TRAINING FOR HANDLING FOR YOU?
People want to learn how to meditate for a variety of reasons, so it’s helpful to have some ideas that you want to get out of it. There are several types of meditation that you can choose as you please, one size does not fit all.
(If you are just experiencing your first thoughts on meditation, you can read some books on meditation before doing a certain type). Or Google, something like “meditation classes next to me” to expand local knowledge.)
What I'm trying to do is that if the first style of meditation that you try doesn't work for you, try something else. Give up all expectations on how this should happen. feel or get results, get. You can learn to meditate if you take your own unique experience without worrying about “how to become a Buddhist.” Or comparing your experiences with others - this is your journey, and not anyone else.
HOW I AM (AND A FEW OTHERS!) LEARN TO MEDITATE
I have long known about the potential benefits that I could get from meditation. However, for me it was one of those things that I always seemed to find ways to postpone! I knew that I could start with a minute or two every day, but I still never gave this priority.
The fact that I decided to leave for ten days a quiet course of Vipassana meditation (with a bunch of people I did not know) was an interesting new concept for me. My approach to permanent health is, as a rule, a gradual change in habit and something like extreme. However, I love challenging myself and opening my eyes to new things, here I am!
When I told people that I was on a ten-day silent retreat, the most common comment I heard was: “It must be so difficult not to speak for so long!” This and what I perceived was the most difficult part before I began.
It turns out silence was the easy part. After all the well-intentioned warnings in advance that any form of communication is so hard, I found that it was very nice! I admit, I was a little embarrassed when I packed my laptop, phone, magazine and books, knowing that I could not even sneak them out for ten days. But, as in the conversation, it turned out that these were things that were easy to give up.
WHY CHOOSE VIPASSANA?
Sitting on my back hour after hour, day after day - more about this soon, this is not my idea of fun. But knowing that I would not do more than eat, sleep, and meditate for ten days, made me feel that I would learn more about myself.
I had several personal reasons for choosing the Vipassana meditation approach. Most importantly, I was looking for a way to manage the chronic heads that I was experiencing. I knew that in some form of meditation there might be a missing link in my quest to lead a healthy, balanced life. And most of all ... I just like a challenge - physical, mental or other.
The meditation center next to me (well, it was at the opposite end of the country, but a good excuse to leave and go somewhere else) was located in Kaukapacapa, north of Auckland, New Zealand. In the last shuttle bus, I talked with others about what they expected to get from the course. One of the ladies was present before and before getting rid of addictions to chocolate. This time she sent and said that she would like to get rid of affection for beautiful clothes!
The guy next to me did not know what he wanted - he was just curious. The other girl wanted to be completely transformed - to become a new person. she told me. Another person told me that he wanted to learn how to become a Buddhist. So, I was with an interesting gathering of people, everyone headed to the same place for their own reasons.
CENTER OF ACCOMMODATION VIPASSANA, KAUKAPAKAPA, AUCKLAND, NZ
We arrived at the center, and I immediately appreciated how full of life she is. For the next ten days, I would meet the most friendly birds and insects. (With peace and tranquility in such a place, I think they had no reason to run away from us!) I registered my name and confirmed that I did not have serious psychological disorders. Then I was sent to my room, which I would share with three other women. It is very interesting to live in such close relationships with others, but completely ignore them for ten days! After a group briefing and final chat, meditation began.
Every day was the same in structure. & Quot; woke us up at 4 in the morning. We were meditating from 4:30 to 6:30 in the morning. Breakfast was from 6:30 to 8:00, which for me usually meant sleeping from 7-8 in the morning. Then we mediated from 8-11 am with a five-minute break at 9 am. Dinner was from 11:00 to 13:00. It was delicious, natural vegetarian food, cooked from scratch, was my favorite part of the day.
After lunch, we died from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm, with five-minute breaks at 2:30 pm and 3:30 pm. Dinner (it was just a few pieces of fruit) was from 17:00 to 18:00, after which we mediated from 18:00 to 19:00. There was an evening discourse (video lecture is the second favorite part of the day) about what we did from 7-8 in the evening (we still had to sit on the floor for this). Finally, we meditated again from 8-9 in the evening. The lights were at 9:30 pm and it lasted ten days. Oh, and I did not mention that I was starving from 19:00 to 22:00 and from 4:00 to 6:30 daily!
