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I am highly intrigued by the reports of people who try mediation. My question is, how does one give it a try? Are these Vipassana retreats suitable for someone

by pingec 12y ago

I am highly intrigued by the reports of people who try mediation. My question is, how does one give it a try? Are these Vipassana retreats suitable for someone who has very little knowledge about meditation and zero experience? Are there other options? I would prefer to be guided by a person than read a book, that option will just slip out of my schedule.

orasis 12y ago
If you want to work one-on-one, you can grab a meditation teacher for a Skype session on PopExpert. I personally recommend Kenneth Folk - https://www.popexpert.com/kennethfolk?code=join-kennethfolk https://www.popexpert.com/kennethfolk?code=join-kennethfolk If you want just an intro meditation weekend, I highly recommend the "Joy of Living" level 1 workshops from Tergar - http://tergar.org/events/ http://tergar.org/events/
stolio 12y ago
> Are these Vipassana retreats suitable for someone who has very little knowledge about meditation and zero experience? If you're young, in great health and looking for a huge challenge: maybe. It's a very extreme intro to meditation. Vipassana retreats break people. > Are there other options? I would prefer to be guided by a person than read a book, that option will just slip out of my schedule. Check for groups in your area, meetup.com is a good resource. So is google. Look up the lineage, the teacher, etc. For school X look up "X controversy" and there will almost always be something there, that's OK but there are some weird traditions out there that you'll do well to avoid. Trust your intuition. A lot of Buddhist meet-up groups will have a little note that says something like "if you're a beginner, second Tuesday of every month is beginner's night so show up a half an hour early and we'll square you away." Some have a "young people's night". There's a lot of luck involved. A usual evening should be a bit boring and might include one or two 20-minute sitting meditation sessions, maybe some walking meditation, maybe refreshments, some sort of a talk, some social time, and hopefully an opportunity to ask questions.

by pingec 12y ago

orasis 12y ago

If you want to work one-on-one, you can grab a meditation teacher for a Skype session on PopExpert. I personally recommend Kenneth Folk - https://www.popexpert.com/kennethfolk?code=join-kennethfolk https://www.popexpert.com/kennethfolk?code=join-kennethfolk If you want just an intro meditation weekend, I highly recommend the "Joy of Living" level 1 workshops from Tergar - http://tergar.org/events/ http://tergar.org/events/

stolio 12y ago

> Are these Vipassana retreats suitable for someone who has very little knowledge about meditation and zero experience? If you're young, in great health and looking for a huge challenge: maybe. It's a very extreme intro to meditation. Vipassana retreats break people. > Are there other options? I would prefer to be guided by a person than read a book, that option will just slip out of my schedule. Check for groups in your area, meetup.com is a good resource. So is google. Look up the lineage, the teacher, etc. For school X look up "X controversy" and there will almost always be something there, that's OK but there are some weird traditions out there that you'll do well to avoid. Trust your intuition. A lot of Buddhist meet-up groups will have a little note that says something like "if you're a beginner, second Tuesday of every month is beginner's night so show up a half an hour early and we'll square you away." Some have a "young people's night". There's a lot of luck involved. A usual evening should be a bit boring and might include one or two 20-minute sitting meditation sessions, maybe some walking meditation, maybe refreshments, some sort of a talk, some social time, and hopefully an opportunity to ask questions.