If you're reading this review I'm assuming you already know the basics (what Vipassana meditation…read moreis, that the courses are completely free, etc); if not go to the website!
I liked this center. The surroundings were beautiful, with walking paths meandering through ponds and meadows, stately trees and abundant wildlife (and cats!). Saw dozens of rabbits, geese, frogs, birds I'd never seen before, even a beaver one morning. It was nice and grounding going for a walk after a more intense meditation session. The meditation hall was serene and peaceful, and they had shelves full of cushions for students to use. I also liked that they had private rooms (though it was suite-style, so you shared a bathroom with another person). The volunteers and teachers were all very helpful and kind, and everything -- the rooms, dining area, meditation hall -- was kept very clean.
Things I didn't like as much. There was a crack under the main door in the women's side of the dormitory, which meant insects were always coming in. Each time I came back to my room I did a thorough bug scan first! And it was in rural Illinois, surrounded by farmlands, which meant that there was nitrate in the tap water. They had tanks of clean water in all the areas, so drinking wasn't an issue, but it made me a bit paranoid brushing my teeth or taking a shower.
Also, just a general note on the practice itself. In the West the practice of meditation has been flattened and appropriated into an innocuous stress-relieving hobby, which can lead to negative consequences. If you go far enough down this path you will experience really weird shit, it has the same power to rewire your brain and take you to altered states of consciousness as taking psychedelics. So if you're not in a stable and grounded place in your life, not prepared to take it seriously and practice dhamma, or if you have mental health conditions, then imo this course is probably not the best fit. There are other meditation traditions and centers, take something that is less intense and more interactive and supervised; or just take up walking or gardening instead.
Let's see, what else? This course is very tough! One of the main reasons I was able to get through it, I think, was that I practiced yoga, otherwise there was no way I'd be able to sit upright and motionless for hours every day without my body rebelling. As it was, near the end of most sessions I would get aches and pains, but I was able to walk and stretch them off during the breaks, and return refreshed for the next sitting. Some people who took this course didn't do yoga or stretching, and from what they said, they were in constant pain during the last days of the course. It says admirable things about their determination that they finished, but why be in more pain than you have to be?
