Thank you for sharing this, Christopher. I think you hit the crux of the issue when you mentioned the Goenka organisation's isolation from the wider Vipassana community. If they would be willing to change that one thing, the exposure to and sharing of a variety of methods of teaching the practice could remedy many of the problems. Also, your list of recommended changes is wise and humane.
Thank you for sharing. I have always been tempted to attend one of these retreats but my intuition also told me it wouldn’t be right for me. I’m certainly glad I listened to that when I first started meditating in my 20’s. Now 20 years on I know it wouldn’t be right for me but many people may not realise their vulnerabilities and therefore there needs to be safeguards in place. I will definitely be listening to the podcast.
Excellent summation Christopher. I was taught early on in my meditation practice, that a concentration practice is not an insight practice, and they are often confused. From the description provided in the article, it seems as though the Goenka practice is more of concentration.
Having attended this course in the past (2016), as well as silent 10-day retreats within other traditions, I agree that Goenka's courses have a militant-like quality to them, that could arguably be said to pray on specific people - both those with existing vulnerabilities, but also those who perhaps could be said to not have those same vulnerabilities. It's a mixed bag. I do remember the emphasis the course placed on ensuring those with preexisting conditions did not attend, though. As with so much in our (western) society, the onus is on the user/practitioner/consumer unfortunately. I do think the method would benefit from adjustment - perhaps only the first one you name (building up practice from short courses). I think there is a "purity" to the practice that would be lost otherwise - and that "purity", for some, is exactly why it's so effective. For one, I wish I had considered other traditions, but unfortunately, they are not as readily available as Goenka's are in North America and Europe and for many westerners are the only ones they consider - If anything, Goenka centers should equally educate people about other options as their own, rather than positioning their method as the be all end all. The self-centredness is negligent and disrespectful of mindfulness practice and Buddha's teachings and anyone claiming to know 'the' way should be suspect.
I attended the 10 day retreat a few years ago. I found it challenging but beneficial. The forms you fill out are to ascertain whether you are psychologically prepared for it. If people are not truthful about those matters because they don’t want to be prevented from attending the course, as you note, then the organizers can hardly be blamed when said people face difficulties. It’s a matter of taking personal responsibility. That said, I do realize that emotional difficulties may arise. At times I felt I was going a little bit “crazy” because of the high-level of awareness of the monkey mind, but I was also attending the retreat after many years of individual practice. Again, this is where individuals have to use some common sense —if they don’t already have a practice or have not done shorter one to three day retreat, then jumping into a 10 day silent retreat may not be the best choice. It’s like going jogging a few times a week and then deciding you’re going to a marathon! .I don’t think it’s up to the Goenka org. to provide shorter retreats, but perhaps to let people know that it might be beneficial for them to work up to something like this. There are hundreds of shorter retreats in the Buddhist tradition being offered elsewhere. But try finding a retreat especially in the US where you don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to join a retreat and meditate for 3 to 10 days! What is remarkable is that the Goenka organization offers their retreats through dana at absolutely no charge. There is something remarkably pure about this.
There are also opportunities to consult with the teachers in whispered conversations about challenges in practice. And accommodations are made if you request it for being seated against the wall or in a chair. But no one is prevented from leaving if it’s too much to bear. I remember at least 2 people leaving after 3 days of the course.
All this said, It might be wise to start allocating some funding to a psychologist to be on hand for any issues that arise. Also, while it’s painful to hear of people who have suffered from attending these retreats, I’d like to see what the statistics are. Thousands of people have gone through these retreats unscathed and so what is the percentage of people who have had a negative outcome? And do we also have that data to for people attending other similar rigorous meditation retreats? Without data, anecdotal stories can overshadow the tremendous benefit that most people have received.
Having attended 10 Goenka-courses in the past 12 years I am very thankful for putting our attention on this theme, Christopher!
