Vipassana

Driving to work everyday from Mataranka to Jilk, in the Northern Territory in Australia, meant constantly dodging the wildlife.. birds, donkeys, horses and of course the wallabies and larger kangaroos.  So it was a gift to be able to hitch a ride with workers who drove bigger vehicles and had ‘roo catchers’ or bull bars.   Warren would often regale me with stories of his misspent youth as we drove along early in the morning.  A self declared ‘hoon’ (red-neck) at 20, he was now closer to 40 and all I saw was a gentle but lively colleague, a sympathetic teacher, a concerned father and a great story teller.   

“I was a total hoon” he told me one morning.  “You would never have recognized me!  I was a drinker, a fighter, an asshole actually.”  

One day I asked him what had changed him.   

“Vipassana totally changed my life!”  he said, and went on to explain how painful the experience was, how hard.. how he had to sit at the Guru’s feet where they could keep an eye on him.  “But the food was amazing!  I did it in France.  I was in the UK with a sports team and just took off over to Paris when it was done.” 

“Why would a ‘hoon’ decide to go meditate for ten days?” I asked, trying to picture it.  

“Well” he answered thoughtfully, “my sister told me I couldn’t handle it.. she challenged me.  She was smart, my sister.. she knew I could never resist a dare! Said there was no way I would make the ten days.” 

As he told me his story I knew this was what I had been looking for. I didn’t want one of those expensive retreats where they give you massages and pedicures, or one of those where they made you do yoga all day…  I had the seed of Vipassana inside me.. I was not looking to change my life, but I have always wanted to just ‘get quiet’.  Listening to Warrant talk about his experience, I knew this was what I had been looking for.

Warren was teaching primary while I was at the high school end of a remote Indigenous Community.   Warren had taught in the high school and understood the chaos I was under on a daily basis.  “You would love it” he assured me.  And really.. ten days of silence sounded pretty good.  I applied to a Queensland center, but then made a sudden U-turn to Canada and was accepted as a last minute addition to  Youngstown. 

Vipassana meditation centers are located all over the world, and quickly gaining in popularity. While so many more are being developed each year, they all fill up quickly as meditation is becoming very mainstream.  People are just finding that is something that really works.. for a variety of things that ail you.  In Youngstown, there were people from all over the world.. and all walks of life. 

Just a couple of days after landing in Calgary from Cairns Australia, Mary generously donated her vehicle and I was on the road to Youngstown, seven or so hours away.  A storm had settled in over the prairie... but I could see the bright light in the distance.  Without wallabies and donkeys to dodge, the drive gave me time to think.. to relax.. to totally get a grip on what I was doing. 

Yes, it would be hard.  But really, after what the past couple of years had thrown at me, I was ready.