour sittings in one day, and I have done that only a few times. And it was painful. So now I am getting slightly less interested in doing the course. All those restrictions, all that meditation, and for ten days?! Well then my ego kicked in and said, "Ah that would be no problem for you. You have done loads of different kinds of meditation. Surely this would be no problem for you." Alright, I guess that I am interested again. Now the big question comes, how much does it cost. So I read on. Then I am struck at a very deep level. The course is free of charge. Free accommodation, free food, free water and power usage, free teaching, free everything for 10
days. Donations can be give to support the course centers, but only after one has completed the course. The entire course is run on charity. Then for one moment I experienced the Dhamma. My mind stopped analyzing and scrutinizing and everything made sense. All the
restrictions and strict requirements fit into place and formed a complete picture, although it was like that of an empty circle. I could sense the form of what it was but since I did not know what the content of the course was, nothing occupied the picture, which made it complete as my understanding allowed it to be. But that moment quickly faded and I was pulled back away from that experience. It arose and passed away. I reflected on that brief flash and then I knew that this was not just your ordinary meditation course. The discipline code was the first clue
and my insight became deeper after seeing the daily time table, but it was not until I had the understanding that only requirement demanded of one was to follow the rules and do the work, that I knew that this technique was aiming at real Truth. But again that moment of reflection
came and went. I then started thinking how great it would be to not have to spend any money for 10 days and how much that would benefit my financial situation. This selfish desire to keep my money then grew, although I was not directly aware of it at the time. My ego was saying,
"Wow what a great course this could be for you, but ah, how nice it would be to keep that money. Your budget is already tight and saving that money would be so nice. That will let you spend more and more in other places. Yes this is a good idea. I must surely register for this
course. But what a great course! How profound it must be that it is given for free! Ah but it is free, and that is the best part for you. Mmmm, nothing is better than free. Think of that money you can save to spend on yourself. Perfect."

So now I have a deep desire to do the course. Maybe even a desire that is becoming a craving. Yes now I really I want to do the course, but not for the benefit of the meditation, that is just a bonus. I want to do the course because it is free and I can save some money by doing it. I did not give any thought to the work that I would be undertaking. I mean I gave some thought,
but only surface though. I understood my greedy craving, and I understood that that was why I was going to do the course, but that felt perfectly normal. Why not? Save some money, do some meditation, perfectly normal though process. I must admit there was a slight darkness around this picture that I was forming and I passed it off as twinge of guilt at my greedy intentions, but that quickly passed away, as I have greedy intentions all the time. My thoughts are nearly always 100% self serving in their nature, and my actions follow the same suit. I am the most selfish person that I know. Perfectly normal.

So then I started trying to fit a course into my itinerary. Since my itinerary included Thailand, Vietnam, and Malaysia, I looked at all those locations for courses. And what do you know?! It just so happened that there was a course in Malaysia that finished on nearly the same day that I was set to fly back to China from KL. It was a perfect fit. Well nearly. At that time I thought that since the course started on the 16th of Feb. and it was 10 days, that it would finish on the 26th, which was the day that I would fly back to China. However in reality, the course ended on the 27th, but I did not know that then. So I registered for the course. I filled out all the paper work committed to following all the rules and all the requirements and sent my email flying away through time and space. Little did I know, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had take the first step and though I had seen the Path briefly set my foot in It's direction, I leaped from back from that direction in nearly the same instant. The first step is always the hardest...

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