What kind of meditation retreat, and how long should it be, to de-stress from an extremely intense job?
Filed Under (Mental Health) by admin on 10-12-2009
mlw11743 asked:
I have meditated before but I need more depth over a sustained period of time.
I have meditated before but I need more depth over a sustained period of time.
I’m seeing a psychologist for stress and resulting depression, and he is very supportive of a meditation retreat. He recommends 3-5 days, not the 10 day vipasanna type right now.
This would also be best located in the New York-New England area.
Thanks.
A man goes to a shop, picks up a beautiful cup and says “my god this cup is so beautiful” and suddenly the cup starts talking to the man. The cup starts saying “O man, I am beautiful right now, but what was the state of my being before the pot-maker made me a beautiful pot?
Before I was sheer mud and the pot-maker pulled me out of the mud from the mother earth and I felt why that pot-maker is so cruel, he has separated me from mother earth. I felt a tremendous pain. And the pot-maker said, “Just wait.” Then he put me and churned me, when I was churned I felt so giddy, so painful, so stressful, I asked the pot-maker “Why are you so cruel?” the pot-maker said, “Just wait.” Then he put me into a oven and heated me up, I felt completely burnt. There was tremendous pain and I asked the pot-maker “Why are you so cruel?” and the pot-maker said, “Just wait.”
Then he poured hot paint on me and I felt the fume and the pain, I again asked the pot-maker “Why are you so cruel?” and the pot-maker said, “Just wait.” Then again he put me into an oven and heated it to make me more strong, I felt life is so painful hence pleaded the pot-maker and the pot-maker said, “Just wait.” And after that the pot-maker took me to the mirror and said, “Now look at yourself”. And surprisingly I found myself so beautiful.
When god gives us lot of trouble, it appears god is very cruel but we need patience and we have to wait. When bad things happen to good people, they become better and not bitter.
So all difficulties are part of a cosmic design to make us really beautiful. We need patience, we need understanding, we need the commitment to go through in a very calm and wise way. So all difficulties are not to tumble us but to humble us.
With this understanding, let us not be against difficulty. Understand difficulty is a part of a purifying process. A purifying process at present which we cannot understand and hence we need faith and we need trust.
Let us understand how to handle stress with this background. You can be affected by stress from two angles. There is an internal stress and there is an external stress. Nobody can avoid stress; one has to only manage stress. Managing stress can be internal and also external.
The internal stress is; your thoughts can create stress, your values can create stress, and your beliefs can create stress, meaning thereby your stress is coming from your mind more from the outer world. Many people suffer not from heart attack – they suffer from thought-attack.
For example, when somebody says you are an idiot, we get so hurt, we get so victimised. My boss has called me an idiot and I am feeling tremendous pain. Now where does this stress come from? If my boss has called me an idiot, I have to ask myself “am I an idiot”?
If I am an idiot nothing to be upset about; and if I am not an idiot, then also nothing to be upset about! It is the perception of the boss. But why do we suffer from that stress? I suffer not because my boss has called me an idiot but because of the thought-attack.
I may say the boss has called me an idiot; therefore I am suffering? It is true that the words are unpleasant. But what hurts is the interpretation of the unpleasant word. The thought in me interprets. That is pain and therefore it becomes pain. Much of our stress is our mind interpreting it as pain. So we suffer from thought-attack more than heart attack.
I have been involved in Siddha Yoga as founded by Swami Muktananda since 1976. (you can find out much doing searches on-line) Followers refer to him as Baba. Baba was a remarkable, powerful , omniscient guru, revered by many and highly respected, even by other gurus. He set up ashrams and meditation centers World over and Siddha Yoga Dham Ashram is the headquarters and main retreat in US. It’s in South Fallsburg, New York State. Also there’s a branch in New York. Baba set up 2 day Intensive retreats which were an excellent in depth means of learning and deepening mediation and other practices. Many people found an intensive was most beneficial for relief from stress and enabled them to learn deep meditation techniques that they could then practice on their own. You can also stay in the Ashram for longer periods prior to and after an intensive. I had followed many spiritual paths and pursued various yogas before meeting Baba and this was the one yoga I found to be the most profound, most healing and transforming.