Questions from 10 Days Mr. Goenka Vipassana Course?

Question

When I was trying to do Vipassana at home, I experienced vibrations in entire body. But there, in the Vipassana training centre, my face becomes so heavy that I could not focus on my body. Why was that happening?

Whenever I closes my eyes my entire face starts with vibrations.

When I was trying to focus on nose, automatically I felt something very strong between eye brows, but gradually I was able to neglect it.

One day my a certain part of my left arm was on fire (felt literally burning). Does that mean something?

For every question, teacher had the same answer: “These are previous birth mind’s Disorder which are healing now”.

On 6th day again face was so heavy, so I gave up and started talking with other people who were not so serious, bunked classes, went to the mountain near by, then I felt a bit normal; on lowering my diet I felt more normal; on 9th day I felt vibration flow in entire body only on surface of body.

In between, for 3 consecutive days (4th, 5th, and 6th days), I saw a Dog, Snake and Centipede before sleeping, as soon as I closed my eyes.

After attending this course I have more clear knowledge of how this technique works; but I want to know, is that all Buddha taught, or is there something else?

Answer 1

Give not importance to any of these experiences. They are just conditioning. If you give importance of have prejudice towards any meditative experience, you might end up generating aversion and craving.

What these experiences could be:

• you are more sensitive to these vibration
• Piti or sukha has surfaced
• vibrations are part of the Mahābhūta and you mind is becoming sensitive enough to experience it
• other past Sankhara manifesting itself as vibrations (above included)

When you get such an experience try to see the arising and passing nature of it! This experience, as with any other experience, in essential you your practice of equanimity. Whatever your experience be equanimous - this is the exercise and what you should be doing.

I saw a Dog, Snake and Centipede before sleeping, as soon as I closed my eyes.

People have odd dreams / day dreams. I am not sure what this means. Buddhism does not deach how to interpret dreams.

Like anything else, do not give any importance. Be equanimous.

Also there is a lot more of what the Buddha taught than what is taught in a 10 day course. The Tipitaka is very vast. This contains all which what Buddha taught.

Answer 2

Buddha spoke mainly of discipline related to the Noble Eightfold Path. He also says one must understand Four Noble Truths.

There is no place I've seen Buddha speaking of meditation which doesn't speak of either The Four Noble Truths or Anicca, Dukkha, Anatta.

Whichever form of meditation teaching you follow that doesn't emphasize on these facts actively, isn't Buddhism.

Body is a very complex system. YouTube contains a lot of material on this such as what happens in the body when a virus enters or how many other things live inside us. So what you experience could be one of many million things, if not more. Please don't take this the wrong way. What I suggest is you follow the right meditation, as explained by Buddhas teacher - Dhamma.

Dhamma, the teacher recommended by Buddha himself, is still available and easy to understand, which begs the question of why follow some other teacher?