Any experience with the meditation course on vipassana.com?

[Kaktus]

Hello,

i just stumbled over vipassana.com. They offer a 90 day meditation course for a fee of $125. Has anyone participate in one of these courses? Can report on this experiences?

Thank you

[PeterB]

I havent done this Kaktus..I think you are doing the right thing by checking it out....I would say as a rule of thumb that Online courses in any form of meditation in general and Vipassana in particular should be a very very last resort if you cant get hands on instruction.
May I ask where in Germany you live ?
I am sure that our member Annapurna could point to to venues in Germany where Vipassana is taught.

[Kaktus]

So the time has come for an short indrouction

My first contact with buddhism was about 10 years ago within a Vajrayana center of Ole Nydahl. Some years i parcticed more or less on a regular basis. Since about two years the amount of unrest in this lineage grows more and more. I´m reading the tipitaka, browse through the dhammawheel and an german forum named buddhaland.de, listening to the talks of Ajahn Brahm on a regular basis on youtube and started with samatha meditation. The more i read, the more i meditate, the more i´m drawn to theravada as a new home within my spiritual life.

I´ve some personal friends in our local sangha and so a hole lot of attachment exists. Inside i´m at peace with vajrayana. It opened me up a new world of ideas. And i´m grateful for everything i´ve learned about buddhism and myself. It changed my life for sure.

I´ve looked for a theravade group somewhere nearby but couldn´t find anything. There seems to be only some very small groups of 2-3 laypeople. I think it would be better to settle my knowledge and my meditation practise before going to such a small sangha.

Mid of the year i will take part in my first 10-day retreat at amaravati. I´ve done some retreats in vajrayana but noble silence and a structured schedule will be new for me. I´m very anxious to it.

I life a bit south of cologne. Became a 40+ last year. i´m married and have 3 daughters, the oldest puberal to the worst, the other two ready to follow.

So today i stumpled over vipassana.com and was wondering if it would be a wise idea to give it a try. Thank you Peter for your opinion. I´d be glad to read some more Thank you.

P.S.: Better of the thread would find his place in the introduction area. Probably a admin can give it a push in this direction?

[PeterB]

Your ten days at Amaravati are likely to incude instruction on both Vipassana and The Brahma Viharas ..They are frequently seen as two wings of the same bird..

Perhaps you can tell us how it goes ? ( I know it is some way off yet )

[appicchato]

I took it two years ago and it was all right...I say all right because with the amount of meditation material online these days that it's possible to do basically, repeat, basically, the same thing (the course) without being charged for the priviledge...I am grateful to the fine folks there though because, as a monk, they gave me a free ride...there are many ways to look at this, this is just mine...be well...

[PeterB]

Why would a monk living in Thailand do an online course Bhante ?

[Dmytro]

Hi Kaktus,

I did this course a couple of times many years ago, when it was free, and translated it in Russian.

It turned out to be very useful for beginners.

Good luck!