"Disturbing the Dhamma Vibrations"

After one quick night in Jakarta, we caught a cab to Bogor where the Dhamma Java Vipassana Meditation Center is located. We had registered for the challenging 10-day silent meditation retreat from March 8-19. They took away our books and electronics, put us in jail-cell-like rooms (thankfully Nick and I each had singles - some rooms had as many as 4 people in them), and instructed us that for the next 10 full days, we were not to speak, gesture, or even make eye contact with other people. Other rules included no killing (so the surprisingly-tasty food was all vegetarian), no lying, and segregation of the sexes.

We were woken up every morning at 4am, and aside from a couple of meals (dinner was just tea and a piece of fruit), and an instructional video, the rest of the day (10+ hours) was spent on our cushions, trying not to move or think or pay attention to the pain in our aching shoulders, backs, and knees. To say it was hard is an understatement. 

Unfortunately, Nick got really sick on day 2 and after suffering for a couple miserable days and sleepless nights, got in contact with me to get some medicine. Given that we both missed a mandatory meditation at the same time, the staff put two and two together, and the next morning (day 5), we were kicked out for "disturbing the dhamma vibrations" (aka violating the rules). So we made our way back to Jakarta (by way of a doctor) and stayed in the luxe Grand Hyatt for a night to recover.