Posts in silent retreat
5 THINGS I WISH I HAD KNOWN WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, PART II

Have you ever felt disconnected from the people around you? You might have spent years, even decades with friends and suddenly you feel that the connection is not there anymore? Well, you are not alone. Know that this is normal. Some relationships just fade slowly over time. Others have an abrupt ending.

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5 THINGS THAT I WISH I HAD KNOWN WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER, PART I

Over the past few months I have been working on a program focused on helping youth. This has encouraged me to reflect on my life, from my early childhood to now. What I am certain of is that I have learned “life” the hard way. In my teenage years I had no mentors, coaches, or role models, and I was living with neglectful and unavailable parents. I know that there are many young people out there living in similar situations. They try the best they can to figure out how life works, to make sense of what is happening to them, and to find a way to break the cycle to get the life that they want.

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THE QUEST: WHO AM I? HOW TO GET OUT OF MISERY AND UNHAPPINESS

I spent a few days at a seminar learning about how to gain mastery of the mind based on the teachings of Gotama Siddhartha. During many days of discourse and countless hours of work on the mind-body, we came to a section where we talked about who we are. What is the essence of a human being; basically, who am I? Gotama’s explanation hit home. I finally understood how, as a species, we can define the “I”. It really helped me to understand how my mind works and how I react to certain events in life. Everything was making sense; simple to understand...

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VIPASSANA MEDITATION: 5 BENEFITS OF TAKING AN ANNUAL OFF-GRID RETREAT IN SILENCE

Imagine… spending 20 hours a day with your eyes closed. You sit for 13 hours meditating, three of them without moving even a toe, and one hour led in discourse by a teacher. You will receive two meals a day, one at 6:30 am and one at 11 am. You will sleep on a wooden plank with a small mattress and a pillow. You will have no phone, computer or other electronic devices and no books to read, paper to write on, or journaling. You will respect Noble Silence which means no talking, no looking at other people, no interaction with others or the outside world in any form. This day I am describing, you will repeat it 10 times. Could you do it?

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