You know how sometimes you come across a thought or an idea and it’s something you became intensely interested in at one point but then completely forgot about and now you are even more enamoured of it and you wonder how you could have ever let it drop in the first place? Yeah? Me too.
A couple of years ago, my then massage therapist told me of a silent meditation retreat about 2 hours north of Chez Badass, called Vipassana. I was intrigued and looked it up. And I kept returning to the site and tried to imagine partaking.
- 10 days without speaking
- 10 days of eating only 2 vegetarian meals per day
- 10 days without reading or writing or being connected to the web
- 10 days of being alone with your thoughts
Number 3 freaked me out the most, I will confess – followed closely by Number 2. For whatever reason(s) – probably because I was neck-deep in home renovations and MBA shit at the time – I dropped the idea and it was forgotten.
Fast forward to today: I am in the middle of reading an excellent book, called Why Buddhism is True: The Science and Philosophy of Enlightenment, by Robert Wright. (You had me at science, Bob.)
And guess what, ol’ Bob here is all about the Vipassana Retreat! The dream has been re-awakened!
I’m no longer as concerned about items 2 and 3. I think I can handle it, she writes with more confidence than she actually feels.
I have added another concern to the list, though:
5. 10 days of sitting on a cushion on the floor for hours at a time.
Last night I tried meditating – cross-legged on my bed – for five – only five – minutes, and my body complained LOUDLY the whole damn time. Who knew you had to get into shape to sit still? Hehehehe.
Realizing my Vipassana dream is still a few years away, I have decided. I don’t think it is something I will apply for before retirement from work. But I know now that it is something I WILL do.
Rock on,
The WB
