The Good, The Bad, The Ugly: A Critique of the Goenka 10 – Day Vipassana Retreat
(Please read this if you are thinking about doing a retreat)
I just got done with a S.N. Goenka 10 – Day Vipassana Retreat in Pyin Oo Lwin Myanmar and I am coming away with mixed feelings about the whole experience. Before going into the retreat, I heard overwhelmingly good things how it changed people’s lives for the better with the only negative things being about how intense sitting for 10 1/2 hours of meditation a day was. Even doing quick research beforehand you don’t find much balance or critique unless you really look for it.
After completing the retreat there was so much I agree with and can see how people gain valuable insight into themselves and have better perspectives to live a more happy life. The problem is that there is also a subtle dark side that many people may not be aware of that I believe could have serious complications on one’s views and mental state.
This is my critique of the good, the bad, and the ugly of the Goenka specific Vipassana 10 – day meditation retreat.
Good
Awareness of Breath and Body
Provides focus to your mind. It also makes you more aware of your emotions and what you are experiencing. You are being conditioned to live in the present moment.
Theory of Impermanence
Sensations and life will rise and pass. Teaches you to be aware that what you are experiencing is not permanent so you should not develop attachment or avoidance. This helps provide stability of the mind.
Strength
Meditating for 10 1/2 hours a day is hard work. Each time you master another level of the technique you gain confidence.
Often you set goals for yourself especially during the hour of determination (where you cannot move your legs, unclasp your hands, or open your eyes for 1 hour) and by accomplishing them you keep increasing your confidence.
After meditating for so long when you go home meditating for half an hour to an hour should be easy work.
Meditating for over an hour when you are not flexible can be painful. You ignore and overcome your pain.
Time to Yourself
You are in your own head for 10 days cut off from interacting with others. You are completely unplugged from the outside world which is always a benefit in the hectic world we live in.
You are in your mind for 10 days which means you have time to take a step back and reflect on past, present, and future during the breaks and/or meditations (you are supposed to acknowledge your mind is wandering during meditation and return to the present)
Karma
If you do good things you will have good happen back to you in return and if you do bad things you will have bad things happen to you in return. This mindset promotes people to act in good ways and avoid acting in bad ways.
Retreat Structure
A lot of time was put into the schedule and how to effectively facilitate 10 1/2 hours of meditation a day. Everything ran like clockwork. Facilities were beautiful and the food was good.
Bad
Pureness of Technique Claim
Goenka makes the claim that his Vipassana technique has been preserved for 2500 years in purity passed down directly from Buddha. If it does not work for you it is because you are practicing it wrong and nothing due to flaws in the technique.
Surgical Operation of the Mind
Goenka comments during the video discourses at night that he is giving you the tools to do surgical operations on your mind. You will be going deep into your mind to find the root causes of your misery. It will be unpleasant, but you are just removing the pus or impurities that cause your misery.
This creates a mindset that you can treat whatever negative conditions you have using this technique. This can be very dangerous for people who experience serious symptoms because it may prevent them from seeking proper professional help or even degrade their condition further if they only utilize this technique thinking it will cure their condition if they just keep practicing.
Thought, Verbal, and Physical
Goenka rationalizes that verbal and physical actions that harm others but come from a mindset of love are okay. He uses an example of forcefully grabbing a child who is running towards fire to save them from being burned.
What he doesn’t talk about are the numerous examples in history where horrible things have happened, and people have suffered tremendously or were killed. I mentioned this to a fellow retreat member afterwards and she brought up the example of gay-conversion therapy. Often it is done out of love, but it rationalizes the suffering of the person being abused.
Liberation
Although Goenka makes the claim that all of this is non-sectarian he then goes into teaching aspects of Buddhism and claims that your only path to salvation is by using his technique. If you aren’t looking for enlightenment, he then claims that removal of all your misery by this technique is the key to pure love and happiness.
