How To Do An Online Mahasi Vipassana Retreat

At the moment of writing this article, most, if not all, Mahasi Vipassana centers in Asia are not open for foreign meditators due to Covid-19.

Panditarama Lumbini is organizing online retreats until the center can guarantee a safe environment for onsite practice. Panditarama Lumbini is a center established by the widely renowned Burmese master Ven. Sayadaw U Pandita who was the successor of Ven. Mahasi Sayadaw.

Teachers

Ven. Sayadaw Vivekenanda and Ven. Sayalay Bhaddamanika are the resident teachers at the center, who are also leading the online retreats. Both of them have trained under Ven. Sayadaw U Pandita for many years.

The teachers are fluent in English and the communication during Dhamma talks and interviews is very clear.

Participation

In order to participate in an online retreat with Panditarama Lumbini, you have to contact the center by writing an email to panditarama.lumbini@gmail.com.

The teachers will follow-up with a few questions regarding:

• Past meditation retreats – you need to provide them with information about the teachers, traditions, durations, and locations of your previous retreats.
• Location and time zone – the teachers are preparing schedules with daily interviews and take into account your time zone in order to make it suitable for everyone.
• Retreat duration – how long you want to participate.
• Willingness to observe the five or eight precepts – these are very intensive retreats during which the meditator trains in sila (morality), samadhi (concentration), and panna (wisdom). As the three trainings are interconnected, this point ensures that you are willing to train in sila.
• Motivation – why do you want to do this retreat.

You can also check their Facebook page regarding news and updates from the center.

Daily Schedule

The teachers provide you with a recommended daily schedule to be followed.

Waking up is at 4:30 AM and the practice alternates between sitting and walking meditation.

Ven. Sayadaw U Pandita suggests that during an intensive retreat, the meditators should sleep around four hours per night. If someone has a concern that this amount of sleep will have a negative impact on their health, they could extend it up to six hours. It’s important to note that during such intensive retreats, the amount of sleep needed for the body and mind to recover is much less compared to everyday life. It’s very likely that you will feel on your own that you don’t need that much sleep during the night while on a retreat. The teachers are not keeping track of this – it’s entirely up to you to be serious about your practice.

Every day there is an interview with one of the teachers via Skype where they listen to a detailed report of what is happening during your practice and give you instructions and guidelines.

Twice a week there are live Dhamma talks on Skype which last around an hour.

There are also a few hours during the day dedicated to preparing food, cleaning, washing, etc.

Benefits Of Online Retreats

One of the greatest benefits of online retreats for westerners is that they don’t have to travel thousands of kilometers in order to go to Asia. The only requirement is to find a secluded environment that will allow you to dedicate almost all of your daily time to meditation.

Many people could be skeptical about online retreats since the words “technology” and “retreat” are kind of diametrically opposite and conflicting. This, however, is just a conceptual problem. There is no practical problem with bringing technology into retreats – as long as the technology is used only as a means to properly conduct the retreats.

If you are able to have clear, real-time communication with the teacher during interviews, it doesn’t matter much whether you are physically close to them or not. The really important thing is that the teacher can clearly understand where you are with your practice and provide you with the necessary guidelines. The rest is putting your time into meditation. If this happens then your practice will deepen regardless of your geographical location.

DownsideS Of Online Retreats

There is just one important downside of online retreats – some people might not have been able to develop a strong enough will and determination to push themselves as hard as they would in comparison to doing an offsite retreat while being surrounded by other meditators. When you are alone, it could be easier to quit when difficulties in the practice arise – and it’s guaranteed that difficulties will arise.

This is why, if you are a beginner, figuring out how to do an onsite retreat might be the better option. However, if it is not possible to do an offsite retreat during the pandemic, doing an online retreat is still better than not doing a retreat at all.