Original subtitles

I have a question for everyone in the

audience today.

How many of you think you can go without

your phone for a day?

I can see some of you raising your

hands, but in making that decision, most

of you probably weighed things that you

need your phone for. Like I got emails

to check, I got to text somebody. Some

of you may have even wondered, why would

I do this crazy thing?

But for those of you who raised your

hands, I want you to add having no

connection with family and friends, and

also add a vow of silence so that you

can't even talk with yourself.

How many of you do you think can do it

now?

Sincerely.

I can only see a few. So, suddenly what

happened?

Thank you all for participating though.

What happened is that the idea

of just living with yourself sounds much

harder than just not having your phone.

And now multiply everything I said by 10

days, and that's the rough estimate of

the things I had to let go when I went

for a Vipassana meditation retreat back

in January 2018 in Nepal.

It all started off as a New Year's

resolution where I wanted to do

something different and challenging. So,

what is Vipassana?

Vipassana means to see things as they

really are.

It is the process of mental purification

through self-observation.

Right from where I enter the place,

we were made clear about the five

precepts that we had to follow for the

duration of the course.

First, to abstain from telling lies,

which was easy because we had the vow of

silence, which is also called the noble

silence.

Second, to abstain from killing any

being, even the smallest ones like the

mosquitoes and ants.

Third, to abstain from any sexual

activities. To reduce distraction, there

is complete segregation of men and

women.

Fourth, to abstain from stealing. And

the last one is to abstain from any

intoxicants like alcohol and cigarettes,

which is a major craving for a lot of

people, and that is one of the huge

reasons people give up.

The day starts off with a waking up bell

at 4:00 a.m. in the morning, and it ends

at 9:30 p.m. And in between that time,

there is about 10 hours of meditation

with only few periods to eat and rest.

During the first day, Anapana was

introduced, which is to observe your

nostrils for incoming and outgoing

breath.

This is the first step in learning

Vipassana.

In the beginning, it was painful to sit

there for hours on end trying to

meditate.

And it took me 2 days just to realize

that I had to let go and observe.

Because meditation is like sleep. The

harder you try, the less likely you are

to succeed.

And after doing that, it was the third

day, everything blended together and I

could finally meditate in peace.

That was the same day when Vipassana

meditation was introduced, which is to

observe sensations all throughout the

body. Most of you may not know this, and

I did not know this at first, too, that

there are these subtle sensations going

on every part of our body from head to

toe.

It's that our conscious mind is so

unaware of it because we have been

accustomed in living in a world full of

noise and chaos.

The fourth day, it was the same date and

time

2 years ago, I was in the main hall

meditating. And it's interesting where

life takes you that now I'm here sharing

the same story.

Moving on to the sixth day, it was

unusual. It was my birthday, and for the

first time in my life, I had no one

wishing me.

The irony is that all of the people

there were under the vow of silence and

no one knew each other.

And the people back at home who wanted

to wish me couldn't contact me.

But I was slowly progressing until I hit

the hardest point on the seventh day.

That's when I started to miss my home,

my family, my friends, and everything I

used to do.

I had multiple thoughts that day about

quitting

and going back home.

But deep inside I knew I was learning

more about myself in that short amount

of time than the entire 18 years of my

existence.

And there was this little voice inside

of me saying, "This is the hardest point

in the process and if you give up now,

you'll regret it forever."

So, I stayed.

And even now, when I think about it,

that voice couldn't have been more right

because those 10 days of Vipassanā had

changed my life for the better.

And as Tony Robbins once said, "Without

a breakdown, there is no breakthrough."

And right after that day, everything

started to get smooth.

And on the ninth day, I felt its true

power. I could feel the sensations, the

vibrations all throughout my body.

And it was a magical moment.

You have to experience it for yourself

to truly know what that felt like.

And as it came to an end,

I felt as if I had won a battle.

It was a bumpy road,

but I'm glad I got to experience it

because I came out stronger than I had

ever been.

And there are a lot of lessons

that I learned during that time, which

we all can take, apply, and benefit in

our own daily lives. I've summarized all

those in four points.

First lesson, craving brings misery. How

often have we set a goal, worked towards

it, and somewhere along the line some

craving comes up and we get distracted.

And at the end of the day, we feel

miserable because we did not accomplish

that goal. Raise your hand if you know

that feeling.

And the worst part about it is that

even if you fulfill one craving, another

one eventually comes.

And this is the vicious cycle that

repeats.

So, the best thing you can do is try and

not give in to that initial craving and

observe it because once you do that, it

slowly starts to fade away.

Second lesson,

every moment is extraordinary and

Vipassana helped me realize that to the

fullest extent.

In our daily lives,

we can easily fall into the trap of

thinking that every day is the same. You

wake up, you go to work, you come back

home and you sleep.

And it is very hard to realize the most

precious thing that we have with us

right now,

the present moment.

And it were those faintest of sensations

that helped me realize

that there is always something going on.

So, let's try and appreciate what we

have right now, the present moment,

and live it to the fullest.

Third lesson, being equanimous.

Equanimity is a state of composure,

which is unaffected by your feelings,

your emotions, or any things that might

cause you to lose the balance of your

mind.

It helps us transform misery into

happiness and helps us to find peace and

harmony within.

Being creatures of emotions, we have

understood to a certain degree that

every emotions, even sadness, are part

of our life.

But we don't want it.

So, whenever something good happens,

let's try to say, "This is the part of

my life where I get to be happy." And in

the same way, when something bad

happens, let's try and think, "This is

the part of my life where something bad

is happening

and I have the option whether to give in

to it, dwell on it, and be miserable, or

I have the option to get out of it and

think of it as a problem and work on

solving it.

You can only reach the state of thinking

once you strive to be equanimous.

And the last lesson is about change and

impermanence. It is that everything is

changing and nothing lasts forever.

Consider yourself for an example.

You were born and you go through this

process of aging, which is essentially a

process of change, and you die.

Or consider the whole universe for an

example.

It was formed a few billion years ago

and it will end in a few billion years.

So what's happening in between those two

extremities is that it's going through a

process of change.

So everything you see, do, feel, and

everything that's part of your life,

your family, your friends, will

eventually change.

And the only thing you can do about it

is to try and accept the very nature of

change and impermanence and accept it in

all its entirety.

So with everything said, I want to

encourage you all to try meditation in

your daily life, even if it's just for 5

to 10 minutes.

It can be any kind of meditation which

will help you to maintain the balanced

sense of mind and body and helps you to

go through life with purpose.

And if you ever plan to go to a

Vipassana retreat, if you ever like to

go to a Vipassana retreat, I would

highly encourage you to do so

because

it's great.

And the best advice I have for you if

you ever plan to go

is stay there for the whole 10 days and

don't give up.

And that holds true for everything you

do in life.

Don't give up.

Thank you.