I went to take 10-day course of Vipassana meditation. After chancing up on this meditation, I became intrigued, signed up, and secured a place at Vipassana centre in Indonesia, Bali.
Places for Vipassana meditation is highly sought after, and often you have to sign up a few months in advance to secure a place. Furthermore in year 2022, Covid restrictions was still in place in a number of countries, notably Japan centres require that only Japanese resident to apply, while the website for the Bali centre indicates requirement for Covid ART test and mask requirement.
My signing up experience was smooth, and I happily was offered a place around September. My parents then resisted and tried to make me to cancel my place and my plan of going. In hindsight the precaution was ridiculous but with no way of knowing how I was faring, I can understand the concerns.
In any case, I tied my airplane ticket back from Bali for SQ redemption making the journey with a transit in Singapore prior to onward vacation to Japan. My ticket was redeemed for DPS - SIN - HND. Fortunately, it was booked that way, as several visa problems with my parents travel to Japan almost caused us to cancel the Japan holiday. Also, Japan was on verge of opening up, so every single families that we know of in Singapore were eying to spend that December in Japan.
I arrived in Denpasar, Bali on the day of course starting on December 30, 2022. I found an honest driver at the Bluebird taxi queue. I asked the driver (Mr. Bli Putra) to drive me to Tegallalang, to enjoy a final pre-meditation meal at a cafe next to serene paddy fields famous in Tegallalang. It was nice to do people watching, before finally heading to Bangli for the Vipassana centre, arriving at around 2.30pm.
Post a registration at the dining area, we were given the number to our residence. I had a simple single room, no 6 which is on the second building. There is no attached bathroom, but I have no complaint on my simple bedding equipped with mosquito net and a wooden shelf. I took out my books, handphone, and Apple watch for handover to the management. In reality, because of my precaution, I need to be able to stay in contact with my family, hence I sent simple messages back home and turned off my phone. I then hid the phone in my suitcase which I stored underneath the bed.
After that, it was socializing time. I did not spend a lot of time socialising, as I was a bit nervous, and I read that the retreat is a no-talk retreat anyway. I quietly settled in, and gathered at 6pm for a briefing with the groups of servers who introduced themselves and also provided translation in Russian for the group of Russians participants.
The daily schedule is quite structured, and while it is unnerving to be moving around your days without a watch, soon enough I found enjoyment in the life unhurried. Every day, I simply meditate, eat, and rest. During the course, mentally it was a lot of hard work, where diligently and persistently, as encouraged by the teacher, I focus on the breathing and the techniques.
Our Teacher Assistant, Mr. Kevin Nash, is an elderly but patient British fellow. He patiently listened to each and every questions and provided gentle encouragements to assuage doubt and worry. He had a hearing aid on, and that reminded him of my dad. Yet I am inspired of his giving his time and energy to be a TA on a course like this.
Our daily schedule:
4:00 a.m. Morning wake-up bell
4:30 - 6:30 a.m. Meditate in the hall or in your room
6:30 - 8:00 a.m. Breakfast break
8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Group meditation in the hall
9:00 - 11:00 a.m. Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's instructions
11:00 - 12 noon Lunch break
12:00 - 1:00 p.m. Rest, and interviews with the teacher
1:00 - 2:30 p.m. Meditate in the hall or in your room
2:30 - 3:30 p.m. Group meditation in the hall
3:30 - 5:00 p.m. Meditate in the hall or in your room according to the teacher's instructions
5:00 - 6:00 p.m. Tea break
6:00 - 7:00 p.m. Group meditation in the hall
7:00 - 8:15 p.m. Teacher's discourse in the hall
8:15 - 9:00 p.m. Group meditation in the hall
9:00 - 9:30 p.m. Question time in the hall
9:30 p.m. Retire to your room; lights out
I found a routine to help me adjust to the daily life. It is refreshing to be sleeping next to nature. And it is always a delight for me when I am at a place with so many stars on the night sky.
In the morning, I would wake up at the first bell. There was an incident when I woke up, rushed to the bathroom only to find out that it was 130am in the morning. So I would until the second bell, to do a simple clean up of my bed, and gather my toiletries.
I would always brush my teeth, and do a quick shower in the morning. It helped me to be up and focus on the first meditation session from 430am to 630am. I found this session to be the most rewarding and productive. The quietness of the morning, plus I have always been a morning lark, has combined making me love the morning sessions. There has been 3 incidents in these sessions where I was surrounded by tiny insects, bugs, and even grasshoppers.
I would then lapped up my breakfast, normally warm oatmeal before taking a quick nap until 8am when the meditation session begins again.
Finally, at the night session, I would take a bath after 5pm snack time, start changing to my pyjamas before the evening session so that I can promptly go to sleep at 9pm.
Here is some pictures of the Dhamma Geha, Vipassana Center in Bali.
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| My room for 11 days |
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| The Dhamma Hall |
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| Dining area segregated between women and men's area |
