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A formal school education can be a powerful tool if used properly. If its purpose is not kept in perspective, however, the time and energy you invest in your school education will almost certainly go to waste.

Go to waste? What the hell do you mean Rahul by go to waste? You’ll walk out of university with a degree regardless of if you make the most of your education or not, so the time and energy you invested won’t be a complete waste, right? At least you’ve got that piece of paper and you’ll be able to get a job somewhere, no?

What happens when you walk out of school and suddenly realize the education you just completed has nothing to do with what you’re really interested in, and now you have to get a job doing something you don’t give a damn about?

I’m Wasting My Time!

Uh oh… you’ve actually spent the last 4 years in school digging a hole for yourself, and now you’re buried. I guess that energy and time you invested didn’t go to waste after all!

Hello 9 to 5 job doing work that means nothing to you!

Greetings feelings of boredom, purposelessness, stress, anxiety, and despair!

Aloha life of misery and thoughts of suicide!

Okay, maybe I went a bit too far on that last one. But you get my point.

Mindlessly coasting through your education without paying proper respect to the importance it plays in determining your future is a recipe for certain disaster.

All of this could have been avoided if you had taken the time to do some future planning. By understanding how your school education fits into the grand scheme of the contribution you want to make for the rest of your life, you gain the ability to make the most out of your education and save yourself from the disaster situation described above.

How exactly do you reach this level of understanding?

School is a Feeder System

First, let’s take a moment to dispel any confusion there may be about what the schooling system is designed to accomplish. By doing this, we shed light on how the process actually works, and are able to use this new found clarity to our advantage. To do that, we’ll have to begin by working backwards; starting with the demands of the society we live in.

The schooling system is in place to endow students with the skills necessary to answer a number of society’s specific demands. People need doctors, so the subject of medicine is taught in medical schools. People demand the latest technology, so engineering is taught at universities around the world. People demand legal assistance, so there are law schools set up to teach students how to interpret the law.

Understanding this concept, you must ask yourself, “Which of society’s demands do I wish to address and fulfill?” Rather than swinging in the dark and guessing randomly at what your answer to this question may be, I suggest you take the approach of beginning with the end in mind instead. Meaning, you have to know where you’re going before you can decide how you’re going to get there.

Time for an exercise!

Exercise #1: Begin with the End in Mind

Open a blank word document or take out a blank sheet of paper, and on the top of the page write “What do I want to have?” Write down everything you want to have, including material, emotional, spiritual, and mental possessions. For example, on my list I have financial freedom as one of the things I’d like to have, and then the very next item on my list is a Porsche Carerra GT (I love cars). Don’t be shy, dream as big as you’d like!

Next, write “What do I have to do to have what I want to have?” This one’s pretty self explanatory. On my list I have provide a significant amount of value to society and create a product or service that makes life easier for people. I figure by providing a significant amount of value to society I will be rewarded financially, amongst many other things, and goals like financial freedom or a Porsche Carerra GT won’t be too hard to obtain. And by creating a product or service that makes life easier for people, I should be able to provide a significant amount of value to society. What’s on your list? Get as specific as you possibly can.

Finally, write “Who do I have to be to do what I want to do?” This one’s a bit trickier because we’re dealing with aspects of personality and character, and they’re harder to connect with tangibles like things we want to do or have. Buckle down and really focus on identifying all of the characteristics you will have to develop to actually accomplish what you want to do. Try not to leave anything out. On my list I have unconditionally loving and service oriented as two of the characteristics I will have to constantly work on and develop to make possible what I want to do.

Assuming you committed to answering the questions in this exercise to the best of your abilities, you should have a pretty clear idea of the direction you want to take your life simply by looking over your list. You now know all of the things that have personal value to you. Whether or not anyone else values the same things you do is irrelevant, all that matters is that you value what’s on your list.

The key is being able to find the area overlap between your personal values and society’s values. This way you’re leading your life in the direction you want to take it, while also providing something of significant value to society. The next exercise is designed to help you find this area overlap.

Exercise #2: The Critical Four

Yes, I know this is a lot of work, but I assure you the amount of effort required is justified when you see the results. Open a new blank word document, or pull out a clean sheet of paper, and type/write these four questions:

• What must I do? (things you must do to address your needs)
• What can I do? (things you are capable of doing given your mental abilities, physical abilities, etc)
• What do I want to do? (things you love to do)
• What should I do? (things your conscience or moral compass tell you to do, things which serve the greater good)

Write down as many answers as you possibly can to these four questions, then go back and highlight any answers that showed up in all four areas simultaneously (it doesn’t have to be the exact same answer word for word, but it should be pretty darn similar). This is the answer that fulfills your needs, makes use of your talents and gifts, stirs your soul with excitement, and makes a meaningful contribution to society.

