10 Day Silent Meditation Retreat - Stop the monkey brain!

Hey guys, I’m getting ready to embark on the hardest journey of my life. Hardest than pick up, harder than anything I’ve ever had to do.

Ten days of Silence. Tens days of shutting off my monkey brain. Ten days of no sex, for being a better man for the rest of my life.

It’s called a Meditation Retreat. Where for ten days, I learn how to stop thinking, and just be. Honestly, this is my biggest weakness and biggest strength in life at the same time. I think too damn much. It would be easier for me to be dropped off in the middle of the ghetto wearing nothing but “I hate negros” t-shirt or even in the middle of the jungle like on Lost than it will be for me to not talk, and not think for ten days. Ten days of vegetarian food, nothing to eat after noon or at night, a wooden pillow, no reading, writing, talking or even thinking. Oh my Buddha this is going to be difficult.

But I know this is something that I need. This is something that if I can make it through, will change my life for the rest of my life. So see you guys in twelve days, and wish me good luck.

Here’s the website and info if you’re curious or interested: http://www.suanmokkh-idh.org


DAILY SCHEDULE

04.00AM *** Wake up ***Monastery bell
04.30 Morning Reading
04.45 Sitting meditation
05.15 Yoga / Exercise
07.00 *** Dhamma talk & Sitting meditation
08.00 Breakfast & Chores
10.00 *** Dhamma talk
11.00 Walking or standing meditation
11.45 *** Sitting meditation
12.30 Lunch & chores
14.30 *** Meditation instruction & Sitting meditation
15.30 Walking or standing meditation
16.15 *** Sitting meditation
17.00 *** Chanting & Loving Kindness meditation
18.00 Tea & hot springs
19.30 *** Sitting meditation
20.00 Group walking meditation
20.30 *** Sitting meditation
21.00 *** Bedtime
(the gates will be closed at 21.15)
21.30 *** LIGHTS OUT


RULES:

• Keep complete silence throughout the retreat

• Stay within the boundaries of the retreat center;

• Keep the Eight Precepts, which are:
1. intend not to take away any breath (abstain from killing)
2. intend not to take away what is not given (abstain from stealing)
3. intend to keep one’s mind and one’s body free from any sexual activity
4. intend not to harm others by speech
5. intend not to harm one’s consciousness with substances that intoxicate and lead to carelessness (no alcohol, no drugs, no smoking etc)
6. intend not to eat between after noon and before dawn
7. intend not to dance, sing, play or listen to music, watch shows, wear
garlands, ornaments and beautify oneself with perfumes and cosmetics
8. intend not to sleep or sit on luxurious beds and seats.

This is the moral code for those who seek normalcy plus lightness and simplicity in living.

Warm Regards,

Johnny Wolf

Best of luck Johnny, but you won't need it.


Just be present.

It took me ten days of 'not thinking' to figure these things out. I am greatly honored to be able to share my experience with all of my friends and loved ones. Please read the following mindfully, as they were life changing revelations I discovered.

1. Being alone isn't the same as loneliness.

If you can't eat alone in a public restaurant, or find yourself reaching for your cell phone or something to do anytime you're waiting and standing or sitting alone, you were just like me and everyone else in society. We always have to look busy, or be doing something, or with someone. Why? Can't we just be?

2. There are Two types of Happiness - and most of us only know the first.

The first type of happiness is through stimulation - Doing something, eating something, buying something or having something that makes us happy. Some external factor, whether it is music, a friend, or something is the source of our smiles. Whether it talking to someone, listening to your favorite song, eating food food, or even hanging out with friends. These aren't bad things, but it makes us depenant.

The second type of happiness is just being. It took me 13 days to finally just be able to sit, alone, at a restaurant, doing nothing, thinking about nothing, looking forward to nothing, just to be able to smile and realize that I'm happy, just because.

3. Our possessions posses Us -

Before moving to Koh Tao, I was in a car dealership trying to figure out a monthly payment to buy a new corvette. If I had been able to afford it, I would have been stuck paying $800 a month for the next four years, and would never have been able to travel.

The $800 Louis Vuitton Handbag is the same price as a round trip plane ticket and a few days of expenses in Paris. yet, I know 20 girls with LV bags, and only 1 that has ever been.

4. The Duty of Effort is today, and even tomorrow we may die -

Whatever our Duty, Job, or Chore is to do, instead of trying to rush through it to empty our inbox, we should realize that our inbox will never be empty, even when we die. So we might as well enjoy the act of working by doing it mindfully and live in the moment, enjoying every minute of it.

5. We are fine exactly the way we are -

Whoever we are, is okay. if we can't even love ourselves, how can we expect others to love us?

6. When we get angry at someone, or something, it hurts us more than it hurts them.

It's funny that we can relive angry moments that happened years in the past so easily. We can bring them up in our minds and feel hatred and anger as if it was happening to us today. Friends may come and go, but enemy's accumulate. By being mad at someone, does it hurt us more than it hurts them? The answer is definetely yes, so why do that to ourselves? We need to just let go and let karma take over.

7. Material things can never make us happy as they are fleeting -

Every time I buy something, before I buy it, in the days, hours or months I dream about it, I smile. But soon after I have it, the smile disappears and I want something else. Expensive things cause more stress in life, and we really don't need it.

When I drove a Porsche, I always had to put the top up so people wouldn't fuck with it. Everyone I met assumed I was a pompous, spoiled asshole. People expected and treated me differently, and not in a good way. The only thing to do to make myself feel better was think of them as jealous, or envious, but that never made me happy. Everyone would ask why I didn't buy the 911 Turbo instead. No one was ever happy for me to have acquired my dream car, and my dream turned out not to be what I expected. When I drove my Celica, Miata, or even my 87' Nissan, I was happy and no one ever treated me with ill will.

So why do we think luxurious things, expensive things can make us happy? Is it because we want to fit in, or is it because we want to have what others have? Or even worse, is it because we want what others don't have? Either way, I finally realized that I don't need it.

There is actually very little we need in life, and the most basic things are, the happier and more free we become.


My final thoughts:

If you agreed with any of the above or learned anything from it, please do yourself a favor and realize that the worst thing we could do is simply read it, nod our heads and then never think about it again. Even worse is reading it and saying to yourself, oh I already know this.

It took me 10 days of living it, to realize it for myself and have it really settle in and will try to do my best everyday for the rest of my life to remember these things I've learned and actually live them.

Thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts and about my experience.

Holy smokes Johnny, that was an awesome thought provoking post.

great post Johnny!

i can't believe im just reading this thread now. great post!

Awesome description! Thank you, Jonny. Was thinking should I go this year or next for the silent meditation... After reading about your experience - will do it next month!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8s28jxGn ... B024492732

Thanks for sharing the mindful experience with us Johnny.

Where do I go to do something like this? they have meditation retreats in Australia taught by white dudes who have done a pilgrimage to Asia and been practising for many years. But I rather go to Japan, Tibet or some place like Nepal.