Vipassana: A Journey Within

By Leigh Tilley

Leigh takes you on a 10 day journey of a meditative vipassana retreat. 2 years after suffering multiple strokes at the age of 38, abruptly cutting short a fast paced lifestyle complete with the city job, big house and fancy car. 10 days of no technology, no talking and no connection!

Along this journey of physical and mental en

• Language: English
• Publisher: TilleyTech Ltd
• Release date: Oct 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9781838537104

Book preview

Foreword

I must first of all thank my fiancée Jennifer Walker who, each day on the train to work across several months, painstakingly read the original draft four times whilst taking notes and eventually helped to sculpt this fifth and final draft! Amazing stuff; I cannot thank you enough!

I spent the first part of my professional life building a career in software development rising through media, consultancy and into investment banking (http://tilleytech.com).

On July 2 2013 on the way to work I lost most of my sight, speech and then my balance and control of my body. I was taken to a nearby hospital where they took 56 hours to diagnose six full blown strokes which nearly killed me! My fitness, health and mental strength kept me alive and family and friends supported me at this time.

I have spent the time since then rebuilding my sight, speech and body. I used a variety of techniques which I will outline in my next book 'A Stroke of Luck'. This was going to be my first release but due to the rollercoaster of recovery it is still being written and worked on!

One thing to come to the fore during recovery was an increased sense of being of service to others. People often came to me in my old life or Life 1.0, as I like to refer to it, for guidance or assistance in some form. My intention is to be available for others and to assist them in becoming the best version of themselves they can be' this is my aim on a daily basis.

Interestingly all of my creative skills that I used as a shy little boy such as reading my stories to the school, drawing, painting and making things, has come to the foreground ready to construct the streams of service that I feel intuitively. I am equipped with all of the things I learnt during the adventures of Life 1.0 covering ventures into the legal world, software development from media to corporate and investment banking and it feels as if all of this was to flesh out my business side such that I could then push my artistic and creative endeavours to the world properly!

In addition to writing whilst in recovery I also co-founded the UK's first pure spring water for pre-schoolers, WUBLWater, and the digital world (with stories, cartoons and games) WUBLWorld!

Yoga featured heavily in my recovery, and is now part of my daily routine, as is meditation in many forms be they silent, guided or via frequency audio tracks. Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2500 years ago and was taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills, ie an Art of Living. This non-sectarian technique aims for total eradication of mental impurities and the resultant highest happiness of full liberation.

Previous Publication

I was asked by someone I respect, who provided some coaching to me, to provide a short story and two-thousand-word version of the larger story I mentioned earlier. This is the true story of my near death and multiple strokes ordeal back in 2013 and how I rebuilt myself and my life!

I am a contributing author to this Amazon bestseller with my short story 'From One Life Into Another'.

75 authors from across 16 countries with true stories of events that changed their perspective on life!

'Thresholds: 75 Stories of How Changing Your Perspective Can Change Your Life':

http://bit.ly/thresholdstories (UK link)

http://bit.ly/thresholdstoriesUS (US link)

Links for kindle books:

http://bit.ly/thresholdstories-kindle-US

http://bit.ly/thresholdstories-kindle-UK

Copyright ©2020 Leigh Tilley.

All right reserved. No part of this book maybe used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodies in critical article and reviews. Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The reviews and views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and therefore the publisher has no responsibility for them.

Vipassana: A Journey Within

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by Leigh Tilley

Day Zero: Arrival

‘I from Huuungary but I been here seehven yeahrsu.’ The cab driver answered enthusiastically after I enquired where his accent was from as it was unfamiliar to me.

‘Why yooou come this centre my friiienhd? You can’t talk or use technoologeee.’ He chirped up as he swerved into a country lane.

‘I think that’s the point mate!’ I laughed.

The surroundings were beautiful. I was living in Kent and Wiltshire appeared to be similarly stunning with lush greenery and lots of grassland.

‘Well, in the middle of 2013 I suffered multiple strokes on the way to work. A passer-by called an ambulance and I was taken to a nearby hospital where they took fifty-six hours to diagnose what was happening and what was wrong with me. I sold my house and lived on the money.

I’ve spent the rest of the time rebuilding my body, mind, sight and speech. Three different people told me about vipassana, one in particular mentioned this place and to me it feels like the next stage of recovery.’ I explained, wrapping up the last two years and a monumental ordeal into a few sentences.

‘Woow, woow my friiienhd you have done amazingly well. You are strooong, veehry strooong. How old you now?’ he rattled off quickly.

‘I was 40 in March and 38 at the time it happened back in 2013.’ I replied.

‘Oooh you don’t look it eht aahll.’ He exclaimed.

‘Haha you’re too kind. Well, I pay special attention to nutrition and health which kept me alive in the first instance and now will continue to keep me alive!’ I laughed as I said this.

