This weekend (7/27-7/29) I went to the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies for a meditation retreat. Nena suggested I go as a 61st birthday present. I have wanted to visit BCBS for over a year because it is an important center for Buddhist studies and it is so close. Mark Hart teaches there and many of the members of the Bodhisara community attend workshops and retreats at BCBS, and the Insight Meditation Society campus, which is associated with BCBS, is close by.
The retreat I picked to attend was titled “Learning Meditation from Within” by Jason Siff. The catalog description was intriguing, but I really did not know what to expect during the weekend.
Learning meditation from within one’s experience of meditation requires looking at what goes on in one’s meditation sitting more carefully and thoroughly. . . to increase discernment and investigation, and to examine the various conceptual frameworks we bring to our meditation practice.
By the end of the weekend I was wishing there was more time to sit and talk with Jason about not only my meditation practice, but about what ever came up in the conversation. Jason was able to point me in a direction that Mark had started. Neither of them “teach” a meditation technique. Both Jason and Mark are along for the ride and act as conductors to make sure you are comfortable and answer questions about the passing scenery. Jason spoke directly to the idea of the meditation teacher as a guide. He does not want to lead people, but he feels he can help mediators find their way.
The first evening Jason said that the narratives we have going on are important and to trying and stop them should not be the purpose of meditation. Like Mark, Jason wants to hear about your meditation experience and then asks questions that can help you find deeper meanings in the experience. I now feel empowered to directly look at my thoughts as I meditate and examine what is behind the thoughts.
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August 26th, 2007 at 9:26 pm
Hi,
I heard Dewitt Jones tell a story about going to a meditation retreat. The teacher noticed him struggling and took him aside. “I am going to teach you a special meditation. It’s called the ‘one breath’ meditiation.”
Dewitt was thrilled to be getting this special attention.
The teacher continued, “Here’s how it is done. You take it all in, iike this”, and he breathed in; “and you let it all out, like this”; and he breathed out.
Dewitt is a photographer for National Geographic and says this simple explanation has been guiding him ever since. Take in all you can and give it all back. We are programmed for it in every breath.
I think it’s a beautiful way to think about meditation, our breath, and our lives.
pete