| meditation retreat and buddhism |
[May. 8th, 2009|02:07 am] |
i was really excited about my one week meditation retreat, i was waiting for the email for the details and it finally came today but right now im just so nervous. we will be staying in the monastery and thus has to stick by the monastery rules and take a few precepts which some may consider harsh like sleeping on the floor with sleeping bag, no food after 1pm, all vegetarian, no unnecessary talking or entertainment, waking up at 5 and just meditating most of the time for the whole week. the reason behind the decision to go is of course to learn meditation and to achieve inner peace, yet i am afraid of not being able to do well in the retreat, meaning not be able to focus, not being able to keep a still mind, not being able to keep the precepts and stuffs. oh well oh well, hopefully i would get to really experience the beauty of stillness and peace, else, it is still a great opportunity to learn, like finally, im right in front of the door and about to step in to really practising buddhism, maybe that is what makes me so nervous, for i have heard a lot about what is going on behind the door but have not experienced it for myself.
on another note, people gain insights from deep meditation, i have heard, some can even track past lives, experience out of body experience and stuffs, but that shall not be the goal of meditation and that only happens when you are in really deep meditation anyway. the real purpose is to calm the mind, to give the mind a break, to stop the mind from running around and to observe the mind and thus to be more mindful in our everyday lives. buddhism emphasises mindfulness a lot in practice. it is used to practise good deed, speech and mind, to realise the full consequences of the things we do(where morality comes from), and to gain wisdom.
three things real buddhists value: wisdom, compassion and peace of mind. these are represented by the triple gem; the Buddha, the Dhamma (teachings of the Buddha) and the Sangha (the buddhist community, monks, nuns and followers). The Buddha represents peace (the reason why some non-buddhists put buddha statues/paintings at homes) , dhamma/the teachings represent wisdom and the Sangha represents compassion. This is the true meaning of buddhists taking refuge in the triple gem. I have taken refuge some time ago last year but have not understood it till like maybe this year.
There is a lot of superstitions covering the beauty of buddhism, too many people do not understand the real buddhism. Buddhism is not about worshipping the Buddha because he is the one with the power to change lives, bowing to the Buddha infinity times does not grant your wish, the Buddha is a teacher, bowing is a show of respect for the wisdom, the peace and the compassion/loving kindness. He is enlightened because he understands life perfectly and has escaped from suffering through his wisdom, as according to the Buddha, life is suffering, suffering is not accepting things to be this way, not being content which what a lot of us are, people who are ignorant suffer because they expect what life can never give them, which is the everlasting of good times and the absence of bad times. All the good times and all the bad times always come to an end, we therefore should not cling to or become attached to them. This is where letting go comes, letting go of desires to be free of suffering.
i can't believe i just wrote all that, but that is what i understand from buddhism and there is still a lot more, but that shall be it for now. hehe. im far from being enlightened or anything like that, but i would say the teachings have made me a wiser person and tho it doesnt eliminate, it lessens suffering. i started writing because i was worried about my retreat, in the end, i get reminded about why buddhism appeals to me and i feel so much more at ease now. hehe. sooo i hope you gain something from reading this, or at least know what it is about if you don't already. goodnight y'all,with much much metta (love in Pali). <3 |
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