‘Aaaa-ehnd heeere we go my friiienhd!’ he chimed as he pulled up beside a pair of white gates that protected a large courtyard.

I had been meaning to do this since I’d heard about it from a yoga teacher, Beth, who I met in 2014. At the time I had begun attending monthly talks hosted by a company called the InnerSpace Organisation. They taught me a form of meditation at their Covent Garden Centre in London. Whilst at these talks, two people I met there also said that I should definitely experience vipassana. I took it as a sign! Beth did her first vipassana at the International Meditation Centre in Wiltshire, which she recommended to me due to its deep and direct links with its creation in Burma.

I looked up vipassana and found it is a form of Buddhist meditation run and performed in the tradition of Sayagyi u Ba Khin. I researched his name to find that he was the first Accountant General of the Union of Burma and a Buddhist Master born on March 6, 1899. He is principally known as a leading twentieth century authority on vipassana meditation and an influential leader of the vipassana movement.

Buddhist meditation is comprised of two forms: calmness of mind (formally known as anapana) and vipassana. It turns out that vipassana means to see things as they really are.

I had been using meditation to heal after what had happened to me; suffering six strokes and being in a rough condition mentally and physically since that time.  Now seemed like the right time for me to embark on this journey.

I found the website for the International Meditation Centre and emailed them with the intention of attending the centre in the United Kingdom. They had centres in the United Kingdom, Australia, Austria, USA, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Russia, Switzerland and Ukraine. I filled out a form and listed the reasons why I wanted to attend. What were my reasons? It sounded to me as if it could be the last part of my physical recovery; silence, the power of the yogic breath I had read about and its effects on the physical body. I wrote this type of thing in my email.

A man named Roger emailed me back and said that I would need to agree to drop anything else I was doing meditation-wise, at least whilst I was there on the course.  I replied that I would be completely open to new ideas and willing to receive and follow any instructions that I felt would be beneficial. My course was agreed for May.

What would it be like? How would I feel?

I had no idea. I like learning new things and I am incredibly open and enjoy meeting new people. I was sure it would be an enlightening and informative experience at the very least.

I’d been eagerly telling friends about it and they could not believe that I’d have to hand my phone in and that I, someone who talks a lot, would be observing a vow of noble silence. Every day I’m on my laptop and mobile phone, reading, researching, writing and playing with creative ideas; always communicating and connecting. How interesting it would be to surrender these items, if only for ten days.

The day quickly came around to start my vipassana.  I made my way across London to Paddington train station, bought my ticket to Chippenham and boarded the train five minutes before it was due to depart. The train was very busy, although I guessed this was pretty normal given that it was 3pm on a Friday afternoon and the weekend exodus was just beginning. The journey to Chippenham took just over an hour so in no time I was in Wiltshire and silence loomed ever closer!

I stepped off the train, laptop bag in one hand and wheeled suitcase in the other. I love visiting new places and even in my home country of the UK, which is not that big compared to others, there are many places I have not been to. My immediate impression of Chippenham was that of a quaint, charming little town with a relaxed atmosphere to it. The people seemed to be in a nice laid back flow, not in any particular hurry and in contrast to the bustling city I had left behind.

I found the taxi rank, hailed a cab and showed the driver the address.  Thankfully he knew the place. We loaded my bags in the back and set off.

We pulled in through the white gates and drove up a long narrow private road.

‘Thenk you my frieehnd. Enjoy your visit.’

‘Thanks mate; I’m not sure what to expect but I’ll learn something for sure!’ I exclaimed.

I stepped out of the cab and looked around. We had driven up a private road lined with bushes and past a garden containing a Buddhist temple, resplendent with shiny turrets on the top and in the centre. In front of me were white gates and a large courtyard with buildings to either side. Behind me there was a beautiful pond perhaps fifteen to twenty feet in diameter. To the left of the gate was a sign

‘IMC UK – Please ring the bell and wait for assistance’

The gate was open and I could see people inside walking around with luggage.  I walked in through the open gate.

‘Hi, are you here for vipassana? The reception is there on the right. Go straight in and they’ll take care of you.’ A tall, slender and extremely well-spoken lady explained this as she pointed to a large wooden door.

As I walked into the office I was greeted by two grey haired men sat behind a large wooden desk who appeared to be in their sixties. One of them waved me over and began the registration process. He asked me for the suggested voluntary donation of £250 for the ten day stay and explained to me that I could hand my phone in now if I wanted to. I dutifully removed my phone from my pocket, switched it off and handed it over along with my payment.  The phone was placed into a large brown envelope which was then sealed. He wrote my name across it in bold marker pen.

Interestingly I did not make any final checks for messages although I had spoken to my parents on the journey to the centre. It was not difficult to hand the phone in but then I suspect this was because I had decided that this mission was for my benefit; once I decide a course of action I stick with it until it proves unworthy. I would follow