10 day meditation retreats - no charges to attend

[TheGizmo]

Originally posted by: babuddha

Originally posted by: klingsor
There's nothing wrong with weed and Led Zeppelin, but it should be said, that experience is nearly the opposite of meditation. One is sort of a disengaged checking-out (or spacing-out)

Sorry your experience with marijuana has not been more fruitful than that for you. Your description, however, is not at all consistent with my experience with marijuana.

ya weed has its 'fruitful' moments for sure.. though the mind blowing experiences ive had came primarily from mushrooms and lsd... not that the green isnt psychedelic, cauz it is.

 

[HGC]

 

[MaxDepth]

I don't see a LAN party on the schedule at all.
And they call this a retreat...

 

[Miramonti]

Any legitimate mediation retreats that are beneficial and aren't so risky?

 

[SilverTrine]

People dont need more meditation they need to learn to have an active mind.(not in the sense of having thoughts swirling in their heads, in the proper sense)

Many people think any group which is even a little removed from society is a cult. Thats just scare tactics. Though I have to say that this group raises several red flags in my mind. The fact that they publicize the retreats as being 'free' is fishy. Why not even mention money if they're not concerned about it. They're obviously being deceitful, using the 'free' aspect of the course to try and pull in as many people as possible whether they're interested in meditation or not.

I mean look its working this group is getting play on Anandtech's website by people who probably wouldnt consider this sort of thing, but the 'free' part of it is making them consider it.

Also this from their website is highly suspicious: 'A special 10-day Vipassana course especially for business executives and government officials is being held periodically at several centers around the world.'

They're having special courses for wealthy/government people. This is a major cult red flag. They probably serve them better food, offer less indoctrination, and stroke their egos.

I would steer far clear of this group.

 

[shoplifter]

Originally posted by: SilverTrineThey're having special courses for wealthy/government people. This is a major cult red flag. They probably serve them better food, offer less indoctrination, and stroke their egos.

i'm a bureaucrat. if all these things you say are true SIGN ME UP!

 

[STotaro]

peyote shrooms and green together

 

[klingsor]

With all due respect, my experience with both has been good. But there is a dampening or disorienting (i.e. short term memory loss, loss of focus, loss of motivation) effect with herb, and there are negative effects with any drug; but don't get me wrong - green is fine... very fine.

But one has to have a lot of experience with a true meditation in order to know the difference. One can't assume that they know what meditation does or is until they have experienced it first hand.

Originally posted by: babuddha
Sorry your experience with marijuana has not been more fruitful than that for you. Your description, however, is not at all consistent with my experience with marijuana.

 

[bobfloyd]

I spent a day at a meditation retreat last fall and while I found the morning session interesting and useful, by the end of the day I was bored and restless, not to mention cramped from all the sitting. 10 days of this seems like a huge amount and I can't imagine making that big a committment. Can anyone who's done it explain how they survived that long please?

 

[klingsor]

Yes ---> List of worldwide Zen centers

Take an intro session at any one of them.

Originally posted by: jjsole
Any legitimate mediation retreats that are beneficial and aren't so risky?

 

[TheGizmo]

Originally posted by: STotaro
peyote shrooms and green together

22 hits of L + 200mg mda + shrooms + green = worlds so beutiful :-D

 

[kctopitz]

Originally posted by: SilverTrine
People dont need more meditation they need to learn to have an active mind.(not in the sense of having thoughts swirling in their heads, in the proper sense)

Many people think any group which is even a little removed from society is a cult. Thats just scare tactics. Though I have to say that this group raises several red flags in my mind. The fact that they publicize the retreats as being 'free' is fishy. Why not even mention money if they're not concerned about it. They're obviously being deceitful, using the 'free' aspect of the course to try and pull in as many people as possible whether they're interested in meditation or not.

I mean look its working this group is getting play on Anandtech's website by people who probably wouldnt consider this sort of thing, but the 'free' part of it is making them consider it.

Also this from their website is highly suspicious: 'A special 10-day Vipassana course especially for business executives and government officials is being held periodically at several centers around the world.'

They're having special courses for wealthy/government people. This is a major cult red flag. They probably serve them better food, offer less indoctrination, and stroke their egos.

I would steer far clear of this group.

An active mind is not by any means a healthy mind. Minds are extraordinarily powerful tools, yet they can also be the source of many of our problems. Meditation is a method of acheiving peace of mind, which, in turn, allows one to have a clear mind - free of distractions, and thus able to be very focused when active, amongst other things.

While it does state on the main page of www.dhamma.org that there are no charges for this course, it's not like it's in big bold lettering at the top. It's mixed right in with everything else. They aren't using it as a marketing tactic. There's no "FREE" flashing in bold red lettering. It's simply an aspect of this tradition - a tradition which extends back 2500 years, by the way. People in the U.S. are VERY skeptical of anything that doesn't cost money, as I mentioned in my previous post, always wanting to know what the catch is. There MUST be a catch. Well, please allow yourself to consider that not everyone in the world is as money-oriented as we Americans are. Consider that if you wanted to go to India, where this tradition originates, or many other countries in Asia and become a Buddhist monk, you would do EXACTLY what you do in this course: live and eat for free, yet able to do so because of the CHARITY of others. Acceptance of this charity, this gift, is a part of the course and is actually discussed in the course itself. The people who help run the course do so without pay, because their motivation is to be that of charity - helping others, rather than X dollars per hour. All of us can appreciate that no matter how much pay we are receiving, there are often times where we wonder why the heck we're doing what we're doing.

