Vipassana

✈ BORIVLI PAGODA · 10 DAYS OF SILENCE
Vipassana

Meditation should be a part of life. Even our minds need fresh air. Meditation, or Dhamma, isn't a religion — it's a way to a peaceful life.

Duration
10 days, fully silent
Cost
Free — registration and stay included
Applied
April 2017, for a September course
Location
Borivli Pagoda, near Essel World, Gorai

Applying

I applied in April 2017 for the course in September, at Borivli Pagoda Dhamma, using their online form. Applications can get rejected — they only accept a limited number per course. My confirmation came through two weeks before the course date. Once accepted, you stay at the meditation centre without any contact or means of communication with family for the full 10 days. Everything is free, from registration to your stay.

The pagoda has several branches, with details on their website. You need to carry your own clothes for the full ten days, and reach the centre by 4pm on the day the course begins.

Getting there

Best advice: bus to Borivli station, then a ferry to Essel World. From there, you can walk to the location — the path to the pagoda runs through Sanjay Gandhi National Park. The meditation centre and stay are right beside the pagoda.

On arrival

We filled out a form and deposited our valuables — any religious items, mobile phones, laptops, wrist watches, cosmetics, all of it. A laundry service is available for ₹300 across the ten days. There's never a dinner at the pagoda, so make sure you have enough snacks for the evening. You get a private room with an attached bathroom.

A typical day

4:30am — Wake-up bell.
Until 6:30am — Gather in the meditation hall on the 2nd floor, a drape covering your head, and sit in dhyana.
6:30am — A proper Indian breakfast with tea, coffee, and fruit.
Until 9am — Break time.
9–11am — Meditation.
11am — Proper Indian lunch, followed by meditation from 1–3pm in your personal cell (a small space allocated for individual meditation).
Evenings — Mostly short stories and lessons from Goenka Guruji, in Hindi and English.
9:30pm — Lights out.

Living areas are separated for men and women, though the meditation centre itself is shared. You're not allowed to quit the course halfway through. There's a garden for walking in the evening — running or jogging isn't allowed, only walking. The entire course is silent, with no eye contact and no exchanging smiles. Reading and writing aren't allowed either.

Challenges

  • Can't eat food whenever you want
  • No contact of any sort with anyone
  • Getting up at 4am and meditating through most of the day

The real challenge is concentrating only on your breath, and trying to control a flickering mind. On the last day, we visited the pagoda and could finally break our maun vrat (vow of silence). We got our deposited belongings back. The singer Kavita Seth was also among us on the course.

This course isn't about spirituality or any particular religion. Its main motive is showing how overthinking and negativity are the root of most problems in our lives, and how to stop that — this is Dhamma. Every course comes to an end, but leaves behind hope and purpose. This one closed with Kavita Seth singing her own song: "Kehta yeh pal, khud se nikal, Jeete hai chal, Jeete hai chal!"