If at first you don’t have an answer that appears in all four areas, work harder to find one that does. Don’t give up, because once you find the answer that meets all four of the criteria you will gain immense clarity on what you should be doing with your life.

Evaluating your Situation

Now that we’ve completed both exercises, you should have a new found clarity about which direction you want to take your life because you’re beginning with the end in mind, and what you want to be doing with your life because you’ve found the overlapping answer to the four questions listed above. As a result, you’re finally ready to ask yourself the two most important questions yet, the ones that tie this whole shebang together.

• Does my school education contribute to the overall direction I wish to take my life?
• Is my school education preparing me to do something that fulfills my needs, makes use of my talents and gifts, stirs my soul with excitement, and makes a meaningful contribution to society?

If the answer to both questions is a resounding yes, then you know you’re on the right path and that you’re using your school education as the tool it’s meant to be. Consequently, you have the answer to which of society’s demands you want to address and fulfill.

If the answer to either question is even the slightest no, then you’re approaching school with the wrong perspective, and you need to make some changes. Perhaps you’re only using school as a tool to help address your needs, while ignoring the other three criteria. Maybe you’re in an area of concentration that doesn’t contribute to who you want to be or what you want to do later on. Remember, this is your future we’re discussing here, and settling even in the slightest bit when it comes to getting the most out of your school education is enough to guarantee dissatisfaction later in life. Refuse to settle for anything less than a resounding yes to both questions.

If you’ve found after all of this work and introspection that school may not be for you, and that you’re only going through the motions because your parents told you to do so, or because society told you to do so, don’t worry. I have a ton of experience in that area considering I realized the same thing a year ago! An upcoming article will address what you can do when you come to the conclusion that school isn’t for you, and how to blaze your own trail while also addressing some of the less mainstream demands of society.

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I’ve been back for a full two days now from the Vipassana Meditation retreat, and I’ve been taking some time to reflect on my overall experience. I’ve come to the conclusion that it was incredible.

I didn’t realize this when the course had completed because there was so much information floating around in my head, but now that most of that has quieted down I can view the experience objectively. This post may be a bit long because it’s meant to serve as a review of the course. Please bear with me!

Some Background Information

Not only did I learn a wonderful technique over the course of 10 days. I learned Dhamma, the art of living, as taught by the Buddha. Although Vipassana is a technique developed by the Buddha, it is completely non-sectarian, non-religious, and universal. Anyone can utilize the practical application of the technique, and anyone can expect to obtain the same universal benefits.

At my course there was an array of blacks, whites, asians, indians, Christians, Hindus, Muslims, etc. The purpose of Vipassana is to transmit experiential knowledge of Truth by giving you the opportunity to directly experience Truth within the framework of your body. As you can imagine, this is powerful stuff that can change lives.

The course is taught with a series of audio and video cassette tapes of S.N. Goenka, the primary teacher of the materials. Along with Goenka, there is one male and one female assistant teacher assigned to the course. They are there to clarify any confusion students may have, and to guide the progress of the course.

Arrival

When I first arrived at the course, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect. Were the people going to be friendly, loving, and compassionate as I expected them to be? Was it going to be a cult-like gathering with a bunch of people wearing loin cloths and sporting thick unkempt beards?

I was pleasantly surprised when I walked into a registration room full of normal looking people, and was greeted by a nice lady. I filled out a “New Student Form,” was given a room number, and was asked to go and settle into my room. This is also when I gave the lady all of my valuable personal belongings, such as my phone, wallet, and car keys (so I couldn’t escape later).

I proceeded to my room, and there was already a gathering of students in the hallway. I got a chance to meet most of them, and I noticed that these weren’t ordinary people. These were exceptional people. They were very open minded, and many of them had done some really cool things (running marathons, traveling the world, attending personal development seminars, etc). I was savoring my right to talk, because this was the last talking I would be doing for the next 10 days.

After our hour long chat session, we made our way to the male dining hall where the course orientation was being held. At the orientation we were told the rules of the facility, and the rules of the program in general. There were certain course boundaries we were not supposed to cross for our own protection (this place was in the middle of nowhere and there was known to be dangerous wildlife abound). Also, there were male and female boundaries to prevent us from interacting with the opposite sex. This made sense because that sort of interaction would create a huge distraction in our meditation endeavors. At this time we were also informed of the daily timetable, and were told that if we wanted to get the maximum benefit out of the course we were to adhere to the timetable strictly.

