Allow each thought to have its distance without angrily pushing it away, but at exactly the same time, shift your focus from what you thought about, or the content of thought, to the thought’s feeling. You may feel a tension so called thoughts, even believing. The tension could be discovered with some practice, although it’s subtle.
As the excellent spiritual teacher Eckhart Tolle says,”It isn’t life and death. It is death and birth. Birth and death are the two poles of life, which is eternal.” That realization , that Life is eternal is not something I’ve experienced . But there’s something about vipassana vipassana karnal retreats and the insights they bring that beginning to orient us towards a dimension beyond our thinking minds .
When a thought arises, label it”Thinking.” When a sensation arises, tag it”Feeling.” When a sound arises, tag it”Hearing.” Notice the way its capacity to distract you decreases. Do this and relentlessly bring your consciousnessback to your breath. There’s nowhere to go, nothing to do. Just sit, watching your breath. The key to freedom that is greater is the vipassana meditation dedication to return to awareness, over and over.
The following four days was hell for me because I could not find a comfortable seating position during mediation. The entire left side of my body from my hip down continued to fall asleep. I tried using several cushions, various dhamma positions and a box. I asked if I could try a pillow that had a support. It made a difference. I would suggest the first thing anyone does is find a position that is comfortable to sit in. I wish I’d have asked for the service the first day.
Discomfort: Does your back hurt? Perhaps it’s your neck like you can not get in a breath, or your breathing feels shallow. Maybe your foot fell asleep. It’s okay. Relax. Breathe into the place it’s tight or hurting, adjust your position and discreetly, especially if you are with others. Focus for a minute and do a relaxation technique. First, tighten up the distance, then with a deep out breath, mentally watch the tension disintegrate on the exhale. If your foot is asleep, bend your leg out in front of you and plant the sleeping foot so that you can flex it. As soon as you’ve worked through the discomfort come back to the breath or the word or the mantra.
But then something magical starts to occur. They start to unravel, by not responding to them. Tensions we have held for years begin to crumble. Our body softens. The painful sensations begin to turn to pleasurable sensations. And we have moments of great bliss. And what happens is we begin to crave them. However, those pleasurable moments, transformative and as powerful as they are, are temporary.
When I came, there were about 40 of us signing in, and receiving a orientation. Then we were taken to our rooms, which was rustic and simple but clean and nice. (girls in one half the construction, guys at the other) The communal bathrooms were in a building outside. It was spring, and the grounds were amazing.
BN: Yes, the Buddha did criticize the idea of the atma as a self. There is no inherent or essential soul, which is reborn. What does no-self or non-self mean? In the instruction of karma and no-self, there is no storage of your previous actions in some thing, but there is conditionality. There is a continuity that is caused, including the effects of your own intentionality. What you will has a consequence, a fruit (vipaka is the Pali term). So your actions may lead to a rebirth in this sense.