Learning Vipassana Without Going to Retreat

[Cani]

Hi there,

I have, on and off, practiced Vipassana meditation as taught by S. N. Goenka since I attended a retreat 7 years ago, and I have since had a mental illness which means I am not allowed to go on another retreat.  I feel I am forgetting parts of the teaching, is it possible to learn this meditation from a book or course?

Thanks,

[Cani]

Ah I've just found that Beyond the breath by Marshall Glickman is the book I'm looking for.

[Pacific Flow]

Hi Cani,

Sorry about your problems. The Goenka organization does on purpose not publish meditation instructions publicly. They want people to learn it on the retreats only. And they probably have good reasons not to allow people with mental disorders to the retreats. Either because it could be dangerous or they don't feel capable of dealing with possible problems with the law im case someone would take them to court. I am not sure which one it is. However if your sure you want to practice it on your own, you can find the discourses online. Those from the regular 10 day retreats as well as those from the Satipathanna Sutta course. There is even an app with the 10 day course discourses for iOS in the app store for free.
If you have any questions, you can ask here or send me a pm. Will answer them as far as i feel competent to do it.

Cheers and all the best
P.S. you can find some advice on the dhamma.org site's old student section.

[Embracetheday]

Hi

My heart goes out to you. One of 100 people have mental disorders so you are not alone. Like Pacific Flow says, there are valid reasons why Vipassana as taught by Goenka are careful who can attend. Perhaps you can do Vipassana with a teacher that also incorporates walking meditation. It is not nearly as intense as the Goenka courses and that might be more suited for your needs. Ruth Dennison in California also teaches a course that might be suitable for you. Check around.