Vipassana Meditation

» A cult or a form of spiritual enlightenment?

Morgan Hannah
Life & Style Editor

 

o, there’s this thing—Vipassana

meditation—floating around in my
social circles, and I thought I'd get to the
bottom of what it is in case it ever finds its
way to you.

Some call Vipassana ultra-orthodox;
some call it a spiritually enlightening
Buddhist meditation technique—others
have even called it a cult. The meaning of
Vipassana in Pali is literally “inward vision,”
or to see things as they really are. I’ve spent
a good chunk of my time reading the
personal blogs of those who've attended
10-day Vipassana retreats. The results of the
experience are very interesting.

Dhamma.org, a website all about
Vipassana, explain the ins and outs of the
meditation. Ivy Kwong sums up the rules
in her article on Medium: “No talking. No
phones or tech. No yoga pants. No working
out. No music. No reading. No writing.

No killing (even spiders!) No stealing. No
masturbation. No sex. No lying. No drugs
or alcohol. No moving during ‘sittings of
strong determination.”

These are the rules once you sign the
contract for a 10-day Vipassana retreat, of
which there are many locations across the

world. The closest one to Douglas College
being either in Merritt or in Duncan, on
Vancouver Island. The retreat, by the way,
is free. Everything is paid for by donations
from students who have finished the
retreat. The retreat includes meals and a
room. It’s a simplified type of mediation—
essentially sitting for ten hours a day in
silence. These ten hours are broken into
chunks of two or three hours at a time.
Youre not even allowed to talk to fellow
students of Vipassana after meditation
hours. Weird.

Why would someone assume that this
extreme version of meditation is a cult?
Well, according to William Matthew in his
blog, My Vipassana Meditation Nightmare:
A Cautionary Tale, students on these 10-day
retreats have been told that “having a sense
of ‘I) or personal identity is an illusion that
only causes harm.” Matthew goes on to say,
“if there is no ‘T who can say I don’t believe
that, or I think you're full of shit, it makes
it very difficult to disagree with anything
youre told and you are much more likely
to just absorb what you hear.” Matthew
also mentions that there was a lot of talk
on “eradicating [your] defilements,” which
means purifying yourself. In simpler terms,
getting rid of any cravings or urges you
might have. These aversions are labelled

“sankharas.”

Other observed facts
from Matthew’s visit are that
students of Vipassana should
think of their week meditating
as a surgery because they all
had “a cancerous growth inside”
and “were here to extract it.” If
they got rid of their sankharas,
they would experience a bit of
enlightenment—but only if
they don't question the teacher’s
word. Sounds pretty convenient for the
teacher, eh?

These are all just the experiences of
one guy though, and different than Kwong’s
experience mentioned in the Medium
article. Ivy describes her experience in the
10-day retreat as more of a strict, intense
boot camp for meditation. Things are odd,
yes, like how you eat your three meals a
day facing a blank wall and not facing your
fellow students, or how you're not allowed
to ask questions reflecting poorly on the
practices of the retreat. But Ivy doesn’t
come to the strong conclusion that she’s
trapped ina cult-like retreat, in fact, she
states that “It makes sense that [students]
wererrt allowed to talk with each other
until the last day. Comparison is the thief
of all joy,’ writes Kwong. So, is Vipassana

Is Popeyes chicken sandwich
the best chicken sandwich?

> I tried all the chicken to find out

Jerrison Oracion
Senior Columnist

 

he Popeyes’ chicken sandwich, with its

incredible crispiness and herb sauce,
might be the best chicken sandwich of all
time. Last week in my review I said that
the Popeyes’ sandwich was very tasty and
had everything one could want. However,
there are other chicken sandwiches that I
have tried that are also very good and any
of them could still be the best chicken
sandwich. So, off ] went around the Lower
Mainland again to eat more—determined
to find out which chicken sandwich
deserves to be crowned king.

McDonald’s offers a premium
Seriously Chicken line of sandwiches. It
features the Buttermilk Crispy Chicken
Sandwich which I ate and found the meat
to be quite grainy and dry. On the other
hand, the Triple-O’s Buttermilk Chicken
Club is one of my favourites. Their chicken
is very crunchy and juicy. It also has
chipotle sauce and is an excellent portion
size. Keeping with such great quality,
Wendy’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich is one of
the best chicken sandwiches; it has just the
right amount of spice, the chicken breast
is juicy, and the bun is very soft. When
you bite into it, the chicken is crunchy and
heats your mouth with its savoury spices.

Ina lower league is KFC’s Spicy Big
Crunch Sandwich. It is a typical chicken
sandwich although it is delicious because
of the delightful spicy sauce. Another
chicken sandwich that I like is A&W’s
Chubby Chicken Burger. The meal is

juicy and the chicken breast has the
same pleasant signature Chubby Chicken
seasoning. The mayo certainly enhances
the flavour of the sandwich.

Church's Chicken sandwiches are
crunchy and the spicy version is one of
the spiciest chicken sandwiches that I’ve
ever eaten. Burger King’s Original Chicken
Sandwich is dry and tastes a bit salty,
though the mayo makes it more enticing.
Although, their Spicy TenderCrisp Chicken
Sandwich has chicken that is juicy and
buns that are soft and chewy. This version
of the sandwich is easy to eat quickly as it is
so delicious.

After eating the chosen chicken
sandwiches, I had to decide which was the
best between the top two: Popeyes Chicken
Sandwich and Triple-O’s Buttermilk
Chicken Club. Both have crunchy chicken
breasts and delicious sauces. So, the
deciding factor had to be how juicy the
chicken was and the number of toppings in
the sandwich.

In the end, the Buttermilk Chicken
Club from Triple-O’s is the best chicken
sandwich because the chicken breast
is juicier and has a lot of toppings that
make for a flavourful chicken sandwich.

In my opinion, it is the best in the Lower
Mainland. Popeyes Chicken Sandwich is
still pretty good and is understandably

the best chicken sandwich in the world to
others because the chicken breast is very
crunchy, the sauce is flavourful, and it
looks like a premium sandwich. However,
Triple-O’s has my pick for the best chicken
sandwich.

  

 

meditation a cult? No. Is it a cure-all for
life’s problems? No. Is it the ultimate way
and the only way to enlightenment? No.
What is it then?

I'd say that Vipassana meditation is
a tool ora technique. By paying attention
to your body noticing the slight and
significant sensations—and observing
rather than reacting to them—we can
learn to accept and meditate on them.
Like any other tool, if used properly,
Vipassana meditation can help you achieve
great results in life. In life outside of a
10-day Vipassana meditation retreat, we
constantly adjust ourselves around any
form of discomfort (physical or mental),
but if you're forced to sit still and endure
these discomforts you will see that in time,
they will all go away. Like everything in life,
this too shall pass.

Photo by Jerrison Oracion