Meditation

Meditation is a journey of self-discovery, where awareness and mindfulness are the tools. Awareness is a natural way of being, but it seems that we have forgotten how to be in the present moment. Often we escape from the present situation, by distracting ourselves with stories, busyness, temporary external pleasures.

In meditation we relearn how to pay attention to what is here and now, creatively engaging with all our experience as it arises.

By becoming aware we give ourselves the choice to act differently, as we begin to see our reactive habits and patterns. Not because we blame or condemn, but because we realise ways of being that are more nourishing and fulfilling, more aligned to our true nature.

Meditation is sometimes called food for the spirit, and at Passaddhi and at the other centres in Ireland offering retreats. This nourishing aspect of the meditation can be experienced by all, beginners or non-beginners. Although the meditation practices are Buddhist in origin, one does not need to be a Buddhist to benefit from meditation, nor is there anything in these teachings that urges one to convert to Buddhism. As the Buddha said: ‘Come and see, find out for yourself if these practices lead to greater happiness.’

Meditation can bring relaxation and freedom from stress, but it goes much deeper than this. In the quiet and ease of meditation a deep sense of peace can develop, a peace that is sometimes called ‘more peaceful than peace itself’.

The quiet and peacefulness of Passaddhi (passaddhi means ‘peace and tranquility’) is the perfect environment to experience the ease and calm the meditation practice can bring. Because Passaddhi Meditation Centre is really just an ordinary house, a retreat here helps to integrate mindfulness and awareness in our everyday lives.

On Retreat 

For many centuries people have been going on retreat. Great teachers like Jesus, Mohammed and Buddha did so, but even today many people feel the need to withdraw for a while from their everyday concerns.

When attending a retreat we might be motivated by various factors. Some people come because they are exhausted, or want to cope with a great loss. Others want to learn to deal with persistent gloominess or with chronic pain; or they just want some rest. Others might not experience any specific difficulties but are looking for deeper meaning and wisdom in the midst of the chaos of everyday life.

All these motivating factors have one basic truth in common: in one way or another we experience the imperfection and unsatisfactoriness of existence, and this causes us to look for inner spaciousness and freedom. A meditation retreat is a wonderful opportunity to do this, as if offers a conducive environment for developing insight into ourselves, and inner freedom. 

Mindfulness 

In a vipassana or mindfulness retreat the emphasis is on developing mindfulness. It is an intensive training: cultivating the capacity for awareness and acknowledging in a non-judgemental way what is happening in and around us in the present moment. We take a break, as it were, from everyday life, where the emphasis is more on doing and achieving; we develop the art of being with what is. To help this capacity for being present to flourish, usually some practical training guidelines are put in place. 

Silence 

Participants in a retreat are asked to be in silence as much as possible, and only to communicate when it is necessary. In the beginning meditators experience being together in silence as challenging and they need to get used to it, but at the end of a retreat most people say that they relished the silence. It seems that communicating takes an enormous amount of energy, more than we are usually aware of. Only by being silent can we experience what the Buddha called kaya-viveka: a calm oasis by way of bodily and verbal seclusion. It is also recommended not to make telephone calls or send text messages. As much as possible let go of all work-related activities and responsibilities during a retreat, and delegate your duties where possible. When confirming a booking for a retreat, we always give a contact number that can be called in case of emergencies at home or at work.

Retreatants are usually also advised not to read or write. Not because it is wrong, but primarily because we easily lose the connection with ourselves in such activities. Besides, we tend to start writing about something that happened previously, and so we lose the presence of mind that we are actually training in a retreat. 

Daily programme 

(This applies to 10-day retreats; weekend retreats are a lot less intensive.) We meditate according to a certain basic framework and participants are invited to follow a meditation schedule. Meditation teachers have their own way of drawing up a schedule. In Burmese meditation centres where insight meditation is practised according to the tradition of the Venerable Mahasi Sayadaw (a Burmese Buddhist monk who died at the end of the last century), the programme runs from early morning until late at night. It is a basic schedule where meditators are invited to live as simply as possible, so that they can follow a daily routine that is conducive to developing mindfulness. Walking and sitting meditation are alternated, and the other activities like eating, showering and going to the bathroom, are carried out slowly and in silence. We are invited to develop as much continuity as possible in being mindful, from the time we wake up until the time we go to sleep. Continuous mindfulness helps to nourish the meditative powers so that they become wholesome forces that lead to insight and purity of mind. 

On retreats in the West, the schedule is usually a bit lighter than in Southeast Asia, because in the West need quite some time to become balanced in their meditation practice. People who come on retreat are often extremely tired at the beginning, and in most retreats there are one or more participants with a physical difficulty. A retreat could have the following schedule: 

Retreat Schedule

6.00 am: wake up

6.30 am: walking meditation

7.00 am: sitting meditation

7.30 am: breakfast

8.00 am: informal meditation and/or working meditation

8.45 am: walking meditation

9.30 am: sitting meditation (with guidance)

10.15 am: walking meditation (with tea/coffee)

11.15 am: sitting meditation

12.00 pm: walking meditation

12.30 pm: sitting meditation

1.00 pm: lunch

1.45 pm:  informal meditation

2.45 pm: walking meditation

3.30 pm: sitting meditation

4.15 pm: walking meditation

5.00 pm: sitting meditation

5.45 pm: evening meal

6.30 pm: informal meditation

7.00 pm: walking meditation

7.45 pm: sitting meditation (with guidance, or Dhamma talk)

8.30 pm: walking meditation

9.15 pm: sitting meditation

10.00 pm: informal meditation and rest1 

After a few days – when the participants are a bit more rested – we might start a bit earlier in the morning, and the periods of informal meditation are shortened a bit, to encourage more continuity of mindfulness. On weekend retreats the schedule would be less intensive. 

Guided meditations and exchanges 

During retreats themes from the Buddha’s teachings and Buddhist psychology are elaborated on in the guided meditations or Dhamma talks. These guided sittings are used as a support for the meditators.

There is also the opportunity for participants to have individual exchanges about their meditation experiences with the teacher. This happens once a day, or every other day for more experienced practitioners. In this exchange, in Asia often called ‘interview’, the meditator reports to the meditation teacher, and is invited to give a short description of what they have experienced in the silence of the previous period. One is asked to relate in an objective way, almost like a laboratory technician, about experiences during the sitting meditation, but also during the walking meditation and the other activities during the day. These experiences concern the movements of the breath, physical sensations that were clearly there, thoughts, mental states or moods, and sensory impressions.

The exchanges between meditator and teacher are extremely beneficial and offer the opportunity for enhanced awareness and for continuous growth in mindfulness. 

Feedback 

The feedback below from participants shows that meditators experience a retreat as not easy, but yet as extremely insightful and enriching. 

‘It is amazing what happens in the silence between me and the other participants. I became aware of judging, criticising, projecting, analysing and many other similar tendencies, tendencies I was never so aware of before. Although these will also be there in daily life, except that I usually don’t notice them! I learn so much from this silence. And everything is allowed to be there; I only need to note them, and I feel free. What somebody else notices in me, he or she can use that as their meditation object. Fantastic, the space and freedom this offers.’ 

‘In the silence I could fee a great sense of connection … It touched me deeply and has made a lasting impression.’ 

1 Informal meditation means: walking, sitting or lying down meditation, doing prostration exercises, yoga, going for walk, taking a shower, doing tai chi or chores…, all of these with mindfulness and in silence!