I recently completed my second Vipassana course as taught by SN Geonka. It’s a powerful meditation practice that allows you to first train your mind to quiet itself and then teaches you an amazing process to purify this now quiet mind.
The fact is, reading a blog about doing a ten day silent mediation is like reading a blog on learning to socialize (which you are also doing)… you need to actually do it to know how powerful it is, how it makes you feel and how it actually works.
But until you make time for it let me give you the cliff notes. We spend our lives wanting things, trying to acquire things which we believe will make us happy, and each time we get it, we feel a short spike in our happiness then that dissipates and we are again, left feeling empty and alone.
At the heart of the mediation is Buddhism, and thus detachment. Understanding that nothing is permanent allows you to let go of things more easily and not try to avoid things that hurt since it follows that if NOTHING is permanent then even the bad stuff will eventually go away.
Once you have accepted the premise that nothing is permanent then you are ready to approach each moment in life with a calm mind since no matter what comes your way, you know it will pass. You don’t stress out about keeping the good stuff and you don’t stress out about getting rid of the shitty stuff.
This level of detachment from outcomes will ultimately serve you in every single situation you enter. It’s not to say you don’t care about what happens, it is simply that you know whatever happens will not last anyway so it doesn’t matter all that much and certainly isn’t worth getting stressed about.
Again knowing this with your mind is one thing… the 10 days of silent meditation is where you learn this truth on a physical level. It is the ultimate game changer and it is free. I recommend it to everyone I know and everyone I know who HAS done it says it is one of the best things they have ever done You CAN do it… I know you are thinking… “I can’t possibly do that” but you can, I promise!
Quietly yours,
Devon
I really enjoyed the A.S.H. training weekend as it was extremely thorough and covered a lot of different topics like humor, style and status. What you don’t know can hurt you and you wouldn’t even know it – I feel empowering knowing that I learned a method for improving awareness of these elements underlying social interaction of which I was previously oblivious to. Devon and Josh were excellent facilitators that created a relaxed and interactive atmosphere highly conducive to learning while offering appropriate, specific and targeted feedback. In addition to the actual weekend itself, it was an absolute pleasure to connect and be part of a community that continues to interact long after the initial training. Many thanks Devon for being awesome, warm-hearted and generous!
— Tai