On that thought, I’m sharing a recent Facebook post by Sharon Salzberg, along with the photo:
S. N. Goenka was an Indian, a former businessman, drawn to meditation to cure his ferocious migraine headaches. He studied Buddhism in Burma and then began leading ten-day intensives in India. Participants lived like monastics: two meals a day and a structured schedule of meditation and instruction.
Outwardly Goenka seemed like an ordinary businessman; inwardly, he radiated something extraordinary. Centered, unruffled, he appeared completely comfortable in his own skin. He was rigorous and demanding in his approach. Yet his kindness and compassion charged the air around him with warmth and light. He laughed a lot, spoke in simple English, and was quite approachable. From Goenka, I learned about pure, impersonal love. It was very clear that he wanted nothing from me. He accepted no money and was clearly not teaching for ego reasons or power.
I share that to reflect for a moment with gratitude on the person behind this “retreat apparatus” … For certain it’s helpful to shed some light on the apparatus. Still, I feel reverence for this person.
I can’t imagine comparing him with jhourney co-founder Stephen Zerfas. Lightyears apart, you know?
So I don’t fathom comparing the one apparatus with the other. But @LeoCGOR tees up an important, broader discussion that resurfaces every so often on this forum.
I revisit Bhante Sujato’s essay from time to time:
How Early Buddhism differs from Theravada: a checklist
He writes:
The EBTs contain no notion of such an intensive meditation retreat for lay folk. Rather, the normal practice for dedicated lay folk was to take one day a week, undertake the eight precepts, and devote themselves as best they could to Dhamma and meditation.
This is a gentle, approachable, and holistic way to grow spiritually in the lay life.
Monastics, including the Buddha himself, would sometimes go on solitary retreat for periods of time. But before doing so they would go to their teacher and request guidance, and sometimes they were told they weren’t ready. It was considered dangerous to delve prematurely into deep meditation.
This mirrors the comments I see Bhante make throughout the D&D threads when this discussion comes up.
For several years I ran a small meditation group in my home for lay people wanting to learn meditation. (Just closed shop a couple of months ago.) I offered this as an alternative to people jumping straight into an intensive retreat to learn meditation.
It was also another option for people who couldn’t attend the regional Insight Meditation practice community for reasons of schedule and distance. And certainly it was a low-cost option for people who weren’t ready or able to pay for an on-site retreat. I mean, I offered this for free 
(not needing this as a source of income).
Lots of people learned meditation who had no experience, really. And I was quite up front that this was Buddhist-based meditation (with some teaching). So if that’s what people wanted, that’s what they got.
Still, I resonate with this from Bhante’s essay:
While the intensive retreat has given many people, including myself, a crucial kick-start in their Dhamma practice …
I learned the “standard” vipassana method before I ever went on a silent retreat. That likely made the retreat doable at first. But I consider the retreat experience a crucial part of my lay person training. These are some of the things I gained from being on silent retreat:
- Learning temporary detachment from all the regular stimulants in lay life as a matter of tolerance and capacity
- Learning about my default state of exhaustion and what it feels like to unwind from that, especially relative to meditation practice
- Exposure to devotion-based aspects of Buddhist practice
- Exposure to multiple teachers, each with their own emphases and styles
- Exposure to monastic teachers, in particular
- Exposure to Pali-based dhamma
On that last bullet, this was often in bits and pieces (except for my exposure to Ayya Tathaloka, who is totally into Pali!). But it’s what motivated me to study Pali.
Nevertheless – all that being said – I concur with various comments about these intense vipassana retreats being a stretch for the average lay person.
I hardly ever steered anyone toward a retreat. On occasion, yes. But that was after considering it carefully, in terms of what I’d observed about the person’s capacity.
More often than not, seen this in play. Sometimes I’d be like, What are they doing when they meditate after all these retreats? We don’t seem to be meditating on the same stuff at all 
.
Gave that up for the most part (the retreats). I was looking forward to a Leigh Brasington and Heather Sundberg retreat in March 2025. But when signups started they said that the teachers would attend via one-hour videos each day. That was disappointing and makes me scratch my head a bit.
Anyway, cheers to meditation!