Based on feedback from previous retreats, we thought it important to explain the structure of our retreats and give you an opportunity to understand what to expect when attending a retreat at the Buddhavipassana Meditation Centre. To be clear, the retreat will be an individual practice without group sessions (except the first lesson). You will meet with your teacher to receive feedback and to ask questions once per day. For the remainder of the day, you will be required to follow the instructions as provided by your teacher, from 4 A.M. to 10 P.M., practicing rounds of meditation independently and individually ( not in group sessions) according to the instructions, taking breaks as necessary throughout the day to eat or drink or use the washroom.
In the beginning, rounds of meditation last about 25 minutes but may increase according to discussions with your teacher. If this is not suitable for you, you may request a cancelation and we will be happy to provide a refund if you do so at least one (1) week before the start of your retreat. The following is required reading before the retreat. I explain why this type of retreat is a genuine reflection of the Buddha’s teaching.
The purpose of insight meditation is to learn how each of us can overcome our own individual suffering. Before practicing insight meditation, we may have adopted a variety of different methods to temporarily distract ourselves from the dissatisfactory aspects of our lives. Some use work and worldly pursuits, others use TV, books, movies going to shows or lectures. Such an approach requires a variety of experience to avoid boredom which is just a constant reshuffling of the deck and of little use to those of us with genuine spiritual aspirations.
Suffering will persist despite our efforts to evade it if we are not using the correct method to overcome our desires. Our emotional difficulties do not arise primarily because of external factors, although external factors can exacerbate the condition. The root cause of suffering, is spiritual, i.e., based on internal factors. Ironically, we suffer because of the fact that we are always looking for external inputs and validation. In his first words after enlightenment, the Buddha made this abundantly clear:
“There are these two extremes that are not to be indulged in by one who has gone forth. Which two? That which is devoted to sensual pleasure with reference to sensual objects: base, vulgar, common, ignoble, unprofitable; and that which is devoted to self-affliction: painful, ignoble, unprofitable. Avoiding both of these extremes, the middle way realized by the Tathagata — producing vision, producing knowledge — leads to calm, to direct knowledge, to self-awakening, to Unbinding.”
Therefore, escape from suffering requires that the meditation student, him or herself, consciously choose a middle path. No teacher can make that choice for a student.
The magic of the Buddha’s discovery is that once we train the mind to look inwards, suffering will begin to cease. Real happiness is happiness from the inside without external conditions. With patience and proper training, it will not matter whether the meditation practice is done individually or in a group session, whether the scenery is attractive or dreary or whether we have one teacher or four different teachers over the length of the course. More importantly, real happiness will not end with the ending of the retreat or with separation from the teacher. We can take it into our daily lives and make use of it continually guided by our own heart and wisdom.
Therefore, the path that seeks external validation will only distract us from the work that is needed to be happy. For this reason, we follow the authentic Northern Thai tradition precisely as taught by meditation master Ajahn Tong Sirimangalo, and by the Buddha himself, in the structure of our meditation retreat. While surrounded by others for most of the retreat, students conduct their own individual practice on their own schedule with no social interaction. As noted above, there is only one group session at the beginning of the retreat. After that group session, you will meet with your teacher alone for a short period each day. By training in this way, using our own body and mind as the meditation object, we can realize through our own direct experience the Insight that can arise into the true nature of reality. It is impossible to gain this type of experiential wisdom through lectures or discussion. In conclusion, we hope that by pursuing this authentic Northern Thai Vipassana training, you meet with real happiness as soon as possible and we look forward welcoming you to your retreat.