The 10 Day (Goenka) Vipassana Retreat — A Warning

This summer, my girlfriend and I took part in a 10 day silent Vipassana retreat. The flavor taught by S.N. Goenka. We both went there naively upon friends’ recommendations, not knowing much about the course. One friend told us “you’ll feel great afterwards, it will relieve you of all your suffering”. This turned out not to be true for either of us. In order to spare you the discomfort and disappointment we experienced in this retreat, I wrote down in condensed form a couple of thoughts and experiences for you to consider before signing up.

After arrival you are told multiple times that you may not leave in the middle of the course. You are asked to take various vows together with the other students on the first night. You are told you are in a prison and not your own master for the next 10 days. You are asked to follow all of the teachers instructions and add nothing to it. You may not leave the small course grounds, i.e. may not take a walk in the forest, may not get anything from your car, may not exercise … You are asked to stop taking all non prescription medicine and stop any previous spiritual practices during the course. I slept an average of 5h per night (instead of normally 7) and ate about a third as much as normal (no hunger).

There is a great emphasis on inflicting pain (e.g. sitting for 2h without moving on the 4th day)…