No Trained Staff
All the staff are volunteers and the assistant teachers who lead the sessions seem only qualified to answer any questions or concerns with just repeating what Goenka has instructed for the technique. If anybody had any severe traumatic issues they were dealing with I am afraid they would not find help in the retreats beyond possibly stick it out or focus on your breathing. They have a warning when you sign up about previous mental conditions, but this does not help those who develop issues during the retreat.
Ugly
Goenka’s Ego
Goenka claims in one of the last discourses that there was a prophecy that when Vipassana was spread to Myanmar that Vipassana would be lost in India and that the technique would have to remain pure in Myanmar so that it could be reintroduced to India 2500 years later. It just so happens that 2500 years was the same time he brought it to India. Why couldn’t it have been 2499 or 2501 years?
I was surprised at how much ego Goenka had for being the leader of a practice that is supposed to dissolve your ego.
Dark Side of Persuasion
(Before I get into this, I just want to note that these are my personal opinions from my observations, and I do not believe there are serious bad intentions beyond trying to suck people into his practice).
Sets up agreeable logic trains but then delivers the opposite.
He gains your trust by saying that you should question things. He later preaches that his technique is pure (unquestionable).
He says that everybody is going through their own individual experience. What was weird was that the general emotional trend (worst times such as the afternoon of day 8) was shared by everybody.
Us vs. Them Mentality
Organized religion has rites and rituals that get away from what the original meaning of the religious teaching. This technique is pure and doesn’t do that. He makes fun of religious practices to both relate to those who are non-religious and to say that what he is doing is superior.
He talks about the people who leave as being weak minded. Implies that we who stay are strong-minded and creates judgement towards those who leave.
On the last day he says we are Vipassana meditators now and that we only practice Vipassana. This leaves out all sorts of other types of meditation and may even dissuades people from other versions of Vipassana.
Audio and Video
While meditating in deep states or while mentally tired and watching the discussions where you may be more suggestable you will hear Goenka say different things. You don’t realize it but Goenka is planting seeds for you to keep coming back or to tell others to come.
Be alert. Be attentive. Be happy. Be peaceful. Anicca. The gross sensations you are feeling is aversion, when you are feeling this you are releasing your build up aversion sakkrahs. When you feel subtle sensations, you are experiencing built up craving sakkrahs. By treating them with indifference you will release these craving sakkrahs. (telling you what mindset to be in and influencing what sensations you are aware of and reinforcing that you are releasing Sakkrahs).
If you can see into your body and dissolve everything, start working on your spinal cord. You can feel blockages and remove those. Then dissolve everything and work just with the 6 senses. (planting the seed of what is possible if you keep practicing).
The best gift of love you can give is spreading Dhamma (telling people to tell others to join his retreat).
You should practice 1 hour in the morning and 1 hour in the evening every day and come back every year to refresh on the technique (telling you come back each year).
Association (this one isn’t too bad)
Has singing in both the video and audio to connect concepts across the discourses and in meditation. This is to have the concepts sink in deeper.
Frequency buzzing during influential parts of meditation to influence trance like states
(This one may be a little out there and could just be in my head, but I thought I should throw this out there in case it actually is happening. It would be worth testing this as a hypothesis…)
When I first started the retreat, I was right next to the speakers and noticed that there was a weird buzzing frequency at times during the audio of the meditations. I didn’t think anything of it.
Later after the 8th day afternoon session I was suddenly super depressed. I was having good meditations in the early afternoon sessions but then after the hour of determination session I couldn’t focus very much. I am always a very optimistic person, so I was very confused why my loss of focus suddenly put me into this depressive state. After the session ended during tea time I walk outside, and everybody was sitting around looking way sadder and more depressed than normal. This was also weird because we were supposed to all be having our own individual experiences and mental journey. Why was everybody having what appeared to be similar emotional states?
