Now What? After Your Vipassana Course Is Over

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True Azimuth, May 16, 2019 - Body, Mind & Spirit

You just finished your Vipassanā course. Now what?

If you’re like most old students, you left your 10-day retreat deeply moved — and then struggled to maintain your practice in the chaos of daily life. The silence faded. The stillness cracked. And that twice-a-day sitting commitment? It unraveled fast.

This revised and radically improved edition of Now What? After Your Vipassanā Course Is Over is here to help.

Originally published in 2019, this new version is a complete rewrite — grounded in lived experience and Dhamma wisdom, not just habit hacks. It’s honest. Irreverent. Compassionate. And most of all, practical.

You won’t find technique instructions here.

What you will find is how to stay on the path when you’re no longer in the retreat center — when your practice has collapsed, your motivation has evaporated, and you’re wondering if you’re the only old student who can’t seem to “just sit twice a day.”

This book will help you:

Rebuild your daily practice with systems that work (even when motivation fails)

Integrate sīla, samādhi, and paññā into real life — not just retreat life

Navigate collapse, start again, and stop shaming yourself

Find support (without needing a traditional sangha)

Design a practice plan that’s actually sustainable

Return to the path with humility, clarity, and renewed commitment

This isn’t a manual. It’s a conversation.

Whether you’re starting fresh or starting over, you’ll find tools, stories, and support that meet you where you are — not where you wish you were.

You don’t need to be perfect. You just need a way to begin again.

This book will help you find it.

 

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About the author (2019)

G. Scott Graham is an existential handyman — fixing what’s broken, realigning what’s off-kilter, and helping people rebuild their lives with meaning, purpose, and the occasional strip of duct tape. He’s also an author, career coach, business coach, and psychedelic support coach based in Boston, Massachusetts.

Scott is driven to help clients follow their “true azimuth” — a direction distinct from “true north.” It’s not about chasing some universal ideal. It’s about identifying what genuinely matters to you. It’s about recognizing the forces that pull your life off course and learning how to adjust so you still arrive where your heart wants to go. When you're 90 and looking back, your life should feel like it was truly yours — filled with pride, purpose, and meaning. No regrets.

When he’s not coaching people to be their very best, Scott runs a nonprofit farm animal rescue and lives what he teaches. He does Tough Mudders, teaches Sun 73 Tai Chi, paddleboards with his dogs Groot and Rocket, and camps in State Parks across New England whenever he can. His daily spiritual practice is grounded in anāpānasati, vipassanā, and mettā-bhāvanā meditation. A firm believer in service as the heart of a life well-lived, Scott also volunteers as an EMT instructor, firefighter, and Master Gardener in his community.

In his "free time," he writes books.