** Preparation

Prep was simple.  I didn't.

I was taking some time off work.  

I decided that a meditation course would be a good idea.

My experience with meditation consisted of meditating on the train occasionally.  I would meditate for 5 to 30 minutes, closing my eyes and trying to focus on the breath at the tip of my nose.  I allowed myself to shift and interact with the physical world in my relatively comfortable train seat, but I tried to keep my eyes closed and focus.   When I didn't have time for that, I would just close my eyes, take a deep breath, imagine something pleasant, and smile.  

That was the extent of my experience.  Almost invariably, it calmed me down and I felt a little better afterward.  

I spoke with my friend D and we decided that the February Vipassana meditation course in North Fork, near Yosemite, would be best.  

I did my research online and looked at quite a few meditation courses.  

Dhamma.org was the clear winner (not dharma.org).  There was no bullshit on their 80's-calibre mostly-text website.  A non-profit that didn't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on web development they didn't need was a good sign.  

They offered an all inclusive 10-day course.  Room, board, training.  And - this was a surprise - you were not allowed to pay for the course.  Your course had already been paid for, but there were no rich benefactors supporting the organization.  You could only donate to the organization after you had fully completed a course.  Whatever donation you made funded courses for future students.  Past students wanted you to have this experience, and had paid for your experience already.

Further research revealed that this organization had meditation centers worldwide run in this way, and they were all booked up.

The courses at North Fork were full up months in advance, but the mens course was not filled up in early February for some reason - possibly due to the superbowl - so we jumped on it and signed up with about 30 days to go.  I believe we were among the last three students accepted.

Next: Failure