What a silent meditation retreat is really like

Coming up in late May is another tour to India’s Himalaya foothills to attend teachings by the Dalai Lama and a 10-day Tibetan Buddhist silent meditation retreat.  But what is it really like to do a silent meditation for ten days? Here is what the tour host, Lisa Tully had to say about it…

Stepping past our fears always brings reward

Christmas is over and we have the new year ahead. Mixtures of hope and dread may be interlaced with your thoughts on the future. Trying to make it a better one than last year but not quite believing we can.

Yet if we do nothing different to try and create a better life then we are not going to experience any improvement.

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
~ Albert Einstein

The kinds of actions that bring up feelings of fear are the exact ones we need to be taking. Pushing ourselves into our unknowns, allowing us to swim out so far that we can no longer see the proverbial bottom.

I think that might sum up peoples underlying beliefs of what it must be like to take on the challenge of a 10-day silent retreat. I can almost hear a chorus of not me or I could never last that long without talking as I write these words.

The interesting thing is when I bring groups to the 10-day Buddhist meditation retreat in Dharamsala, India even though they have signed up weeks in advance they are still voicing the same concerns on the day of check in.

As I listen I know at the end of it all the majority of them will be left wanting more. For this type of work leads us to the truth of who we are: spiritual beings having an earthly experience. Over the course of the ten days a deeper part of them really starts to remember that.

The journey of a 10-day silent retreat is one of peaks and troughs. I would say the first peak is when my groups arrive and see the beauty of the centre itself. Nestled in the Himalayan foothills it seems like a faraway Eastern fantasy come true.

The first major trough would then usually hit about two to three days in. At this point the ego can really put up a fight. The thoughts of still another week to go are rising up like a tide of dis-ease. What is happening is the veils are being lifted and your truths revealed. If we run around neglecting the health of our minds rest assured a lot of the time we will be reacting to life from our egos instead of our hearts. It’s a bit like not bothering to weed your garden eventually the weeds overrun the flowers.

You may be thinking that would definitely be the time I throw in the towel! Yet I have never had any of my peaceful warriors leave a retreat early.

The group holds one another. You are there with at least 60 others from all over the world and even though you are in silence for the most part, discussion groups are happening each day where you can speak.

This is the part where folks realise they are not alone in their internal struggles. Usually others have already past this point and their visible contentment and words on encouragement spurs you on.

Being in silence is an ancient sacred blessing that has been quashed by modern life. For it allows you to fully taste your food. To appreciate the madness of the local monkeys as they play with one another. To smell the flowers. But most importantly of all it allows you to see the waves of thoughts that are in control of your mind.

For they are indeed two very separate entities, mind and thought. Mix this new

The experience of living with over 60 people in silence is a very bonding one. In your own little silent world you will naturally have judgements about what everyone is like. Then at the end of the 10 days when people start talking you uncover how wrong most of your assumptions were.

That in itself is a sacred life lesson. For if our mind were freed of needless judgements, good, bad or indifferent how much more mental freedom would we have to create what we really want?

I think one of our girls Sonia from the U.S. summed it up very nicely when she said:

Do not wait! Take the next flight to Dharamsala. We all get so caught up in our careers, families, responsibilities that we forget about ourselves. This tour will allow you some “me” time to find the real “you” and the answers to your questions. I cannot stress enough the benefits that you will discover at the end of your trip!

The magic is in the unfolding. You must begin and then follow this journey right through to the end. Dance with your unfounded fears till they become old friends who spur you on for the next challenge ahead. And in doing so awaken the inherent nature in you that equals that of the Buddha himself.

Lisa’s next India Dalai Lama tour runs May 30 to June 17, 2013. For full details, please Click Here.