I have done three Goenka 10 day courses in the past. I'm still alive and well. Does that make me a survivor?

(just teasing)
What I find slightly amusing is how people who have felt "hurt" by Goenka's retreat feel this incredible need to share it and tell everyone. This in my opinion is revelatory of inner motives, and perhaps negativity? THe best thing to do there is to inform yourself and especially look inside.
Seems reasonable that if you felt you were mistreated that you would want to tell others.
But in my experience most of the negative feedback I have read about the courses doesn't hold up. THis couild go on for hours so I won't debate about it, as it has been noted many times before. Let's just say in general what I see is people have their own past and negativities and their own "agenda". But they can't see through it. That is not to say that Goenka's courses are perfect. THey certainly could be better in some places, but it is the very nature of the work that is done there, which makes it so that those who could not complete a course will find faults with it.. but no faults in themselves...
You quote:
"By day eight there was an amazing amount of old "stuff" or sankharas (karmic
knots) bubbling to my surface consciousness.......We had been working very hard
in this "boot camp" of Goenka's".
People like to call it a boot camp. I've seen Reddit comments calling it "baptism by fire". The point is, it's hard for everyone to wake up at 4:30 am, to meditate so much, to eat less, to sleep less and so on. All of these things can not be understood in one course. All of these things have a purpose.
I sure hope you have a lot of "old stuff" coming up during such courses! Wouldn't you want that?
I'm posting here mostly for Morning Dew's question.
What do you call traumas?
I used to be overwhelmed with anxiety. I was so desperate when I went to my 1st ten day retreat I gave it my best because I knew anti depressant medicines were not a real solution. It has worked wonders for me.
I don't think I have traumas.. depend what you mean by that. Like being raped or beaten as a child and so on?
AFAIK the technique taught at a Goenka retreat is meant for RESULTS. Some people are lazy or lack courage to see results, they want an easy way to heal. Sorry. If you want to heal you will have to FACE your pain. In Goenka's retreat you face only physical pain. If you apply the technique exactly as it is taught, you only observe the physical aspect of mental phenomenas. The technique is purposely made to be very effective and easy to grasp at the same time.
But some people don't want to understand. They don't want to grasp. They silently practice something else, or they just keep "fighting" with the sensations. THis is not what is taught.
Morning Dew, I personally believe that if you have a deep motivation to heal, you will come out for the better of such course, with permanent positive change to your life. Nothing else for me has had this kind of effect. There are many "energy" healing techniques out there, many of which appears to be temporary. Goenka's vipassana approach is designed to bring long lasting changes, even if you don't meditate regularly afterwards.
If you don't have a past of regular drug or alcohol abuse, I would say that regardless of your trauma(s) you can deal with them there in the most effective way. BUT it will not be easy. Some people want it easy. Then they will lovingly write long posts about why Goenka is bad and dangerous and son- on, all the while never looking at themselves in the process. See a patterrn?
Give you an example. I believe I have a lot of pain around the heart due to feeling abandoned and generally lack of affection during childhood and even my first months in life. And coincidentally, I felt a lot of physical pain around the left side of my chest during such courses. Sometimes it was very intense, like having a knife in the chest. But so what? Are you there to heal or are you there to sip a martini? You face it with as best equanimity as you can. And it HEALS. It heals FFS!!! THe pain reduces. And maybe after two or three courses you will find the pain is not so intense anymore, or it has moved; and then months later in your life you see the real changes. Of course outside of the course, without such a sharp mind as is built during those retreats you no longer feel these deep rooted pain physically. Whew;) The point is not to feel pain (a lot of people do that and keep coming back and dont understand), the point is to acknowledge whatever sensations there are (which are just one aspect of these mental phenomena).
It has come to my realization that Goenka's approach is all about seeing reality as it is.
Everyday life unfortunately does not allow such deep healing to take place because simply by being "me" we are lready lying to ourselves. Our ego is the biggest lie. We have out hidden motives and agendas. It is very hard to see clearly in daily life. So in daily life the exact same technique does not work as well. But the good news is that the BOOT CAMP is worth it. Because such changes last.
Like my father came with me the 3rd time. But he did not understand. He told me about some "qi kong" music of whatever it is that he listened to which the vibrations bring a great feeling in you? And he thought it was the same, he felt confident about it. He did not understand that this thing he played with, is only temporary. And I can tell you. Because we'd just spend a few hours together and there was anger, in sublte ways, which he doesnt see, but was very apparent to me.
Goenka's Vipassana courses are difficult, no question. But it's totally worht it. If you are really MOTIVATED to heal, you will be rewarded. If you have not much traumas (a lot of young people go by curiopsity), it may not be very diffcult at all. Some people have "spiritual" experiences there, feelingds of oneness and so on. But if you go with a lot of PAIN , as I did, then you should look at your motivation. If you expect something easy, don't go. THen yes it may hurt more than it may heal, you are not ready, you should probably try something more progressive.