When you travel you meet people. That’s part of the deal, part of the excitement. On this trip, mainly because I stayed-put for three weeks in Sarnath, a place full of academics, I met, well, lots of academics. Strangely enough a number of them were Vipassana mediators who follow the teachings of SN Goenka.

One of these, a nice guy who I met over breakfast, was Forrest Fleischman a Fulbright scholar and the son of Dr Paul Fleischman. Paul Fleischman is a psychiatrist and a teacher of vipassana meditation in the tradition of SN Goenka. He is the author of many publications but the one I want to refer you to is called ‘Why I Sit’. The article is well written and provides an interesting insight into his thoughts about vipassana.

Here is a link to Dhamma Chakka the Sarnath Vipassana Centre. A nice place to do a 10-day retreat.

If you ever feel like experiencing a vivid demonstration of the Buddhist philosophy of impermanence then go shopping for fresh chicken in India.

Sitting beside the road there are cages full of chickens. You walk by and see these motley looking creatures eating, chirping to each other and sometimes getting annoyed with another bird who is trying to get a bit more space to live in.

All of a sudden a hand reaches into your cage and grabs you by the feet and hands you, up side down, to a nice young boy sitting crossed legged on a table. This nice guy nonchalantly lays you down on your side, puts his knee of your head and cuts your throat. He continues talking to his friends while he holds your convulsing body.

Life is very different here. There is a disregard for some things and a worshipping of others that I find difficult to understand. Life has great value and yet life has no value.

Vipassana, meditation was taught in India more than 2500 years ago as a universal rememdy for universal ills, an Art of Living.

In the Blue Mountains outside Sydney there is a Vipassana Meditation Centre called Dhamma Bhumi. That’s where I’m heading today — ten days of meditation, no talk and simple food.