10-Day Vipassana Christmas Course (Occidental, CA)

One Hundred Forty Nine Female Meditators; Ninety Seven Male Meditators; Twenty One Kitchen Staff; Seven Course Managers; Four Assistant Teachers; One Big Video Screen.

The photo to the left doesn't quite capture the magnitude of a hall seating more than 250 meditators. So, let me try to put it into words - messy, but well disciplined - crowded but cooperative - long lines, but loud laughter too - snoring dormitories, but shared experience. Add to this the extra ingredient of a special once a year Christmas holiday-time course to bring people together and make for a thriving 10 day community in the woods of Occidental.

For anyone thinking of attending this course, which has a been ongoing now for several years, I will share some highlights of this year's experience.

The course ended this morning, and I'm typing this now on a foggy winter day, but the weather was sunny and bright for most of the course. There was not a drop of rain this year. This probably made the shoe-room more friendly (less muddy) when entering the hall for both group sits and meals. Yes, the dining hall and meditation hall were in the same building! A office cubicle type partition separated the two and a white cloth separated the women's dining hall from the men's.

Accommodations were tight; women were often left in the bathroom line while the next group sit had already begun. Cushions were close in the hall. Walking the dining room with a full tray of vipassana food was like a dance to avoid bumping one another. The kitchen staff worked nearly non stop through the course keeping a constant load of clean dishes ready for use.

The dormitories had six bunk beds, so provided space for twelve meditators. This made for wonderful antics such as the battle to control the heater and the three windows. Every night, the room temperature was different as we slept. (Note that this was in spite of the posted sign stating: Please ask a manager to adjust the heat). The first few nights I woke up in a hot sweat. But, since I probably not the only one, somebody opened a window and soon it was more like the 40 degree weather outside.

Each person had a distinctive way of either slamming the door with a bang or slowly guiding it closed with a whisper. A number of my dorm-mates were sleep talkers which provided amusement for the insomniacs. I suppose it could have been really bad, but I actually enjoyed sharing in such an intimate experience with them all.

There were not very long walking paths, but enough to get the heart pumping if you wanted to. The food was delicious, as usual, following similar recipes to the North Fork vipassana center.

Very few people left the course before the end, which seemed to be a good sign. All together it didn't have the cushy luxury of the North Fork center, but provided a fun setting for a special holiday. Christmas was on Day six, and I could not think of a better way to spend it.

Perhaps the best part is that when the course was over, we were able to break all the rules (since we were no longer on official vipassana course land). This meant that on Day 11, we gave hugs goodbye, and one guy played his melodious Indian raga flute for us all. Physical touch and music of any kind are always prohibited at course centers. I like breaking rules, especially with flute music in the forest on a cold foggy morning.