I go into the night hour of determination meditation session and I began meditating at a certain level of consciousness. I am focusing on scanning different parts of my body for sensations when suddenly while Goenka is talking I drop into a deeper state of consciousness. “Wait a second,” I thought, “I didn’t cause myself to go into a deeper state of consciousness. That came from the audio tape.”
I started listening to the Burmese translation that played after Goenka talked and there was something disconcerting about it and it sounded different than what it normally sounded.
Am I being brainwashed?
Am I aware of all the messages that he has been preaching?
Is there the potential for bad effects and should I care?
I thought back on how intense the meditation sessions were throughout the week. I was comparing sitting and meditating to some of the most difficult wrestling practices that I have ever done. It didn’t make sense that the pain from sitting could be at the same level of intenseness as some of the most physically grueling workouts I have ever done in my life. I thought it was just because the pain was in the joints, but I wasn’t sure that really made sense anymore…
I started freaking out trying to think of everything that occurred throughout the week when I remembered before I started the session a guy from Israel gave the advice not to get caught up in the brainwashing. That the message is mostly the truth and you choose to accept what you agree with and reject what you disagree with. Save any judgement on brainwashing until the end and then you can formulate your thoughts on it.
This was reassuring in a way and calmed my thoughts of packing my bags and leaving before any more damage was done. I decided to finish out the retreat and keep giving the technique a chance to see where things would go. This also gave me a chance to see if there was any evidence of possible inducing of deeper trance like states during the audio meditation sessions.
During the audio sessions I now paid close attention to any noises coming out of the speakers. I noticed that during the instructions there would be blips of this static frequency noise that would come in, but it wouldn’t be at other times. During the happiness session on the last day this humming frequency was going constantly when he was instructing everybody to be happy and loving towards everybody else. When thinking back I realized I had heard this at random times at the beginning of the retreat meditations but didn’t give it much thought. If I had to put my money on something, I would start with looking into this.
The other thing I noticed as a potential cue was this double cough that would occur in different frequencies during the audio. It could just be somebody coughing in the crowd. What was weird about it was that if you didn’t pay attention it didn’t sound abnormal but when you did pay attention each time it occurred (in some instances it was a lot) it sounded the same and I can’t recall ever hearing somebody cough like that.
Another thing that was interesting was that during the 9th day my mind felt very concentrated to the point I was able to feel the tip of my heart contracting when beating and my intestines when looking inside myself. During the last half hour session there was no audio played which from what I remember audio was usually played at the beginning during this session. I went from what felt like super mind powers of focus to barely being able to feel any situations at all. This seemed like too much of a coincidence.
The last observation I have involves the physical behavior of Goenka himself. I have been traveling throughout Asia for 7 months now and there are many places I go where it is hard to communicate. I have gotten very used to communicating through body language and to pay attention to people’s body language. One thing I picked up on during the Goenka discourse tapes was that whenever he said a story that he was unsure of or may not have been completely true he would rub his nose quick. I didn’t give it much mind until on the last morning he brought up that some people may think that the teacher hypnotizes them during the individual sessions. He said this while doing a repeated gesture with his hand but at the beginning of the gesture he did his telltale sign. It seemed half pronounced as the other ones, so I took it as a half lie or that by doing a gesture after that it altered it.
To wrap this up the last thing I should mention were the after effects that occurred on the 10th day and 11th day. It felt like the “juice” was cut off. You are able to talk on the 10th day but when you start talking to people words are difficult, and it is hard to concentrate. Conversations between people were not coherent and very weird. The focus of things was off and it was hard remembering things. This was weird because during the course you still had the opportunity to talk to one of the assistants when you had general questions and talk to the assistant teacher when you had questions about the technique. It did not feel like this.
The next couple of days I felt way more dehydrated than normal and had to drink lots of water. My mind was fuzzy, and I did not want to reach out to family or friends once I got my phone back. It was like you were hungover but hungover from some drug of the mind that spent all of your brain power. This lasted for 2 days.
