Vipassana retreat?

[mattbell]

I heard some very good things about the North Fork Vipassana retreat center last weekend.  (At least according to the guy I talked to, this particular one is excellent and not cultish.)  I'm hesitant to commit a full 10 days to something like this without really knowing what I'm getting into.

If any of you have done this sort of thing, I'd love to chat with you more about what to expect. 

Comments

[pyrokitten-mew.livejournal.com]

do you know juicy and steve23? they've done a vipassana retreat in the sierras, it's probably that one.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I'm sure I've met them at least once, but I don't know them that well.

[pyrokitten-mew.livejournal.com]

i'm interested to hear your experience if you go, since i've been considering doing this myself. i've met people who did retreats in thailand, but i didn't want to spend my travel time that way, at least not this time around.

i do have a hard time imagining not talking for 10 days though!

[patrissimo.livejournal.com]

That's where Shannon went, I'm pretty sure.

http://choiceful.livejournal.com/tag/vipassana

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

Looks like the Spirit Rock alternative she mentions might work well for me. It's only 5 days. :-)

[radven.livejournal.com]

I've had several friends do Vipassana, and they all say great things about it. it is something I intend to do someday.

But I do say... The idea of going ten days without speaking is scarier than jumping off a cliff!

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I do sometimes have the attitude of "if it sounds scary/risky but not dangerous, I should try it". Usually, the end result is good. However, if there are techniques for mitigating that risk (eg finding a shorter retreat), I'm very interested.

[radven.livejournal.com]

I have the same attitude around trying scary things.

I'm not sure a shorter retreat still counts as "doing Vipassana" though. The 10 day retreat is pretty standardized around the world. I've had friends take it in India and on both coasts of the US, and it seems to be the same formula everywhere.

If five days is a good optimization, why not optimize further to one day, or even just an hour? :-)

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I've noticed that 2-3 days is the minimum amount of time I need to be in an immersive new environment in order to make a dent in how I perceive and interact with my current environment when I return.

[serolynne.livejournal.com]

Scary? It sounds like heaven to me! Me not having to speak for 10 days, or have anyone speaking at me? Oh.. please, throw me into the briar patch!

Now.. going 10 days without digital means of interacting.. that's where it gets scary :)

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

The only twittering you'll be hearing will be from birds...

[xleste.livejournal.com]

I've done it twice at North Fork.
What I have to say about 10 days is - the reason it's that long is that it takes that time to even begin to break the habit patterns of your brain. I honestly don't think, if it's Vipassana that you want to pursue (so it depends on your aims), that it can be less.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

I'm generally interested in having more mindfulness and presence in my actions as well as the ability to clear my mind when I so desire. Does that fit well with what they teach?

[(Anonymous)]

Definitely!!

Just FYI, though there teachers there (for presence and questions), S.N. Goenka has been filmed and it is his video and dharma talks that are shown. Shannon had various reactions to him that I didn't. (One description she has for him is "cult-like" which I disagree with and can also see elements of. I mean, you are watching a video. That said, I think it's an effective way for an old man to teach what he's spent his lifetime learning in a consistent way.)

I tend to be a take what I like and leave what I don't kind of person so whenever he mentioned reincarnation (being Buddhist - which I wasn't at the time), I ignored it pretty easily. The methodology and teachings are sound, and if you follow the practice, you will definitely learn mindfulness and about your own monkey mind and how to tame it.

That said, it's probably the hardest thing I've ever done - except for maybe getting divorce. It was an incredibly worthwhile practice for me and changed my life. And I really don't think you can do less than 10 days for this kind of stuff...just because the monkey mind is the mind you've had your whole life. A 2-day or even 5-day workshop isn't long enough to really learn discipline.

[xleste.livejournal.com]

Btw - that was me - Gayle :) I forgot to sign in.

[nasu-dengaku.livejournal.com]

"Oh, what a well-informed anonymous person. Must be Gayle. :-)" Thanks for the detailed advice.

I'm fairly good at picking and choosing memes from different groups. I did it with cultures all over the world.

[(Anonymous)]

Hi Matt,

I've done a number of these 10 day retreats and I highly recommend them. I don't know much about the shorter session offered by other organizations, but I do know they charge quite a bit for their teaching.

In the 10 day coures, the full 10 days are required to learn the technique as it's taught progressively. My advice is just to sign up and go for it.

Dhamma Bum

[tinkerbell-mk.livejournal.com]

Oh, what interesting timing. I am actually signed up to do this at the end of September beginning of October.