Pariyatti

Chapter 25 - A Personal Experience of Vipassana Meditation from Cultivating Inner Peace by Paul R. Fleischman, M.D. I took my first Vipassana meditation course in 1974 under the guidance of Mr. Goenka... In those days, Vipassana wasn’t being taught in the West. I made several trips to India and returned with the technique half-learned. I didn’t know where it fit into my life, but I saw it as something honest, free, and useful. I could own it myself, practice it without being swallowed by a religion or being wafted away in a pointless vacuum of career and convention. I became increasingly committed and serious because every time I “sat” I felt I got something out of it. I never had any mystical or unusual experiences. I both experienced my mind-body, and was able to get some distance from it. I kept returning for ten-day courses, and practicing with increasing devotion in between. By now I’ve lived half a lifetime this way, and am archeological proof that meditation isn’t “Eastern thought.”