Meditation

10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat

Comes from Theravada

From Sep 9th - Sep 20th, 2026, I spent 10 days doing a silent meditation retreat in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Doing meditation was always a bucket list of mine, I had previously been exposed to meditation and mindfulness through friends like Sajith and Ti, and always wanted to do a more serious one.

• I was always interested in meditation, and did a little bit through the Waking Up app by Sam Harris
• However, it was like only 20 minutes each time, and I knew if i wanted a more transformative experience, i needed this 10-day meditation retreat
• for 9 days, we were silent (last day we are allowed to speak)
• Every day, we meditate from 4:30am to 9pm, and only eat vegetarian food
• It was really hard for me to fall asleep, I was already jetlagged from the travel in argentina
• Around day 5 I really had a moment where it “clicked”, when we practiced “strong determination”, not moving for an hour. that was extremely difficult, so much pain in that moment, but I got through it and on the other side (while still in the still position) you feel detached, you observe that all pain is temporary, and there’s a profound sense of piece

I learned

2 techniques:

• 1. Ānāpāna (first 3 days)

• Vipassanā (remaining 7 days)

• Sīla (शील) — Morality: living ethically and avoiding harmful actions.

• Samādhi (समाधि) — Concentration: developing a stable, focused mind.

• Paññā (प्रज्ञा) — Wisdom: seeing reality clearly through insight.

Sīla → Samādhi → Paññā

Other terms:

• anicca (impermanence)
• upekkhā (equanimity)
• Saṅkhāra (Conditioned mental formations)
• Dukkha: Suffering, dissatisfaction, or unsatisfactoriness
• Taṇhā: Craving or thirst; wanting pleasant experiences or wanting unpleasant ones to stop
• Adhiṭṭhāna (strong determination)