I completely agree with Christophers suggestions in point 1, 2, 9 and 10. Point 3: chairs are provided in the centers. A suggestion from me is to integrate a daily time for Yoga or physical exercises into the timetable.
I did my fist course after a daily meditation praxis of 30 minutes for one year . I felt ready for it. I would never recommand it to a beginner. The timetable and the length of the sitting are helping me to have the discipline. Otherwise I would never meditate for 11 hours per day. And the result after finishing the course is immense. The purity is very effectiv. Its the training of concentration, yes, but with this concentration and equanimity I experienced the upcoming of old samkharas in the body. And experienced how they left me. And never came back. I felt a big relief. This was a psychological insight for me which changed my life. As I had already experienced what Goenka told ia day later in his discourse I became his devoted follower!
But I am a follower of Chistopher as well. Thank you very much Christoper for introducing the topic here.
17 years ago I lost my partner to suicide and the Vipassana practice harmed him by, I believe, uprooting deep, unresolved early childhood trauma that he ruminated on and had never dealt with nor found support to heal with professionals. I didn't understand any of this at the time and it charted me on a long course to learn & understand how trauma manifests in the body and the brain and how adverse effects can happen from these courses. And while it has been one of the most effective tools for myself, due to this extreme loss and the effects that meditation can have on certain folks, I no longer recommend it to all. They began adding the mental health questions to their application process shortly after I shared my partner's suicide note that signaled psychosis connected to his Vipassana practice. I agree completely that the Goenka Vipassana community should adhere to some of the points you have mentioned, allow for more support with conversation among the assistant meditation teachers and new students, and also have professional mental health practitioners as advisors when adverse effects arise. I became a chaplain in response to what I learned in long-term Vipassana practice and what I experienced serving courses and offering support to new students. Cheetah House out of Brown University in the U.S. offers good support around adverse events. Thank you for this post. 🙏
Thank you for sharing this, Christopher. I think you hit the crux of the issue when you mentioned the Goenka organisation's isolation from the wider Vipassana community. If they would be willing to change that one thing, the exposure to and sharing of a variety of methods of teaching the practice could remedy many of the problems. Also, your list of recommended changes is wise and humane.
Thank you for sharing. I have always been tempted to attend one of these retreats but my intuition also told me it wouldn’t be right for me. I’m certainly glad I listened to that when I first started meditating in my 20’s. Now 20 years on I know it wouldn’t be right for me but many people may not realise their vulnerabilities and therefore there needs to be safeguards in place. I will definitely be listening to the podcast.
Excellent summation Christopher. I was taught early on in my meditation practice, that a concentration practice is not an insight practice, and they are often confused. From the description provided in the article, it seems as though the Goenka practice is more of concentration.
Having attended this course in the past (2016), as well as silent 10-day retreats within other traditions, I agree that Goenka's courses have a militant-like quality to them, that could arguably be said to pray on specific people - both those with existing vulnerabilities, but also those who perhaps could be said to not have those same vulnerabilities. It's a mixed bag. I do remember the emphasis the course placed on ensuring those with preexisting conditions did not attend, though. As with so much in our (western) society, the onus is on the user/practitioner/consumer unfortunately. I do think the method would benefit from adjustment - perhaps only the first one you name (building up practice from short courses). I think there is a "purity" to the practice that would be lost otherwise - and that "purity", for some, is exactly why it's so effective. For one, I wish I had considered other traditions, but unfortunately, they are not as readily available as Goenka's are in North America and Europe and for many westerners are the only ones they consider - If anything, Goenka centers should equally educate people about other options as their own, rather than positioning their method as the be all end all. The self-centredness is negligent and disrespectful of mindfulness practice and Buddha's teachings and anyone claiming to know 'the' way should be suspect.
