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It's possible that experiencing the extreme makes the "milder ways" much easier to make a habit. When you've just meditated for 11 hours a day for 10 days stra

by kup0 11y ago

It's possible that experiencing the extreme makes the "milder ways" much easier to make a habit. When you've just meditated for 11 hours a day for 10 days straight, 30 minutes a day seems like nothing. I think the retreats are often just a way to gain perspective or a "crash course" that you can then apply to your life once you leave.

mbrock 11y ago
FWIW, I've talked to plenty of people for whom this has been far from the case. They went to a 10 day retreat, some of them had blissful times or fascinating out-of-body experiences or whatever, but most of these people haven't ended up with a stable daily meditation practice. So right now I'm pretty skeptical about this hypothesis.
- kup0 11y ago
  It's possible that's the case. It does take far more than 10 days of devoting your time to something to truly make it a habit, especially when experienced in such a different setting that will be nothing like home. My original post was just a thought/hypothesis presented without any data to back it up.
- nzp 11y ago
  I don't know what you (they) meant by "blissful times", but "fascinating out-of-body" experiences doesn't sound right. It could be that they experienced something close to Jhana[0] but I'm skeptical it can be done on a 10 day Vipassana retreat with no previous experience. In all Buddhist traditions, excepting Tantric ones, that emphasize meditation, the techniques (Vipassana being one of them) are mostly really hard work in practicing concentration and attentiveness. It's very hard to get it right, essentially to practice hard without practicing hard, without attaching yourself even to the effort you're expanding, which then can lead to Jhanas. Most of the time, I think, people convince themselves they are experiencing fascinating things, but it's just the mind playing it's tricks. Especially in the West where people attach all sorts of wacky stuff to the term "meditation", which really isn't event the right translation of "samadhi" as it's borrowed from Christianity where "contemplation" is much better fitting as a Western analogue (other techniques from Tantric Buddhism, on the other hand fit the Western term "meditation" better). [0] http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-samadhi/jhana.html http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma...

by kup0 11y ago

mbrock 11y ago

FWIW, I've talked to plenty of people for whom this has been far from the case. They went to a 10 day retreat, some of them had blissful times or fascinating out-of-body experiences or whatever, but most of these people haven't ended up with a stable daily meditation practice. So right now I'm pretty skeptical about this hypothesis.

kup0 11y ago
It's possible that's the case. It does take far more than 10 days of devoting your time to something to truly make it a habit, especially when experienced in such a different setting that will be nothing like home. My original post was just a thought/hypothesis presented without any data to back it up.
nzp 11y ago
I don't know what you (they) meant by "blissful times", but "fascinating out-of-body" experiences doesn't sound right. It could be that they experienced something close to Jhana[0] but I'm skeptical it can be done on a 10 day Vipassana retreat with no previous experience. In all Buddhist traditions, excepting Tantric ones, that emphasize meditation, the techniques (Vipassana being one of them) are mostly really hard work in practicing concentration and attentiveness. It's very hard to get it right, essentially to practice hard without practicing hard, without attaching yourself even to the effort you're expanding, which then can lead to Jhanas. Most of the time, I think, people convince themselves they are experiencing fascinating things, but it's just the mind playing it's tricks. Especially in the West where people attach all sorts of wacky stuff to the term "meditation", which really isn't event the right translation of "samadhi" as it's borrowed from Christianity where "contemplation" is much better fitting as a Western analogue (other techniques from Tantric Buddhism, on the other hand fit the Western term "meditation" better). [0] http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma-samadhi/jhana.html http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sacca/sacca4/samma...