One can say that all our reactive mental suffering is a product of our insistence on taking everything personal – what’s happening in the world around us, what’s happening with our bodies, and what’s occurring in our hearts and minds. We try to own it all. When it comes to our external reality, we ask, “why are these people messing up my world?” When there is sadness, we regard it as my sadness. When there is anxiety, it is my anxiety. When there is pain, it is my pain, and when there is death, it will become my death.
The Buddha discovered that this is all due to a fundamental misperception, and that nothing whatsoever is personal. The more we can align ourselves with this truth, the lighter the world becomes and the more skillfully we are able to move through it. With our insight practice, we are cultivating the ability to ultimately see and confirm this truth for ourselves, and in the meantime, to notice when personalization is occurring in the heart and mind, seeing the suffering accompanying that personalization, and releasing it.
In this half-day retreat, practitioners will be encouraged to bring mindfulness to the arising of this persistent, and often “invisible,” mental habit while also noticing any shifts that occur when subtle personalizing thoughts are abandoned.
This retreat is open to both beginners and experienced meditators. While it will be conducted mainly in silence, there will be brief instructions in vipassana meditation available, an introductory Dhamma talk, and a discussion period at the end.
One can say that all our reactive mental suffering is a product of our insistence on taking everything personal – what’s happening in the world around us, what’s happening with our bodies, and what’s occurring in our hearts and minds. We try to own it all. When it comes to our external reality, we ask, “why are these people messing up my world?” When there is sadness, we regard it as my sadness. When there is anxiety, it is my anxiety. When there is pain, it is my pain, and when there is death, it will become my death.
The Buddha discovered that this is all due to a fundamental misperception, and that nothing whatsoever is personal. The more we can align ourselves with this truth, the lighter the world becomes and the more skillfully we are able to move through it. With our insight practice, we are cultivating the ability to ultimately see and confirm this truth for ourselves, and in the meantime, to notice when personalization is occurring in the heart and mind, seeing the suffering accompanying that personalization, and releasing it.
In this half-day retreat, practitioners will be encouraged to bring mindfulness to the arising of this persistent, and often “invisible,” mental habit while also noticing any shifts that occur when subtle personalizing thoughts are abandoned.
This retreat is open to both beginners and experienced meditators. While it will be conducted mainly in silence, there will be brief instructions in vipassana meditation available, an introductory Dhamma talk, and a discussion period at the end.