After yoga and Hinduism I decided to stay in a silent Buddhist retreat in Dharamsala, learning how to achieve enlightenment. Ideally I wanted to do Vipassana but the places were sold out and earlier in the year I was recommended that I do this in England because it would be more comfortable. So this Buddhist retreat, called Tushita, sounded like a good alternative, and was better in some ways because it was only 7 days long, so less intense for my first meditation retreat, and we would be allowed out of the camp to go to the Dali Lama's teachings which were happening at his temple on 3 days of the course. During the application process for Tushita I wrote that I had a physical disability but it didn't ask for any more information than that. On registration day, just before the rooms were allocated, with 125 people huddled around, the course administrator asked if anyone had any medical conditions and again, just like at the white water rafting over a year ago, and before the breakthrough of cycling naked, I didn't raise my hand or say anything. It's weird but I didn't think until later that I might have been able to bag myself a really nice room by speaking up. When I got to the room allocation desk I was probably about halfway down the list. I asked if I could get a bed 'close to a western style toilet' and thankfully there was still one bed left in the 'garden room' which only had 2 beds in it. When I got to the room, the other guy who'd got there first had taken the bed that was reasonably comfortable looking and I had to take the mattress that was sunk to nothing and as hard as wood to sleep on.
In the gompa, which is the name for the meditation room, there were a few chairs and I managed to bag one for the first session while everyone was still in the confusion of a new territory, however by the second session my chair had been taken and I was relegated to the more usual sitting position of crossed legs on a cushion on the floor. Spending 4 to 6 hours sitting on the floor is not easy, I'll tell you that, and after a few days it was pretty uncomfortable.
The morning and evening silent meditation classes were somewhat nerve wracking as well - 125 people in a silent room and I knew at any moment my stoma could make a loud farting noise! Thankfully there weren't any particularly embarrassing occasions but the anxiety was there most of those times, making it difficult to meditate effectively!
Despite these inconveniences I found it interesting that most of the time I spend at the retreat I felt somewhat contented and happy. This is prett unusual for me as am I often discontented or unhappy about something. I don't really know if it was the tranquil surroundings, the lazy days, or the fact that I could be around other people without being required to talk to them, that made me feel content but whatever it was, it was nice. Oh, and I enjoyed seeing and hearing the Dali Lama teach too, but I didn't really understand much of what he was saying, the main idea is that we should all be more compassionate to each other, which is something I can get on board with.
Next up, I'm heading back to Thailand for the Autumn/wintry months to get away from the cold and to do more kickboxing training.
In the gompa, which is the name for the meditation room, there were a few chairs and I managed to bag one for the first session while everyone was still in the confusion of a new territory, however by the second session my chair had been taken and I was relegated to the more usual sitting position of crossed legs on a cushion on the floor. Spending 4 to 6 hours sitting on the floor is not easy, I'll tell you that, and after a few days it was pretty uncomfortable.
The morning and evening silent meditation classes were somewhat nerve wracking as well - 125 people in a silent room and I knew at any moment my stoma could make a loud farting noise! Thankfully there weren't any particularly embarrassing occasions but the anxiety was there most of those times, making it difficult to meditate effectively!
Despite these inconveniences I found it interesting that most of the time I spend at the retreat I felt somewhat contented and happy. This is prett unusual for me as am I often discontented or unhappy about something. I don't really know if it was the tranquil surroundings, the lazy days, or the fact that I could be around other people without being required to talk to them, that made me feel content but whatever it was, it was nice. Oh, and I enjoyed seeing and hearing the Dali Lama teach too, but I didn't really understand much of what he was saying, the main idea is that we should all be more compassionate to each other, which is something I can get on board with.
Next up, I'm heading back to Thailand for the Autumn/wintry months to get away from the cold and to do more kickboxing training.
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