I want to say that until the 8th day I was fully bought into the technique and the positive parts that Goenka was teaching. There is a great quantity of good that in Goenka’s words, to throw out the sweet keel because of a black stone in it, may be a little extreme. I think there are a lot of positive parts to Vipassana meditation and I suggest for anybody who wants to increase their focus or have more awareness of their body and mind to take up some sort of meditation.
Would I recommend the Goenka class to others? Probably not to be honest. There are other Vipassana techniques or even other types of meditation that one could consider. You don’t need to have a 10-day intense meditation boot camp full of pain to learn how to meditate or to incorporate it into your life. Find a course with an actual qualified teacher that doesn’t have controversy surrounding it and begin you your journey of inner peace!
This retreat and technique have changed many lives for the better so there is a lot of good associated with it. I’m sorry to have had to bring up all of the negatives that I believe are associated with this particular branch of Vipassana. I felt like I had to speak up because it seems like the negative aspects of this practice have been suppressed (even the Wikipedia page, check out the dialogue on the Wikipedia page edits https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk%3AS._N._Goenka). During the retreat I was so excited to share this meditation technique with others and I am sad that I came to the conclusion that I did. For those who did get lots of benefit I am glad for you and please don’t let this critique take anything away from that.
Let me know your thoughts! If you disagree please provide logical arguments and don’t quote directly from Goenka’s teachings (I have read enough on the internet that whenever someone says something bad, they are often attacked and usually the person only uses arguments or points that come directly from Goenka’s discourses). If you have similar thoughts I would love to hear about your experience!
Hi Anders! I have been in five of these retreats and have served in two, but that was years ago. Then I just decided I didn’t feel like going anymore… I do agree with some of your points… The thing that personally made me more uncomfortable are the chants that are used during the course and that you are supposed or at least encouraged to use for your daily meditation. They do explain you the meaning of those chants but I always wondered what if they are lying? What if they are brainwashing me? How could I know? So I decided to quit, just in case… also, I was pretty sad on those years and I’m not sure if that meditation helped… but I do miss the sense of community, but, the risk was too much for me…
Gabriela, you have exactly on point. Well done for spotting it. You must watch and share this video with those who you know have done it: https://youtu.be/kHF6ZkrZPuU
Hi Stop, I watched your video and it seems like you have gone through some hard times. I wish you the best on your healing and getting rid of what has been bothering you. I have not experienced what you have but you may want to seek out a professional or others who have overcome something similar.
I do believe the Goenka retreat uses manipulative techniques to get you hooked and to get you to spread the word, but I do not suspect there is anything sinister or evil in the messaging, at least I haven’t noticed anything other than the manipulative techniques used and some of the faulty logic trains.
Hi Gabriela, I hope you are doing well and thanks for sharing your experience! It is good you stopped if it made you uncomfortable and that it wasn’t helping your sadness. I could see it turning into a negative loop where you are led to believe that the technique is the only way to truly deal with your sadness so you put your energy into it but don’t receive results so you put more energy into it and this keeps going on and on.
For the sense of community, there are many other ways you can find that. Maybe you could join a sports, card game, or any other kind of interest league (when covid dies down, or you could do a virtual one!). Or you could volunteer or search for other people in the community who have shared interests or reach out to friends and family more or any other number of ways! You can build your own community! Wishing you the best!
I have document proof of brainwashing techniques used at the SN Goenka retreat centers. Your intuition is right on the money
Hi Anders,
I have done more than 6 retreats and well I understand some of your remarks.
If there is brainwashing ? of course there is… but everyday we are brainswashing… just the fact to listen music or radio is brainwashing. I just mean we are always influenced by our environement… im sure during youtr 10 days… there were day where u hear some music you often listen… happened to me… its just our subconscient always works and record.
About your day 8 depressed… its also a normal fact… its not coz you are in general positive you have nothing to clear as past experience. I had also some days where i was depressed…. its a tough retreat and we are there to clean impurities… to make a reset. to remove negative part of us.
