JohnRogers in response to BenoitCouture

January 5, 2007, Cyfranogi

Interesting.

I too attended a 10 day Vipassana retreat about 10 years ago.

It was a deeply challenging and stretching experience. Total silence, no books, writing, talking, radio or contact with others and meditation 10 hours a day for 10 days. It does indeed teach you to strip everything down to the breath and the basic experience of the senses as they are.

I am now studying The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by a great teacher of Tibetan Buddhism, Sogyal Rinpoche. In it he teaches how important it is to transfer the experience of mindfulness during meditation into real life. He describes how many of us Westerners can practice meditation for years and then complain that they don't feel different in daily life. In fact every second is meditation if you practice awareness. And it isn't easy!

And meditation and the Buddhist awareness of craving, aversion and illusion (or delusion) is useful to everyone, whether they believe in any other philosophy or religion or not.

Glad you have decided to stay with us Benoit!