Have you rver had some? How did you overcome those bad experiences? I'm posting my experience hoping that those of you with more experience can give me some advice. I tried a 10-day Vipassana retreat and I couldn't finish it it was an amazing (and tough) experience while it lasted, but I had to leave on the 7th day because I had a case of tinnitus (a constant high-pitch "beeeeeeeep" in my right ear) for a few days that was driving me crazy. I also had some sort of panic/anxiety attack (something I hadn't had before) at night. When I left I felt badly because it was really working for me and I felt i had been doing some progress. The next few days back to civilization I felt so much better, I felt great, happier, more social, etc. but with the lack of continuous practice that slowly faded away. I want to try it again, but I'm afraid pf having another attack like I did before. I tried another kind of meditation: Raja Yoga that was being taught for free close to where I live. I went to a couple classes and I didn't like it and that kept me from really getting into it. I felt like there was too much focus on the idea that "this is THE KING of all yoga/meditation." And there was no meditation at all, it was just lessons about thoughts and behaviour patterns we have in our everyday life, a lot about empowerment and stuff like that, which is useful, but no meditation whatsoever other than listening to a 3-minute long piece of music. Plus the whole class had a "group therapy" athmosphere... talking about what problems you had, how you reacted, what bothers you, etc... So, it just didn't feel right for me. Have you had similar experiences? How do you think I should proceed? Peace.
i too had been to vipaasana. but it really worked for me....till day....i love that experience...i went back for a 3 days course.... and it was good again... never had a bad experience. but now i dont go...because i cannot separate myself from guitar.... and its a bit hard to do that...for vipassana...though i wish to donate a big amout to vipassana...someday (when i earn) for making lives better.... to you i would suggest that....you should try that vipassana meditation starting with 15 minutes a day......and after a month increase it to 20 min. and so on...and after you are habituate of sitting for atleast an hour a day....you revisit the course... hope it helps... love peace
Thanks bud! The experience was amazing while it lasted, after the first day I didn't have much problem with sitting for a long periods of time. I'd love to do it again, but it's a bit hard to get 10 days to do it (disconnect from wprk and "responsibilities"). I think I'll do what you suggest, maybe start with Anapana for a couple weeka to get used again to the technique and then try Vipassana at home after that. Peace!
I have done a few vipassana courses and they can be tough going to the beginner. I found my first one very tough and when I finished vowed would never go back but a year later was there again and haven't looked back since. Give it some time and try again if you can and speak to your assistant teacher of how your feeling to be guided through difficult periods Good Luck Metta:sunny:
meditation is both a simple and complex subject for me over the course of a lifetime, at times going on retreats and at other times going down the path of substance abuse - often both concurrently, i discovered one thing which works for me instead of striving for perfection i try to start right where i am, and if i can only meditate five minutes a day then that's okay, it's better than nothing any practice is better than nothing any good better than any bad you can only put a bit of good, or a bit of meditation into your life that's better than nothing meditation is like we have always been taught to walk and run but never to stand meditation is like allowance, retreat, forgiveness, healing - the meditation is the method - the reality is oneself - one word of advice is to remember to enter the stream, and when you are in it you will not know that there isn't a stream anywhere - which is to say that only when you are on shore do you think of all the pretty little places and think they are all different destinations, all so cute on the riverfront, but once you are wet then you know what water is - it doesn't belong to the cute little places
Don't overdo it. Those Vipassana retreats are intense. You'll experience bliss but also purification which is not always comfortable. The tinnitus was probably an indicator to slow it down a bit. If you experience such things at home, do shorter sessions for a while.
I know exactly what you mean. After years of practice that was all happy joy peace sunshine, I began to feel a deep anixiety everytime I started to meditate. Forquite a while I gave up practicing and was the worse for it. Of late, I have started again, a little at atime, and found that the best way to overcome such negative feelings during meditation is to silently observe them without identifying with them or holding on to them. Meditation can bring up unaddressed fears because we are removing the layer of thought noise usually drowning them out. Observe them, breathe with them and allow them to dissolve naturally. This can take time, but it is very much worth it and will make your practice stronger, deeper and more rewarding in the long run.
that's an honest and different view of your web identity here for me. I had always thought you pretty straight up hindu type persona. I feel that since we all share this world, sometimes we also share in the worlds anxieties, especially if we have been clearing stress through meditation, prayer and other spiritual means. sometimes I think we tap into collective fear and it so happens that it's our job to uplift it into the empty space where it ceases - in the sense of burning seeds of samskara, or uprooting vritti. have you tried owning any rudraksha bhaskar?
Wow, thanks a lot for your comments! I've started doing it again, just going one step at a time and it's been easier and the anxiety I feel is not as overwhelming. I'd like to do a vipassana retreat again later once I'm more comfortable with this and I can manage to go through it without having such a hard and heavy load of emotional weight
