‘Vipassana’ literally means ‘seeing things as they really are’. It is a practice to be enlightened. Its website says, “the foundation of the practice is ‘sīla’ — moral conduct. ‘Sīla’ provides a basis for the development of ‘samādhi’ — concentration of mind; and purification of the mind is achieved through ‘paññā’ — the wisdom of insight.”
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| Meditation hall at Vipassana centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Pic by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
‘Vipassana’ centres are spread across India. ‘Dhamma Aranya’, is one of them. It is situated in the forested area of Chaksu, about 45 km away from Jaipur.
Although it is a small and new centre with the sitting capacity of only 35 students, but it is totally surrounded by nature.
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| Meditation hall at Vipassana centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
Meditation Hall is the core of all Vipassana-related activities, where students meditate by the teacher's guidelines. It is designed conjugating the old architecture of Buddhism with modern facilities—mikes, speaker, TV for ‘pravachan’, fans and bulbs with traditional bells, ‘chaitya’ (living room) and pot to keep water.
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Drinking water facility symbolises old and new technique to cool water near dining room
at ‘Vipassana’ centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
Meditation Hall is such located in the premises of Vipassana centre, which resembles a unique pattern of ‘chaitya’ and the footway to come so that students can walk in the morning and evening circumambulating it.
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| Drinking water facility symbolises old technique to cool water near meditation hall at ‘Vipassana’ centre at Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
Along the footway to the meditation hall, ‘chaitya’ is built to accommodate the students. It is entirely simple with only a bed and washroom. It actually motivates a student to live ascetic life beyond all luxurious lifestyle.
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| A combination of photos shows ‘chaitya’ (living room) in the forested area and footway to the meditation hall or living room at Vipassana centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu, on Oct. 2, 2023. (All photos by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
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| A combination of photos shows a newly-constructed ‘chaitya’ (living room) (L) allotted to me and its inside at Vipassana centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu, clicked respectively on Oct. 2 and Sept. 29, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
The meal here provided is totally simple. In breakfast, milk, tea, 'daliya', fruits, 'chana', 'poha' are provided at only 6:30 am. For lunch, bread, rice, 'daal', 'sabji', 'raita' and salad are available at 11 am. After lunch students are expected not to eat anything except ‘nimbu-pani’ at only 5 pm before retiring to the bed at 9 pm.
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| A combination of photos shows evening meal (methi paratha, milk), left, and Lunch, clicked respectively on Sept. 29 and Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
All Vipassana centres are nature bound. 'Dhamma Aranya’ where I recently attended a 3-day short meditation camp is also rich in flora and fauna. Its surrounding is full of desert trees. ‘Babul’ (acacia tree) is prominent.
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| ‘Babul’ (acacia tree) along the footway to meditation hall at Vipassana centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
‘Bodhi’ tree is the most important part of Buddhism. After a 12-year long ‘tapasya’ under it Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment and gave this ‘Vipassana’ meditation technique to the world.
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| ‘Bodhi’ tree at Vipassana centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
What I observed— Follow the link- Vipassana: What I learnt and why everyone should do
Living with nature, listening to birds chirping in the morning and evening, eating ‘Satvik food’ timely at 6:30 am, 11:30 am and snacks at 5:00 pm, timely waking up at 4:00 am and retiring to bed at 9:00 pm give a boost-up to everyone after the end of 10 days. It is a daily routine, doing meditation approx 8 hours a day. Most importantly, during this period, a meditator has to observe ‘nobel silence’ (Arya Maun) i.e. no talk to anyone for 10 days, and no use of mobile phones and other disturbing items.
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| Me doing meditation in the meditation hall on the last day of the 3-day short course at ‘Vipassana’ centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by a meditator through my phone) |
Some other related pictures-
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| Me at Vipassana centre on the very first day of 3-day course in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Sept. 29 evening, 2023. (Photo by a meditator from my phone) |
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| A peacock at Vipassana centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
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| Footway going to the meditation hall at ‘Vipassana’ centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
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| Students at the meditation hall, listening to the ‘pravachan’ on the last day of the camp at ‘Vipassana’ centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj) |
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Specially-designed waiting area near the meditation hall at Vipassana centre on Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. (Photo by R. Suresh Bhardwaj)
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| Me taking selfie on the last day of 3-day short course, in the shadow of forest at Vipassana centre in Rajasthan’s Chaksu on Oct. 2, 2023. |
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