An interesting piece by Robert Wright about his first experience with a Vipassana retreat, and his anticipation of the second one he will shortly undertake.
. . . I attended my first and only silent meditation retreat. It was just about the most amazing experience of my life. . .I came away from that week feeling I had found a new kind of happiness, deeper than the kind I’d always pursued. I also came away a better person — just ask my wife. (And neither of those things lasted — just ask my wife.)