A prerequisite for learning Breath Meditation is sīla (moral conduct). At the 10-day course, we maintain sīla by following five precepts: abstain from killing, abstain from stealing, avoid sexual misconduct, abstain from false speech, and abstain from intoxicants. Maintaining good moral conduct is difficult in our day to day lives. For example, we unknowingly / habitually lie many times.

When practicing at home, many students are able to pay attention to breath for only two to three breaths. They then get lost in thought for several minutes before their attention returns to breath. So in an entire hour, the actual number of seconds spent paying attention to breath is quite small.

During the 10-day courses, we keep practicing breath meditation, hour after hour, day after day. We are not distracted by television or computers or cell phones or reading or writing or idle chatter. The result is an immersive experience in which our entire focus is on refining our meditation skills! With practice, hour by hour, day by day, our ability to pay attention to breath without getting distracted increases. Getting the same results by practicing one hour daily during our day to day lives seems quite challenging.

Food and location affects our progress in meditation. At the 10-day course, food is sattvic (in layman's language, 'plain and simple'). Sattvic food helps us quieten our mind faster. Moreover, 10-day courses are typically held in sylvan settings, away from the humdrum of cities. Having a quiet environment aids progress in meditation!

At the 10-day course, we are not allowed to talk verbally or through signs. We are not allowed to read or write or watch tv or use any phones. Effectively, we are free from routine distractions found in our daily lives. Such an environment helps us meditate better.

When we go for a 10-day course, we bring closure to our ongoing responsibilities. For example, if we have somebody to care for (a child or a parent or a spouse), we make arrangements that somebody else should take care of them in our absence. Mentally, we 'let go' and not let such responsibilities induce any worry. This helps us go deeper into meditation.

When practicing Breath Meditation and Vipassanā Meditation, students typically have questions. At the 10-day courses, assistant teachers are available to answer student-specific questions related to the meditation technique. Assistant teachers are a valuable resource for learning meditation.

Somehow, we tend to meditate better (feel less distracted) when we meditate in a group. Also, at the 10-day course, we get inspired to see others who are making diligent efforts to wake up on time, follow the schedule and sit for meditation, hour after hour! That motivates us to do the same.

Happy Experiences: There are hundreds of online, personal narratives that espouse the joy and the relief that Vipassana meditation brought to people's lives. Here is a sampling:

1. Sandy Song from Hong Kong.
2. Smita Poudel from India.
3. Graham Waldon from California, USA.
4. Mark Steele from New Zealand.
5. Nipun Gupta, founder of CharityFocus from California, USA.
6. Sam Harris, an Author of several books.
7. Anne Aula, USA.
8. Roberto Loiederman from California, USA, wrote an LA Times article.
9. Prof P L Dhar, a Vipassanā teacher in North India.
10. Dr Manish Agarwala from India.
11. Letters from Vipassana Course Participants maintained at dhamma.org.
12. Senior Administrators from India: Part I, Part II and Part III.
13. Prisoners in India — Doing Vipassana, Doing Time is a 52-minute documentary.
14. Shri Ram Singh, Former Home Secretary of Rajasthan, India.
15. Jack Dorsey, CEO of Twitter.
16. Yuval Harari, author of best-selling books like Sapiens (464 pages, 2018).
17. Chandrababu Naidu, Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, India.
18. Arvind Kejriwal, a prominent Indian politician — see Wikipedia page.
19. Kiran Bedi, a prominent officer in Indian Police Service (the first ever woman to do so) — Wikipedia page.
20. Ram Nath Kovind, President of India. See Wikipedia page.
21. Vallabh Bhansali (YouTube, 18 mins), a leading investment banker, investor and venture capitalist from India.

Unhappy Experiences: Jeffrey Brooks from California, USA — Melissa Maples from Turkey — Harmanjit Singh from India.

Sayagyi U Ba Khin Camp Experience: A Thousand Lives Away — Buddhism in Contemporary Burma (22 pages, 1964) by Winston L King. A short essay on King's personal experience at a 10-day camp in Burma in 1964 under Sayagyi U Ba, who is S N Goenka's teacher.

Journal Article: Experiments in Insight Meditation by Rod Bucknell, Australian Journal of Transpersonal Psychology, 3 (1983), 96-117. The author spent over four years practicing Vipassanā meditation in two different monasteries in Thailand, in the tradition of Mahasi Sayadaw. This article is likely to make sense only to dedicated meditation practitioners.

My estimate is that 90% of those who attend the 10-day course report significant benefits. Others find the course stressful or wasteful. A small number of students actually leave before the ten days are over; leaving in between is highly discouraged.

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