Daily Timetable

Wake up bell: 4:00am
Meditate in the hall or in your room: 4:30-6:30am
Final group meditation in the hall: 8:15-9:00pm
Breakfast and rest: 6:30-8:00am
Group meditation in the hall: 8:00-9:00am
Meditate in the hall or in your room: 9:00-11:00am
Lunch and rest: 11:00-1:00pm
Meditate in the hall or in your room: 1:00-2:30pm
Group meditation in the hall: 2:30-3:30pm
Meditate in the hall or in your room: 3:30-5:00pm
Tea break: 5:00-6:00pm
Group meditation in the hall: 6:00-7:00pm
Evening discourse: 7:00-8:15pm
Final group meditation: 8:15-9:00pm
Lights out: 9:30pm

As you can see, there’s a TON of meditation and not much time for anything else. I was already aware of the schedule before arriving, so I wasn’t surprised. But some of the other students had a look of “what the hell have I gotten myself into?” on their face. After all of the instructions were given, we made our way to the meditation hall, and as soon as we stepped inside, the silence for the course began.

Meditation instructions were given at this first meditation. I remember sitting and thinking, “easy enough!” Since the orientation took up so much time, our evening meditation only lasted for about 30 minutes. After this we were dismissed and had 30 minutes to get ready for bed. I wasn’t used to going to bed at 9:30, so I didn’t fall asleep until about midnight. Almost as soon as I fell asleep, I was abruptly woken up by the morning bell at 4:00am. I thought to myself, “oh %&#$, this is going to be terrible!”

My Daily Experience

The first day was extremely intense. No one is used to meditating for 11 hours a day (unless you’re a monk, then it’s a breeze), so my body was constantly having to make adjustments. My body wasn’t too happy with the adjustments it was having to make, so it gave me a hard time. As the days passed it became more cooperative, and I was able to obtain some incredible results by the end of the course.

I followed the daily timetable scrupulously, observed all of the rules to the tee, and made full use of the theoretical information transmitted in the daily evening discourse. If you plan on attending the course, make sure you do the same so you can obtain the best results possible in the short 10 day period.

The only time I broke silence was to talk with an assistant teacher. At noon, students are allowed to set up an interview, and are permitted to quietly as the teacher any questions they have about the teachings. This was highly beneficial for me, because there were many theoretical aspects of the technique I didn’t understand and I wanted to clear some things up. The teacher was very knowledgeable, as he had been practicing Vipassana for 35 years! I found that understanding why everything works the way it does helped me obtain better results from the practical application of the technique. In the end I realized how wonderful the system really is.

The Verdict

I won’t go into details about the technique because I’m nowhere near qualified enough to teach it, and i don’t want to give anyone the wrong idea. I will, however, comment on the quality of the teaching and the effectiveness of the program design.

Over the years, hundreds of thousands of people have attended a Vipassana meditation camp, just like me. And over those years the people who designed the program have constantly worked to perfect it so that students can obtain even better results. My experience was nearly flawless, and everything I was told I would obtain by the end of the course I obtained.

I have to give the Vipassana Academy credit for creating such a fine tuned, effective method to alleviate the human race of its pains and miseries. I can confidently say that every student who signs up for a 10 day program will obtain tangible results at the end of the course if they give the technique a fair trial by observing all the rules and recommendations.

Here are some of the benefits I received by attending the course:

• Freedom from pain and misery, and the ability to prevent myself from causing any future pain or misery in my life
• The ability to maintain a balanced mind in ANY situation, regardless of how great or how bad it may be
• Strong compassion for my fellow beings, human or otherwise. So much so that I’m now a vegetarian (and I was a hardcore meat eater before the course began)
• Stopped drinking alcohol
• The ability to apply an intense focus to any task I wish to accomplish
• The discipline to follow through with any task I wish to accomplish
• A better understanding of Truth as it applies to the nature of our reality, and the nature of our being
• The confidence one gains when he/she accomplishes something momentous (it feels like I just finished climbing Everest)

In the short period of 10 days I somehow managed to acquire all of these benefits, and many of the other students are able to say the same (I know because I talked to them after the course.) I strongly recommend that everyone take a course because I know it will be life-changing for any individual.

If you do decide to go, make the commitment to yourself to stay for the entire 10 days no matter what. A few students left in the middle of the course, and I’m sure they all regret it now. If you ever find yourself questioning some of the practices during the middle of the course, be patient. I assure you by the end you will understand exactly why everything is set up the way it is.

All in all, I can’t recommend the course strongly enough. I believe every human being should give it a try and see for himself/herself how much this technique can improve his/her life. If you’re closed minded to the idea of taking a chance with a 10 day course, remember, it’s only 10 days. After that you’re your own master once again, but now with a new experience under your belt.

Also, Vipassana meditation is non-sectarian, non-religious, and universal. No one will try to convert you, and you won’t be subjected to any sort of sequestration or indoctrination. With that in mind, give it a try! See for yourself what all the buzz is about. I assure you in the end you’ll be glad you gave Vipassana a chance.

If you have any specific questions at all regarding the course, don’t hesitate to contact me. Also, if you’re interested in learning more about the course, please check out http://www.dhamma.org

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