VIPASSANA

So let me tell you about what I'm doing now, at 6500 km from Marseille, in the middle of a forest at the bottom of Himalaya...

It is my second vipassana cours. What is vipassana (for those who wonder if I'm at any sect or whatsoever:)? 

FROM WIKIPEDIA

Vipassanā (Pāli) or vipaśyanā (विपश्यना, Sanskrit, Tib. ལྷག་མཐོང་, lhaktong; Wyl. lhag mthong) in the Buddhist tradition means insight into the true nature of reality. A regular practitioner of Vipassana is known as a Vipassi (vipaśyin). Vipassana is one of the world's most ancient techniques of meditation, the inception of which is attributed to Gautama Buddha. It is a practice of self-transformation through self-observation and introspection to the extent that sitting with a steadfast mind becomes an active experience of change and impermanence. In English, vipassanā meditation is often referred to simply as "insight meditation".

In the Theravadin context, this entails insight into the three marks of existence. In Mahayanacontexts, it entails insight into what is variously described as sunyata, dharmata, the inseparability of appearance and emptiness, clarity and emptiness, or bliss and emptiness.^[1]

In a broader sense, vipassanā has often been used as one of two poles for the categorization of types of Buddhist meditation, the other being samatha (Pāli; Sanskrit: śamatha). Samatha is a focusing, pacifying and calming meditation, common to many traditions in the world, notably yoga. It is used as a preparation for vipassanā, pacifying the mind and strengthening the concentration in order to allow the work of insight. In Buddhist practice it is said that, while samatha can calm the mind, only insight can reveal how the mind was disturbed to start with, which leads to prajñā (Pāli: paññā, wisdom) and jñāna (Pāli: ñāṇa, knowledge) and thus understanding, preventing it from being disturbed again.

The term is also used to refer to the modern Buddhist vipassana movement (modeled afterTheravāda Buddhism meditation practices), which employs vipassanā and ānāpānameditation as its primary techniques and places emphasis on the teachings of theSatipaṭṭhāna Sutta. The primary initial object of investigation in that style of meditation is sensation and feeling (Skt: Vedanā).

So here it is my second cours. And I am serving, which means I'm taking care of those who are silent, meditators. We are four servers for 40 meditators (female area). Last time I did vipassana it was so absolutely different, I felt like being in a bubble, coping with lots of fears, pain, being frustrated and impatient. I have no idea if it is the fact that I am allowed to talk (Nobel Speech) and meditate less, or if I just became calmer and more balanced after this summer, but it seems to be rather easy to concentrate and I am not tired at all, even if we sleep much less here. Actually, I really think I got into Metta, the meditation of eternal love and acceptance, that we, servers, practice every day. I just feel how my anapata is open and how sometimes there are floats of energy from it. They say that you get a double effect when serving, cause we are taught to meditate with open eyes, to be concentrated both on the inside and outside, we are more alert and vigilant (if you heard Goenka-ji speaking you'd understand me:). And we don't have this impression to be cut off the world, which is also nice. 

Ok, I'll go and do some stretching, it's my turn to rest. 

Oh, by the way, the food is great here, just perfect, Indian, not too spicy, veggie, fresh made. Mmmm chapati, dhaal, halava

Ah, and as it is cold and humid here, everybody is sick  looks like Eskimos, with blankets on their head, wool socks etc, and me I'm going around in a pullover... seems to be Marseille sun that I'm still keeping in my blood.  Just got some herpes, which never happens to me. They promised to get some ayurvedic cream, great! So long putting on some toothpaste :)