Vipassana Retreat on Modafinil?

[gggkkk]

I have a 2 week vipassana retreat starting tomorrow and was wondering if it's a good idea to take modafinil with me, since it makes meditating way more effortless. 

15 days is a big jump from my previous 9 day solo retreat, and considering that vipassana has a strict schedule I am not sure if I would be able to handle the entire thing while being sober. Or maybe this is the right thing to do? 

[Leo Gura]

Bad idea. It will be a waste of a retreat. The struggle is the whole point of vipassana.

[kieranperez]

Just do what they tell you to do and don't overcomplicate a simple practice. 

[gggkkk]

@Leo Gura Makes sense, thanks. 

[Space]

@gggkkk I wouldn't say its a bad idea and I don't think it would negatively impact your retreat haha. Maybe don't use it every day, but every now and then I reckon it could be an interesting experiment. Obviously it's not necessary. I took caffeinated coffee with me on a recent 10-day. That helped a lot! 

[herghly]

10 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Bad idea. It will be a waste of a retreat. The struggle is the whole point of vipassana.

I don't see any problem with it, but don't take it every day. You could take it 1-2 days to deepen the practice. 

[Rilles]

Its disrespectful towards the arrangers of the retreat, they have tenets you must follow

[herghly]

1 hour ago, Rilles said:

Its disrespectful towards the arrangers of the retreat, they have tenets you must follow

be cool dude

[Michal__]

Concentration work is amazing on low doses on modafinil. I'd use it on the first few days of a 10 day concentration retreat.

Or maybe set aside the first day of your retreat for concentration work and use modafinil to assist (max 1/4 of the pill).

Edit: even better if you fast the whole day.

Edit 2: oh, you mean a Vipassana retreat that's not on your own this time? In that case I wouldn't do it & just stick to the instructions.

Edited December 17, 2021 by Michal__

[Rilles]

17 minutes ago, herghly said:

be cool dude

Well another thing is Moda made me a bit wired, not the best thing for a calming meditation. 

[Salvijus]

Just ask the facilitators if it's okey. If it's actually no big deal then there's no reason to hide yourself and then invent phylosophies to feel better about it.

Vipassana is a high integrity place, if you start doing shady buiseness before you even entered the retreat, that's already starting of the wrong foot. Without a solid foundation of honesty and truth nobody attains to anything significant in spirituality.

Edited December 17, 2021 by Salvijus