DAY 8 – A Pretty Positive Day

11:42pm: Everyone is much more serious today.  Teacher keeps putting on a stern face and telling us to work very, very seriously (imagine this said with a thick Indian accent).  I have to admit, this whole thing has got easier over the past couple of days. Either that, or I am now wholly resigned to the fact that I have to stay the full ten days. 
It’s easier to sit for the full hour too. I found that position is key to lasting for the full hour.  I can actually sit in the Dhamma hall for the 11 hours every day and meditate like they ask without feeling like my soul is dying inside.
Today it is sinking in that I am glad that I stayed; there is a certain balance creeping into my thoughts… and I kinda like it.  I don’t know if everyone feels the same though. I seem to be one of the only ones still smiling (although I am not supposed to notice this since we aren’t supposed to look at each other!).
Indigestion guy finally got schooled by teacher—for the past eight days we have all listened to the sound of his burping/stomach growls as they echo and reverberate through the Dhamma hall.  I tried hard not to mind so much because I though it wasn’t voluntary… but he CAN control it! It’s so much easier to focus without his stomach as a distraction. Thank god teacher addressed it.  When you combined his noises with Goenka’s singing it was like nails on a chalkboard raking through your soul.