Please join us February 23 - March 1 for this truly profound meditation intensive.
For seven days, we will learn and practice Vipassana meditation- the Path of Insight.
Whilst the Buddha taught many techniques of meditation to reach full Enlightenment, he stated that the two most necessary components were Metta Bhavana- the practice of Loving-kindness- which we will also explore- and Vipassana.
8 hours of meditation per day, in hour long sits, quickly leads the participants into a deep and profound understanding of the relationship between Mind and Body, between energy and consciousness, and with correct instruction, can lead to extremely deep levels of energetic awakening, inner peace and stillness, and a deep and profound understanding of the nature of Reality.
You will learn:
Metta Bhavana- the Practice if Loving kindness
Tonglen- the practice of the Transformation of Suffering
Vipassana meditation, as taught by S.N Goenka
Vipassana as taught by Ajahn Cha, a Master in the Thai Forest Meditative Tradition
Vipassana as taught by the Insight Meditation Society
We will sit from 6am to 6pm every day, in sessions of one hour. After the first two days, we will have a number of sessions in which you will be asked to try not to move. You can expect to feel discomfort and pain, whatever level of oneness you have achieved in your body. This is natural and will get easier as we continue our practice.
There will be teachings throughout the practice sessions and a dharma talk by the instructor in the evening, after our day of practice. These will be roughly 45 minutes to an hour and are mandatory for all participants.
Sessions are also mandatory, and although you will be given time to meditate in your rooms, we ask that you attend each and every collective session, unless sickness or illness prevents this. There will be a morning bell, and students must be in the meditation hall ten minutes before the session begins, in order to get settled and so we can begin on time.
The retreat will be conducted according to a number of moral and ethical injunctions, as set out by the Buddha himself. These are in no way arbitrary, and contribute enormously to the process.
You will be asked, therefore to agree to the following rules:
Noble Silence. This means no talking, no gestures or communication with fellow participants of any kind. This includes your roommate if you are sharing. There will be opportunities to ask questions and to clarify the technique etc with the instructor,
No writing, reading, phones, computers, laptops, iPads etc . All electronic items we will ask you to switch off the first morning, and to not turn them back on until the retreat is officially over, on the morning of the eighth day.
No drugs, plants, alcohol or any inebriant whatsoever will be allowed. You will be asked to leave if we find you have broken this important rule.
No foods that lead to sensual craving will be served, or allowed. No snacks or chocolate bars in your luggage please!
No sexual misconduct- this means no attempt to make any kind of sexual or romantic relationships will be tolerated. This is not the space for dating, but rather for your own personal evolution and the evolution of the collective.
No perfumes, deodorants with a strong smell, hairsprays, soaps etc. in this practice, your senses are heightened to a significant degree. Even a subtle smell of chemicals etc can be extremely distracting. Likewise, please shower/wash every day as body odor can be just as overwhelming.
We will ask you to keep coughs, sneezes, burps, farts, belches etc to an absolute minimum. If you have trouble in this regard, we may ask you to meditate in your room, so as not to distract others.
All staff, teachers etc will be treated with respect. Although there should be no reason to be caught in anyone else’s process, should such an occasion arise, we ask you to be kind, compassionate and empathetic.
We ask that you agree to see the course through to the end, even if you are having trouble. It’s important to close the energy bodies properly and it would be a mistake to leave before the end as you won’t have closed down and will be extremely sensitive to outside energies as a result of this practice. Should a serious need arise, for whatever reason, the teacher will close you down before you need to leave. This is only in cases of true emergency. Please agree that you will stay through. It’s inevitable that at various stages you will want to run away (!) but you’ve been doing that your whole life. If you decide to come, you must see the whole thing through, and work through all of the various kind of resistance that WILL arise. In so doing, not only will you have successfully learnt and practised an extremely profound meditation, but you will also have taken steps in mastering your mind, emotions, body and energy. The results will be clear and apparent.
Although we will accept beginners after a thorough interview process, please understand that this retreat is in no way a beginner’s retreat. It’s not easy. The body will ache. The mind will resist. But through discrimination, will and perseverance, you WILL be transformed.
Whilst it’s not categorized as an energetic, or energy body based meditation, you will most certainly feel your own personal energy, and the energy of the people, places and things around you, and the energy channels, chakras, centers and points, will most certainly awaken. This can lead to extremely powerful release of energies associated with Kundalini (Candali in the Buddhist system)
You will understand the teachings of the Masters at the level of personal experience. The nature of impermanence, emptiness, dependent origination and other difficult to understand principles will become completely obvious to you. You will understand not through your intellect, but at the level of Gnosis- personal illumination.
This practice can lead to full, total and complete Enlightenment- the extinction of Suffering, and the Causes of suffering. Health issues, emotional issues, and mind based difficulties will all be deeply eased. You will experience your body as a living field of vibration, or subtle energy, and your mind as a still, empty and luminous field of internal freedom, unconstrained. You will understand happiness and joy lie inside of you, and not in any object. Your True Nature will be revealed and understood, and, in knowing oneself, we come to know the All.
Please note that we will not be using the tapes, videos etc. and chanting from Goenka-ji. This is NOT a Vipassana retreat ‘as taught by S.N. Goenka’. Rather it is a Universal style of Teaching.
We hope you can join us for this very special event.
This retreat will be offered live, in person at Tantraya Center. Contact us to inquire!