About Goenka Ego… well is not to defend him… but atleast he doesn’t pretend to be illuminated as others (Sadghuru for instance)… I have never heard someone with less ego than this man to be honest… now sure he has some ego i guess.
But according to me… what he says about the 2500 years to spread the dhamma…. Its just when you practise Vipassana… you become more and more connected with universe and you understand a lot synchronicity what happened me often.
For sure Vipassana is not something to take lightly… and i think the after vipassana should be more supported by the organisation, like following the new meditator once they go back to normal life.
I would just say… you have to feel when you have to go to vipassana… and not exagerated with it….
if you have a really active life, very social with a lot responsability then Vipassana will help you to transcend this energy into light and strenght…. like… less fear, less ego… happier (but not always).
But if you are not really active … vipassana could not bring you a lot result… and even not help you to socialize.
whats is difficult to deal with vipassana is the fact you can’t lie to yourself anymore… you can’t invent a story to make u feel better.
I would finaly say… important is always the middle path…. spirituality yes but always with feet on the ground.
Take care
Thanks for the response S. You are right on the everyday brainwashing! We are definitely influenced by our environments and what we listen to. A great example that highlights this is the divisiveness of belief in the current USA political system!
Yeah they are definitely positives to Vipassana and other forms of meditation. A couple of weeks after I did the course I met a girl who talked about her experience going to a random temple and meditating with the monks there. The schedule was loose and included various styles of meditation. And probably most importantly the messaging wasn’t one sided. You actually had a dialogue with the monks, could ask questions, and people shared the wisdom they have learned. They didn’t say one method is the right way and that you should only practice that. I think this is a much healthier form of mediation and spiritual guidance then what is offered at the Goenka courses.
I chose the 10-day course because I wanted to completely dive into one style of meditation. I believe there are better ways of doing this than the Goenka courses or other courses that use manipulative practices. Just my thoughts!
Thanks for the comments and choosing the middle path is good advice! Wishing you the best on your personal/spiritual journey!
Hi, when you say what is difficult to deal with Vipassana is the fact that you can’t lie to yourself – I’m afraid with documented proff of brainwashing techniques and advanced psycological mind control being implemented at these centers, it appears that any defense of the Goenka organization is a form of self-deceit. I know its a tough pill to swallow, but happy to share the evidence with you if you’d like.
I have written a letter to my grown up children that i want to share with you incase it helps people on the practice.
Here it is.
My Life Philosophy. 10th October 2020.
I have written this note to explain my life philosophy so that you can better understand me and my actions.
It may appear radical and selfish. It has taken me many years to develop these ideas and if it can help to improve me, I can then help others with this knowledge and have achieved my objectives.
My mindset is built on the word LIFE.
The L stands for letting go.
The I stands for identify.
The F stands for focus.
The E stands for essential.
letting go
I concentrate on four elements.
1. tension in the body.
2. unpleasant feeling.
3. negative emotions.
4. negative thoughts.
With the first element, tension in the body, I concentrate on the tensions and after a while the tension is released as explained in the book ” You must relax” by Jacobson.
With unpleasant feeling, I concentrate on the unpleasant feeling to prevent the feeling from leading to action by thought word or deed (T,W&D) which will lead to problems.
With negative emotions like greed, hate and all their derivatives like anger, jealousy, frustration, rage, boredom etc. I concentrate on the emotions and prevent them from resulting in action by T,W&D that are detrimental. I “let them go”.
Greed is not evil except that it is addictive and can lead to mental turmoil.
With negative thoughts, I concentrate on the thoughts and prevent them from unbalancing the mind and leading to mental proliferation and action T,W&D that will lead to life problems. I “let them go”. Thoughts have their own momentum and are difficult to bring to an end, especially negative thoughts that are associated with the ego.
