Lessons I learned during Vipassana retreat, I kept my journal and wrote down some of my teachings. The idea behind this concept is that we reach the depth of the mind and get to our deeper attachments and release them.
At first I realized mind is so active. it keeps going places all the time. Very intense. I have all these fantasy lands in my head. I go there and it feels nice. We learned this sensation of feeling good becomes a craving. And safety is so important for being in the present moment – this makes it easier.
Goenka said in the video at night that our mind constantly goes, past, future, past future. They are either pleasant or unpleasant. When your mind drifts past/future, it’s surface-level mental chatter. The idea is to calm the mind.
I realized we come here with lessons into the world, and no matter how hard our parents try with their education and way of raising us. If this was our lesson, then the parents will “fail” anyway. Because its so deeply rooted within the person. There is in no way the parent can do it “right”.
Also why people need a health coach, or apps for eating, drinking water or a 2L water bottle to stay hydrated. It is because they do no listen to their own bodies, and they do not know what that’s like anymore, therefore they look for confirmation outside.
Goenka said there are 3 paññā and the analogy he gave to explain them was very profound. He said it’s like going to a restaurant. The men sees the menu and it looks good (reading) and he sees people enjoying (watching, observing), then he orders and liked the good food (experience). It is all about wisdom, and that’s what makes this person enlightened, because they have been through it.
Goenka referenced paññā (Pali for wisdom), which comes in 3 stages:
✦ Sutamaya paññā → Intellectual wisdom (reading, hearing).
✦ Cintāmaya paññā → Reflective wisdom (thinking, contemplating).
✦ Bhāvanāmaya paññā → Experiential wisdom (lived, embodied knowing).
The law of nature is constantly changing. We are all just a big mass of cells and vibrations. But we learn not to say to each other, hey mass of vibration haha. Which is based of the universal laws that are Law of Impermanence: everything changes. Release attachment, find peace.
The other laws of nature are:
✦ Law of Cause & Effect (Karma): plant seeds consciously.
✦ Law of Reflection: outer reality mirrors inner patterns.
✦ Law of Unity: we’re all interconnected; hurting another hurts the whole.
✦ Law of Vibration: energy attracts energy; heal your frequency, and your life changes.
The Vipassana technique is to observe the body and the sensations you experience. A scan and you go slowly head to toe, and then NOT react to any of these sensations, it is a training for the brain. Truly to rewire the brain.
When sankaras rise during meditation, it’s deeper: the subconscious wounds, traumas, and karmic imprints stored in the body “push up” to release when we do not react to the sensations. You go to the depth of your mind and take out the misery. We all have them. If it keeps coming back you did not take out the root of the attachment, because it sprouted again.
A lot of these sankaras came up during the meditation for me – situations from the past also came up. I realized I started seeing things more naturally. More balanced. More without I am the victim mentality. Or I am the bad guy. No I was ignorant. I did not put boundaries. Its ok. Your attachment come to light and during one of the meditations I saw that all my attachment I could see in that moment are exactly in my birth chart within astrology. It is such a good tool and map for this life on earth.
Goenka explained in the discourse that you can not plant neem seeds and expect mangoes to grow out of the ground. But we need to be careful what we plant with the seeds. Additionally he said mental is stronger then verbal or actions, because this is the intention behind what we say.
One of the girls from the retreat she gave me on the final day a beautiful answer to one of my questions I had. I was wondering about how to keep giving without running out of energy and how boundaries come with this giving, giving and giving. She shared me a story about how there are different types of love, baby love, transactional love, unconditional love and transcendent love. The transcendent love is where I am love. At the highest level, there is no giver, no receiver. Love flows because we’re the same essence. When you remember “I am love,” you never run empty.
I also realized with grooves and paths in the brain they are being “fed” all the time. Like boobs are meant to feed babies and as a baby we see them as food. Then one moment they become sexualized. And this groove keeps being fed and fed. Same with the idea of needing a romantic partner, it starts all around us from a young age, this craving. Books, movies: everything has an influence.
I feel like now I know now how to recognize aversion and clinging. I will zoom out, observe the brain and breathe before reacting. Additionally I like intellectual learning so much and then I observe what comes into my life, I think with this way and plant medicine I also take out the impurities by the root. This is cultural also since Dutch culture is very intellectual, direct, action-driven. It conditions me to seek answers through analysis.
I learned the difference between day dreaming and manifesting. Unconscious future-thinking = escaping discomfort. Intentional manifestation = connecting with a desired vibration in the now, from love, not lack.
Also with depressive thoughts we need to sometimes look into the future I think. To get out, to get hope, to feel this spark of life. Allowing yourself a spark of hope for the future is healthy: as long as you’re not clinging. Desire can inspire life force; attachment creates suffering. Vipassana teaches balance: dream with awareness, act with presence.
I learned Intuition is beyond the senses: it’s an inner compass, a subtle “knowing” that taps into the unified field. Vipassana strengthens it because when your mind quiets, you can hear it.
it was truly like a body scanning and it reminded me of plant medicines Vipassana = your own awareness scans the body to release sankaras. While Ayahuasca = the plant consciousness scans for stored trauma, extracting stuck energy. Different doorways, same destination: purification.
When we said goodbye on the final days one of the girls asked the teacher if she could have a hug. The teacher responded saying “no” but this no, was truly full of love and full of compassion. It was powerful to witness that. To feel that a boundary can be firm, yet gentle and full of this loving vibration.
Very powerful 10 days – go if you can 𖦹
miracles of the moon ☽ 