Consider this: If they actually offered this course but only with a $300 charge, would you then consider it without such skepticism? If you did, wouldn't you then expect a certain level of service, of good food, etc.? Such demands are of the ego: "I must be fed this food or that food. I must sleep in a plush bed in a room kept at 71.5 degrees constantly." Also consider that for some people, $300 is a LOT of money, where for others, $300 is what they spend on a shirt that they'll wear once. A system of donation allows YOU to decide the value of what you have received, and personally I think it works very well - not just for this course, but for everything. If you don't feel you've received anything of value, you need not give a penny.

The only reason this site is getting "play" on Anandtech is because this forum is frequented by nothing but people who are looking to get great deals and maybe on occassion something even for FREE. ANYTHING that is free, including stuff that is complete crap that none of us really needs, gets posted on this site. It is THIS FORUM who is playing up the fact that it's free - NOT the people providing the course.

And you know what? Anyone who is actually stupid enough to attend this course simply because it's free is in for a huge wakeup call - probably the first 4am bell ringing actually. This isn't a free vacation. This is work. As I said before, this is a course only for people who are serious about wanting to learn and practice meditation. If you aren't one of those people, there's no point in you attending a course or even sharing your thoughts on the prospect of attending this course in this forum. That's it. The end. Thank you, please drive through.

To suggest that they offer an executive course to feed those people better and stroke their egos is so truly laughable if you have any idea what this is all about. If anything, such people need a special course because they have such huge egos in the first place. My father fits into the category of executive with a big ego, and I can totally see him benefitting from this course simply because of his tendency to get all hot-headed when something goes wrong. You don't make good decisions when you're in a negative state of reaction. You say things you later regret. That's true in interpersonal relationships and that's true in business as well. The more you can keep a cool head in life, the happier you'll be.

To sum up again: This isn't about money. This isn't a cult. This is about a spiritual practice. If it sparks your interest even remotely, go read up on meditation and why it's been practiced by people throughout the world for thousands of years. Try it yourself. Experiment. See if you feel a benefit so that you know for YOURSELF whether there's something to it or whether it's just a bunch of new-agey spiritual mumbo-jumbo hogwash. If you find something beneficial about it and begin wondering where to go next, then and only then do I recommend considering a course like this. If you're of the latter group who thinks it's all hogwash, then so be it, go on back to your wonderful and joyous life, as I'm sure it must be. Go buy some more stuff. Then you'll be happy, right?

 

[kctopitz]

Originally posted by: bobfloyd
I spent a day at a meditation retreat last fall and while I found the morning session interesting and useful, by the end of the day I was bored and restless, not to mention cramped from all the sitting. 10 days of this seems like a huge amount and I can't imagine making that big a committment. Can anyone who's done it explain how they survived that long please?

Getting bored and restless is all ego: The mind coming up with all kinds of distracting thoughts, like other things you could be doing, good or bad times you've had in the past, things you can do tomorrow or next week or next month when this you're done with this stupid meditation thing... all the mind trying to take you away from the present moment - the here and now. Again, I recommend reading The Power of Now by Eckhart Tolle.

Since drugs have been brought up in this thread, I'll suggest that it's during those highs that people have that very experience: forgetting the past and future and being fully alive right now. THAT is why music sounds so good during those highs. You are so fully there that it's like that music is a part of you. You truly FEEL it. Well, you can try to be high all the time (as some people do) or you can learn to be present all the time.

Legs getting cramped from sitting is tough to overcome for us in the west who are not used to sitting cross-legged all day. In the course I did in Australia they provided cushions to sit on and cushions to place under your legs to relieve some of the strain of sitting. Everyone struggles with it and everyone spends the first few days experimenting with how to sit most comfortably, including myself. By the end of the course, as long as I got comfortable right when I sat, I was easily able to sit for an hour or longer with no problem at all.

If you act with determination, you will get results. Simple as that.

 

[jai6638]

They probably serve them better food, offer less indoctrination, and stroke their egos.

my cousin went for vipasanna in India and they werent given a lot of food... the food offered to them was very basic.. my cousin enjoyed his experience and thought it was "relaxing".. I met the founder, Mr. Goenka in Dubai when they first started a center there.. He was a nice guy......

And you know what? Anyone who is actually stupid enough to attend this course simply because it's free is in for a huge wakeup call - probably the first 4am bell ringing actually. This isn't a free vacation. This is work. As I said before, this is a course only for people who are serious about wanting to learn and practice meditation. If you aren't one of those people, there's no point in you attending a course or even sharing your thoughts on the prospect of attending this course in this forum. That's it. The end. Thank you, please drive through.

Very true...

 

[TGS]

Are there any Scientology Meditation retreats. Complete with vitamins and exercise?

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: TGS
Are there any Scientology Meditation retreats. Complete with vitamins and exercise?

call 1-800-Tom-Cruz to find out.

 

[batmanuel]

Originally posted by: moshquerade

Originally posted by: TGS
Are there any Scientology Meditation retreats. Complete with vitamins and exercise?

call 1-800-Tom-Cruz to find out.

Only 20-somethings that used to have Tom Cruise posters on their walls when they were in high school need apply.