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Ask HN: Have you been on a meditation retreat? How has it changed your life?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you been on a meditation retreat? How has it changed your life?

#31

Post by ha470 »

Yes! The first few were super tough (and not fun) but I got a lot out of them and gradually they've gotten easier, although just as productive.

So many people in the comments mentioned retreats but I'm surprised not a single person mentioned enlightenment. The whole point of retreats is to get you to a point where you willfully and intentionally seek freedom from suffering, but it seems like a ton of people get stuck in the retreat treadmill. Living a happier, more peaceful life is one thing but it's very possible to completely eradicate the subjective experience of suffering (or at least eliminate enough of it that it's largely unnoticeable). Enlightenment is very accessible and super achievable, especially now with the internet.

I highly recommend reading Living Realization (https://www.amazon.com/Living-Realization-Simple-Plain-Engli...) or Falling Into Grace (https://www.amazon.com/Falling-into-Grace-Insights-Suffering...) to see if any of it resonates. Once you get what all this is about then retreats become a practice ground towards a goal rather than a stabilizing mechanism or a way to feel better for a bit.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been on a meditation retreat? How has it changed your life?

#33

Post by jessepepper »

Yes, I'm a software engineer, predominantly C++, research, backend stuff, operational transform and multi-master replication (http://cedanet.com.au/ceda/). I've been doing Vipassana in the tradition of SN Goenka for 23 years, and having done quite a few 10-day silent retreats, I can say that they have been extremely beneficial to many aspects of my life, including technical stuff. I have also recently been quite interested in Culadasa's "The Mind Illuminated" book. I've recently connected with some other technical people around Culadasa's book.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been on a meditation retreat? How has it changed your life?

#34

Post by jessepepper »

asark wrote: post #11
dangus wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree on the idea of these sort of things feeling like a "book club." A recent example that worked for me: I took a short vacation by myself. I went to one event I wanted to see, and then for the rest of the time I had zero plans. Basically, I walked around the beach, walked around town, ate food, and that was it. Was it mindful meditation? Not really. But the effects were the same or similar. I think some people s…

> Was it mindful meditation? Not really. But the effects were the same or similar. I do have a suspicion that a not-small portion of the benefits of a meditation retreat is more about the retreating than the meditation. I'd probably feel "OMG I haven't felt this good in years" amazing after 10 days away from electronics and family & work obligations, even if I just read books and napped and took nature walks the whol…

It (10-day Silent Goenka-style Vipassana retreat)'s meant to be an experience like being alone. No eye contact, no talking, gestures etc. To me the retreat aspect is a way of getting huge blocks of time with all your needs (including cooking) taken care of. Its so conducive to serious meditation and removing obstacles and distractions. It's often challenging coming home and trying to meditate due to the distractions that are around.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been on a meditation retreat? How has it changed your life?

#35

Post by amriksohata »

yc_user_2019 wrote: post #32
amriksohata wrote: post #12

Anyone recommend any in India

Highly recommend Vipassana Meditation (S.N. Goenka https://www.dhamma.org ). They have centers all over India. You gotta start with a 10-day course.

Thanks

Re: Ask HN: Have you been on a meditation retreat? How has it changed your life?

#36

Post by krageon »

jrochkind1 wrote: post #21
svieira wrote: post #4

I have gone on Catholic retreats, which are similar to what I think you're talking about, but not identical. The point of a retreat is to spend time with the person you should love most of all, getting to know them better. Every retreat I have been on has been worth it. Some have been easier to see the benefits at once, others have benefits planted that are reaped later.

"The point of a retreat is to spend time with the person you should love most of all, getting to know them better." You're being too clever for me. Do you mean yourself? God? Your actual romantic partner?

Retreat-shaped vacations are usually about isolation. To a true believer, you are always with god. Therefore the only logical conclusion is that it is about you.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been on a meditation retreat? How has it changed your life?

#37

Post by lewispollard »

_Nat_ wrote: post #5

> Have you been on a retreat? If so how was it and would you go again. If not and you are interested in one - what has prevented you thus far? I haven't been on one. I'm not really interested in doing one so much as curious about why other folks do. I mean, don't get me wrong -- meditation itself is an incredibly powerful, basic tool that a lot of people need. This is, it's kinda like a hammer or screw driver in that…

The most experienced meditation practitioners in the world regularly do retreats, so it's not about just connecting beginners with practice. It's about immersion. Are you going to learn French better by reading some books, or by going to France and living there for a while, using the language for practical purposes all day every day?

> What might people share of meditation, given that it's such a personal experience?

This is a question of phenomenology. If you can accurately describe your perceptual experience to someone who's very experienced, they can offer guidance. There are many common experiences to people practicing similar techniques (of which there are many). Those experiences tend to follow a pretty well defined pattern within each tradition.

Generally speaking, if your practice involves building a very strong, relaxed, equanimous type of concentration, and using that concentration to deconstruct your survival mechanism of the experience of self and world, doing that for 8-12 hours a day every day while maintaining silence and doing basically nothing else besides walking and sleeping is going to be more conducive to that than practicing less intensively at home, with all of the distractions that regular life has built in. That's not to say it's impossible to do that on your own, but a retreat is built for it.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been on a meditation retreat? How has it changed your life?

#38

Post by ghthor »

asark wrote: post #11
dangus wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree on the idea of these sort of things feeling like a "book club." A recent example that worked for me: I took a short vacation by myself. I went to one event I wanted to see, and then for the rest of the time I had zero plans. Basically, I walked around the beach, walked around town, ate food, and that was it. Was it mindful meditation? Not really. But the effects were the same or similar. I think some people s…

> Was it mindful meditation? Not really. But the effects were the same or similar. I do have a suspicion that a not-small portion of the benefits of a meditation retreat is more about the retreating than the meditation. I'd probably feel "OMG I haven't felt this good in years" amazing after 10 days away from electronics and family & work obligations, even if I just read books and napped and took nature walks the whol…

There's no reason that reading books, taking naps and nature walks couldn't be meditating as well. Meditation is about consciously moving your awareness into your higher self. And while some styles of meditation are good at teaching you what this looks and feels like, they are not the only way to achieve the "meditation" state of mind.

The highest level meditation is one that creates no separation between the physical reality and the higher self. A completely open stream of consciousness that allows the physical self to be happy with whatever physical reality is, at any given moment in time. That generally doesnt look like a retreat, instead it's a relaxed advance, an acceptance of what is, an engagement with the world around you, be that a good book or a nice walk through the earths natural creation, or a nice refreshing nap with a trip to the dreamlands.

Re: Ask HN: Have you been on a meditation retreat? How has it changed your life?

#40

Post by gradschool »

justaguyhere wrote: post #17
FlyingSideKick wrote: post #10

Yes. I have been lucky enough to attend two Theravada retreats in Thailand. However, the practice of daily meditation and adherence to the 5 precepts (not taking life, not stealing, not engaging in false speech, not engaging in sexual misconduct, not taking intoxicants) plus practicing loving-kindness to all beings is far more life-changing than attending a retreat every once in a while. Daily meditation especially v…

Any recommendations on books on Vipassana?

https://vipassana-for-hackers.org/
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