OBSERVATION NOT VISUALIZATION
Perhaps you think that meditation is that you are going to your happy place. Do you sit down, or perhaps even lie down, close your eyes and visualize the wonderful white light, and then you feel you are floating on a soft fluffy cloud ... or something like that? Not much with the course of Vipassana meditation! It was certainly far from five minutes of relaxation, which I like at the end of my Pilates class on Wednesday.
Vipassana Meditation is all about observation. No visualization. You simply sit, close your eyes and observe the sensations in your body. For the first two or three days, you focus only on breathing. Not to breathe in a certain way, but simply to observe natural breathing as it is. You observe sensations, good and bad, and train your mind not to react to them. After the third day, you move from focusing only on the nose, feeling sensations all over your body.
Everyone will feel different sensations. Itching, tingling, tickling, hot, cold, numbness, burning, pain. The pain was a sensation that I felt in 95% of cases. Pain in my neck, shoulders, back, hips, knees and ankles. I am a fitness instructor and I have to be as strong as you say. But I am a fitness instructor with some tight joints that are not accustomed to sitting cross-legged on the floor for twelve hours a day. I am also a fitness instructor who drives a car and sits in the back seat every day. This means that my spinal extensors were in no way trained to sit and maintain good posture for a few minutes.
Am I CHAINING?
There were a lot of pillows available, and I did most of them, but they calmed me down a bit after a while. And again, I repeat that PAIN is what I felt all day every day (minus breaks) for ten days. But the sensation of sensation did not matter. The goal was to objectively consider these sensations as if they did not belong to me. I had to stay with the “unanimous” mind at all times - calm and balanced.
My mind plunged into the ground. many times within ten days, and often remained on the task # less than 10 seconds. But my attempts to meditate progressed better. I spent an hour of determination. three times a day, not too crazy. On the third day, I realized that I could sit up straight for a few minutes, and at seven days I sat up straight for an hour without making any serious postural adjustments.
With a glimpse of sensations in my body, I began to sharpen my mind and become free from thirst and disgust. All the experiences experienced in life arise from the sensations that we feel and enjoy. Therefore, supporting the unanimous mind, when good sensations are being made (although there were not so many), I immersed deeply in my unconscious mind (the part of the mind responsible for the sensations of sensations) to get rid of the craving. In the same way, supporting equanimity, when bad feelings arose (because there were so many, I like to believe that I was undergoing accelerated training in this area), I started to get rid of disgust or hatred.
TAKE THE LAWS OF NATURE
Vipassana's philosophy is centered on the law of impermanence or the law of nature. This law says that everything is constantly changing. Everything rises, stays for a while, and then passes. The sensations that I felt in my body would not be forever, and I should kindly observe them and understand this. Understand that I should not be attached to good feelings or hate bad ones - they are all impermanent.
Another central concept of this technique is the recognition that there will always be suffering in the world (and not pessimistic, but in a realistic way instead) and that there are three things that cause all the suffering: craving, aversion and ignorance. The first two were mentioned, and the third I began to fight, bringing consciousness into my body. In turn, it would move to the real world, where I could more effectively cope with life steps and falls. Selflessness, giving, without expecting anything in return, reconciliation for others and inner happiness, are also an integral part of this philosophy.
EVENTUALLY
This is probably the time I have to stop. I could continue writing ... learning how to meditate in ten days has such an effect. My understanding of the Vipassana technique and the benefits it brings, developed during the course, has just begun. I understand that I had only a small taster, and I must continue to practice ... because I am far from complete purification of the mind and the ultimate goal of complete enlightenment (note: a fully enlightened person is also known as a “Buddha”).
However, I am taking a step in the right direction. I know that Vipassana can benefit everyone (regardless of their religion or belief systems) when they are ready to take this step, and I, of course, gained much more from it than I expected. This method was even a huge success when it was used in Indian prisons. Vipassana rules are stricter than prison rules, and prisoners show much less hatred and blame for the outside world.