When I meditate, I have to concentrate on a single item like the breath or the movement of the stomach when breathing. Thoughts continually interrupt my meditation and I have to keep “letting go” of the thoughts and returning to my object of meditation, tens or hundreds of times. This is an excellent training in “letting go” of tension in the body, unpleasant feeling, negative emotions and thoughts.
A great philosopher once said; if you know everything then its all about “letting go”
identify
Identifying with the world involves me with the outside world. Identifying also means getting involved, interacting and associating. I get carried away in proliferation of thought, word and deed which can sometimes lead to problems. I try to control and sort out the world, other people, situations. I thrive on stimulation and get dragged into the worlds problems causing mental proliferation and mental unbalance.
The world is stressful, unreliable, constantly changeable and causes me suffering.
I thus try and identify and get involved with the world as little as possible.
Its like knowing someone who constantly gets you in trouble; so you avoid them.
If you eat food that makes you ill, then you avoid it. I thus try and spend more time focusing on the inside world like the four elements of body, feeling, emotions and thoughts.
focus
Using meditation. I teach myself how to focus. I then focus on the four elements.
This helps me to reduce tension in the body and mind, prevent the unpleasant feeling from developing into problems in life with friends, relations, partner or the outside world.
By concentrating on my emotions, again I prevent them from developing into serious situations that cause problems for me or others. For example, an unpleasant feeling can develop into anger. I them project that anger onto others around me and think that they have caused my anger, but the real cause is my unpleasant feeling. When people say that he got out of the wrong side of the bed, its because he is feeling in a bad mood and so sees the world in a bad light and is angry with everyone. When I am in a bad mood, any trigger such someone saying something or bumping into me can set off a chain reaction of unwholesome T,W&D. The cause is not the trigger, but my internal unpleasant feeling.
essential.
I try and do only what is necessary during the day by T,W&D.
Before I carry out any action by T,W&D I ask myself.
1. What is my objective in carrying out this action by T,W &D.
2. Is it a realistic objective which can bear fruit.
3. Will it help me and others or cause problems.
4. If I think its worth carrying out the action then I proceed with it.
5. When the action is complete, I review the results to see if it has achieved the desired affect. If not, then I try and avoid any similar action in the future.
I try and concentrate on actions that meet my needs for food, medicine, shelter and the well-being of friends and family.
I am only just starting on this journey and I have yet to see its fruits.
In addition, I try to develop positive emotions of love, compassion, sympathetic joy and equanimity.
As young people you three need to engage with the world to achieve your objectives.
As I am now old, I do not need to engage with the world in the same way and can limit my attention to it and concentrate on the inside world.
In addition my mental stamina is not what it used to be, so I need to minimise its use for important matters and so need to live LIFE.
I hope this gives you a small insight into my life philosophy.
Lots of love,
Dad.
Thank you Menashe for sharing the words of wisdom you gave to your children. I think you have some very good advice and have found what works for you. Everybody is different and has to find what works best for them. I really like how you are mindful in the things that you do and then reflect on the results of what happens. This is a great way to figure out what will work best for you. It all starts with self-reflection.
The part where I differ from you is staying out of the world in your identify passage, but this is what you have found is important for you. I think we are all connected and both positive and negative energy can pass from person to person. My personal view of karma is that the more positive things that are shared, they are passed along, and overall the positivity of the world is increased which comes back in positive forms. I have found generating positive energy comes naturally to me so I try to share it when I can.
Thanks for your comment and I hope it will help those who come across it!
Yes it is just you. There is no buzzing with secret brainwashing subliminal messages in secret frequencies. You are totally paranoid. The ego you see at Goenka, servers or teachers belongs to no one but yourself. There is no charge for the course, what would Goenka gain if you went to a course or a holiday resort? Do you remember the part about generating karma through offending or harboring negative or offensive thoughts about people who selflessly served humanity? Plus it is not sakkrah, it is called sankhara. Do your homework first.
