http://www.pacifickriya.org/?action=news&id=1184635819
Thursday morning, I will be leaving to a 10 Day Vipassana Meditation Retreat from May 19th to May 30th, 2010..
During the retreat, I will be sitting, eating, walking, and sleeping by myself. I will be free from all the everyday distractions such as work, television, people, and extraneous thoughts leaving me to just face my self, whatever that is.
This particular retreat is under the organization founded by S. N. Goenka, a Burmese teacher with worldwide centers. The centers are run completely by volunteers and offer free room & board. You basically have to only sign up and find a way to get there.
To be honest, I’ve been thinking all week about writing some profound post about how amazing and life changing meditation is for all people. But, the words never came to me.
Three years ago, I went to my first 10 day meditation retreat. The meditation experience changed my life. I gave up alcohol, smoking, and fast food afterward. You could say that I meet God, but that would be an injustice. I experienced the greatest peace, bliss, and contentment of my life. I did not come out of the retreat with answers to my life questions. But I realized that those questions did not matter as much as I originally thought they were.
Life is beautiful as it is just right now.
Sometimes during my meditations, passages from the Bible, Dao De Jing, and Buddhist Sutras spontaneously came to mind, and I realized their truth on a visceral level beyond (or is beneath?) the intellect. The entire experience really cannot be put into words. The best I can hope is to inform, motivate, and inspire others to go for themselves.
So, friends, I will be gone starting Thursday for 10 days. I won’t have any email, phone, or other contact with the world.
I might have one last post in me before I leave though for tomorrow.