I attended the 10 day retreat a few years ago. I found it challenging but beneficial. The forms you fill out are to ascertain whether you are psychologically prepared for it. If people are not truthful about those matters because they don’t want to be prevented from attending the course, as you note, then the organizers can hardly be blamed when said people face difficulties. It’s a matter of taking personal responsibility. That said, I do realize that emotional difficulties may arise. At times I felt I was going a little bit “crazy” because of the high-level of awareness of the monkey mind, but I was also attending the retreat after many years of individual practice. Again, this is where individuals have to use some common sense —if they don’t already have a practice or have not done shorter one to three day retreat, then jumping into a 10 day silent retreat may not be the best choice. It’s like going jogging a few times a week and then deciding you’re going to a marathon! .I don’t think it’s up to the Goenka org. to provide shorter retreats, but perhaps to let people know that it might be beneficial for them to work up to something like this. There are hundreds of shorter retreats in the Buddhist tradition being offered elsewhere. But try finding a retreat especially in the US where you don’t have to spend hundreds or thousands of dollars to join a retreat and meditate for 3 to 10 days! What is remarkable is that the Goenka organization offers their retreats through dana at absolutely no charge. There is something remarkably pure about this.
There are also opportunities to consult with the teachers in whispered conversations about challenges in practice. And accommodations are made if you request it for being seated against the wall or in a chair. But no one is prevented from leaving if it’s too much to bear. I remember at least 2 people leaving after 3 days of the course.
All this said, It might be wise to start allocating some funding to a psychologist to be on hand for any issues that arise. Also, while it’s painful to hear of people who have suffered from attending these retreats, I’d like to see what the statistics are. Thousands of people have gone through these retreats unscathed and so what is the percentage of people who have had a negative outcome? And do we also have that data to for people attending other similar rigorous meditation retreats? Without data, anecdotal stories can overshadow the tremendous benefit that most people have received.
This tradition of "sit-it-out" concerns me. Hopefully there will be changes.
I was more frightened in podcast 2 by Willoughby Britten and the podcaster attempting to equate meditation with drug addiction.
Having attended 10 Goenka-courses in the past 12 years I am very thankful for putting our attention on this theme, Christopher!
I completely agree with Christophers suggestions in point 1, 2, 9 and 10. Point 3: chairs are provided in the centers. A suggestion from me is to integrate a daily time for Yoga or physical exercises into the timetable.
I did my fist course after a daily meditation praxis of 30 minutes for one year . I felt ready for it. I would never recommand it to a beginner. The timetable and the length of the sitting are helping me to have the discipline. Otherwise I would never meditate for 11 hours per day. And the result after finishing the course is immense. The purity is very effectiv. Its the training of concentration, yes, but with this concentration and equanimity I experienced the upcoming of old samkharas in the body. And experienced how they left me. And never came back. I felt a big relief. This was a psychological insight for me which changed my life. As I had already experienced what Goenka told ia day later in his discourse I became his devoted follower!
But I am a follower of Chistopher as well. Thank you very much Christoper for introducing the topic here.
17 years ago I lost my partner to suicide and the Vipassana practice harmed him by, I believe, uprooting deep, unresolved early childhood trauma that he ruminated on and had never dealt with nor found support to heal with professionals. I didn't understand any of this at the time and it charted me on a long course to learn & understand how trauma manifests in the body and the brain and how adverse effects can happen from these courses. And while it has been one of the most effective tools for myself, due to this extreme loss and the effects that meditation can have on certain folks, I no longer recommend it to all. They began adding the mental health questions to their application process shortly after I shared my partner's suicide note that signaled psychosis connected to his Vipassana practice. I agree completely that the Goenka Vipassana community should adhere to some of the points you have mentioned, allow for more support with conversation among the assistant meditation teachers and new students, and also have professional mental health practitioners as advisors when adverse effects arise. I became a chaplain in response to what I learned in long-term Vipassana practice and what I experienced serving courses and offering support to new students. Cheetah House out of Brown University in the U.S. offers good support around adverse events. Thank you for this post. 🙏
Thanks for writing this, Christopher! I hadn't seen the FT article so this investigation was news to me.