Hi Abby, I am sorry if I offended you and did not mean for my critique to take anything away from your experience. I just reported what I observed, which included techniques of persuasion that crossed over into the negative side of manipulation and that the environment was set up to increase receptiveness of the messaging.
Could I have become paranoid after being in my head for so long? Of course that is possible. Do I think you should trust people that say that they, and only they, know the path to salvation so you should follow them without question? Of course not.
Yes the courses are donation based, but people can be driven by fame or a sense of importance beyond just greed. I do not know Goenka or his intentions and they very well may have been positive, but the persuasion techniques that he used during the course along with his apparent ego do make me think he selfless. If what you are selling is truly that good, I don’t think you need/should manipulate people to buy and spread it.
I think there is a lot of positive things that people can gain from meditation and courses. But I would suggest ones that leave out the manipulation. Thanks for the comment!
Hi Anders, Please! do not apologize for being able to see past the veil. You are right on the money. My email address is provided when I post a comment. Feel free to reach out should you want to discuss the evidence that I have. Thank you for having the courage to write about this and expressing your truth with the intention of helping others even though it is an unpopular truth that invites such aggression
Hi Abby,
For someone who supports Goenka’s Vipassana, you seem anything but equanimous. This author is entitled to his opinion just like you are to yours.
You are right, there is no charge here but these centers are worth millions. Their donation ranges anywhere from $50-$10000 per student per course. Their committees are focused on raising funds and keeping a significant amount in reserves. Servers and students alike are made to feel so connected to their centers and the practice that many leave their entire estate after their death. Please remember, in life, there is no such thing as free. Look at their trust minutes and 1099 and you will see what I am talking about.
I cannot speak to Goenka’s ego although I do understand where the author is coming from. However, I have seen some really nasty behavior from teachers and fellow servers. I served once and the AT kept disclosing details about her student’s issue during server meetings. Another teacher kept advising this server who DEFINITELY needed professional mental help. She was supremely paranoid and was accusing fellow servers of things they didn’t say or do. When we approached the AT, we were told to have compassion and take it as a test from dhamma. Meanwhile, this girl was talking to herself. I have seen AT’s gangup on a student who was a community leader. They thought she was way too invested and too young to be responsible for the community. They collectively forced her out. She was an incredible meditator and a great community server. Lot of these centers (especially the older and more established ones) will excommunicate senior servers if they question the practice. There have been suicides so let’s not paint vipassana as this safe haven. I know this because I have worked closely with these people.
I have benefitted from these 10 day courses because it gave me a space to be with myself. Initially, I made the mistake of talking to the assigned AT but quickly realized they are parroting Goenka’s sermon. After serving, I realized how these AT’s openly discuss their students so decided to keep my distance. I go for 10 day courses once a year because it helps me decompress and lose weight. I meditate while we are in the hall but don’t meditate otherwise. Initially, I followed their instructions like a maniac but quickly realized I was stressing myself out. In addition, I met lot of serious meditators(2 hours everyday for years type) who had pretty shitty lives. Of course, according to Goenka, these meditators are not seeing the fruit of dhamma because they are doing it wrong. I mean this practice is fool proof. If something good happens, it’s because of vipassana, if something bad happens, it’s you and you alone.
Those 10 day courses are good for mental and physical detox if you don’t take this practice too seriously. Listen to your body. I screwed up my ankle because my AT told me to sit through the pain. I wish I didn’t listen to her. Oh well, you learn.
Hi Abby, Please wake up. There is now documented proof of advanced brainwashing and psycological mind control being employed at SN Goenka retreats. The fact that I am saying this publically means that I have enough evidence to defend myself in a court of law should the Goenka Organization sue me for defamation. So in short, unless you can win a court case on what you just stated, I would respectfully ask you to STOP calling people paranoid.
