Breaking Grounds in Vipassana Meditation

This course is intended as a preparation course for students who have or will consider completing a 10-day meditation retreat in the tradition of S. N. Goenka.

These secular retreats can be completed in more than 90 countries worldwide (still counting) and do not require any prior meditation experience, academic background, or training of any kind. Besides being highly accessible these unique retreats are as well free of cost and authentic to Buddhist standards. This course is also intended for people who have already completed the 10-day retreat and wish to refresh their understanding of the meditation techniques.

Completing this course is thus as much a preparatory step to take before registering for a retreat as a stepping stone to support you in establishing a daily practice of meditation in your life. All in all, the only prerequisite to this course is to be convinced that meditation could be beneficial to you. The perspective adopted by this course sees meditation as a training of the mind.

Sitting and carrying out a meditation task on a daily basis is nothing more than a training of one's mind and of the underlying neural networks and overall physiological basis. As such meditating involves developing a stable attention and a sensitive mind, the two utmost characteristics of a mindful person. The first exercise (Anapana meditation) taught in this course and at the meditation retreat is aimed at this.