I think your criticism is towards goenka and not to vipassana meditation if you think goenka is trying to prove that buddhism is superior to other religion(what you have written in liberation part) then you should try to understand goenka past he was a hindu he was born as a hindu and died as a hindu any member of his family did not got converted into buddism the meditation technique is not goenka’s it’s buddha’s meditation buddha himself practiced various other meditation technique which helped him but in the end vipassana was the one which helped him to attain enlightenment if you think vipassana doesnt work then that totally wrong buddha is known for meditation it does works and i am no buddhist a hindu is saying these goenka discourse or the theoritical part of vipassana whatever you dont like take it out like the black stone story and enjoy the rest but if you think goenka is using manipulative technique or some kind of hypnosis on student then that is totally wrong you are imposing your own imagination on him still I would Recommend you to take another 10 day course
May you be peacefull
You are correct, my criticism is towards the Goenka 10-day retreat and not towards meditation or Vipassana meditation. There is a lot of value in meditation and I believe I would have got more value meditating at a temple for 10 days then doing the retreat. May you be peaceful as well!
Child, with documented proof that the Goenka organization is practicing advanced brain washing and psychic mind control, you could actually be sued by the person you are directing this comment to for simply making this comment. Check yourself before you get aggressive with anyone who has shown no aggression or animosity in their posts/blogs/comments
I am not for Vipassana either. I have seen that it in no way helps an individual or society. Then why waste time on it.
https://lifensocietyblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/the-loyal-vipassana-returnees-confused.html
It is no science either.
https://lifensocietyblog.blogspot.com/2021/03/Post-mortem-vipassana-unscientific-analysis.html
In my area there is famous quote, ‘when someone spitting on sun. Then the shit return back to face of same person’. So please wake up…
People like you @maske aggressively turn on anybody who questions the practice which leads me to believe that you are not a vipassana practitioner in practice. You bow three times and meditate but the true essence of the teachings is lost on you. Smh.
Hi Anders,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, I´ve participated to the Vipassana in Myanmar in 2020 and I got a weird feeling.
It was indeed beneficial, I felt very good, relaxed and calm but I recognize its dark side. Goenka is an incredibly charismatic and smart person, I love this meditation technique and the way the retreat is structured. Nevertheless, his focus on “cleaning our impurities” has led me to some dark side that pointed out probably some shades I did not want to see in myself. It´s speeches of radical detachment from live and death are somehow dark. Once he makes a joke about the ignorance (this is what for him is the cause of suffering) of a mother crying desperate for loosing her little child. She lives in ignorance, which may be true from a spiritual point of view but at the same time reaching a state of complete detachment from feelings with other human beings its indeed close to what we call psychopathy in modern psychology. The presence of his wife in the videos is definitely odd, she stands there all the time without saying a word. He emphasises the fact that the best way to get illuminated is to become a monk, however if you can´t you should meditate 2 hours per day. Whilst you are feeling calmer and see the benefits of this state of mind, you get bombarded by its messages which is indeed a good way to plant seeds in you. I left the retreat very fascinated about meditation but with some bitter sensation of culpability. I think that when we engage in the process of dissolution of ego this is part of the process. When all we know about what we are started to get questioned, it comes normal to feel lost. Anyway, I was happy to participate to Vipassana and I will do it again for my curiosity but I recognize Goenka´s ego in his speeches.
What s the point to criticize a course, a technique without having meditated for at least a few months 2h a day?
Goenka, unlike many others, does not create illussions, didn t became rich, made profit with his courses.
Sadguru, Osho sold products, became rich with their teaching, Goenka just teached a tecnique for free.
He never promise enlightenment after the first course but a more harmonious life if you meditate 2 hours a day for at least a year.
It’s like expecting to run a 50km marathon after a 10 day workout. :-/
Even when I do a workout I sometimes feel out of energy this doesn’t mean that the exercise is not good.
You must see the result at the long term.
Anyway, I think that Vipassana can give a lot but if u find that another meditation makes you happier than you have to chose the other meditation