Noble silence
This weekend I'm going on a meditation retreat in the Berkshire Mountains where I will be without any electronics and all who attend are asked to engage in "a noble silence." This also includes minimal eye contact. What is the purpose of all this? I will be practicing mindfulness and learning how to stay in the present moment without the usual distractions from everyday life - messages, conversation, email etc. Okay, I thought, I'll relinquish all conversation and electronics. Then I also learned that there shall be no books or other reading material, nor journals or writing, just complete focus on the now.
Going without conversation is absolutely fine with me. Although I can talk the paint off the walls with anyone and my friends and I usually do, I only like to talk when I want to talk. When I'm on the plane, don't try and be air friends with me unless you're the hot Aussie guy who chatted me up from Malaga to Barcelona (I relaxed my air friend rule) and then offered to share a cab (an offer I still regret declining but stranger danger...). At school I choose to not eat lunch with my colleagues because in the midst of my incredibly busy day I relish an hour of quiet during which I can get work done or just breathe. Despite the fact that some of them took offense to my decision, it's not a reflection of how I feel about anyone but simply my need for downtime. So I'm totally cool with not-talking. But not reading or writing? Oh, and did I mention no caffeine? Yeah. That's hitting me where it hurts but I'm up for the challenge.
My weekend is going to involve getting up at 5am, breakfast, morning meditation, some speakers, walking meditation, lunch, more meditation, an hour of service to the community, more speakers, more meditating, dinner, more meditating. I have been meditating a couple of times a day since last November and it has changed my life, but this is another level. I can't promise to remain awake during all that meditating but if I fall asleep I'm not going to fight it, especially without caffeine, although I don't want to sleep through too much. I mean, it's not college after all- I'M paying for this.
Ok, amigos, starting tonight I am officially unplugged so I'll report back.
Going without conversation is absolutely fine with me. Although I can talk the paint off the walls with anyone and my friends and I usually do, I only like to talk when I want to talk. When I'm on the plane, don't try and be air friends with me unless you're the hot Aussie guy who chatted me up from Malaga to Barcelona (I relaxed my air friend rule) and then offered to share a cab (an offer I still regret declining but stranger danger...). At school I choose to not eat lunch with my colleagues because in the midst of my incredibly busy day I relish an hour of quiet during which I can get work done or just breathe. Despite the fact that some of them took offense to my decision, it's not a reflection of how I feel about anyone but simply my need for downtime. So I'm totally cool with not-talking. But not reading or writing? Oh, and did I mention no caffeine? Yeah. That's hitting me where it hurts but I'm up for the challenge.
My weekend is going to involve getting up at 5am, breakfast, morning meditation, some speakers, walking meditation, lunch, more meditation, an hour of service to the community, more speakers, more meditating, dinner, more meditating. I have been meditating a couple of times a day since last November and it has changed my life, but this is another level. I can't promise to remain awake during all that meditating but if I fall asleep I'm not going to fight it, especially without caffeine, although I don't want to sleep through too much. I mean, it's not college after all- I'M paying for this.
How often are you present?
If you think remaining in the moment for that long will be easy, consider how little time most of us spend in the present. I used to take pride in multi-tasking. Folding laundry while prioritizing my to-do or flashing back to the past, replaying and rewriting scenes in my mind, both pleasurable and unpleasant, forgetting that whatever happened is done. I also anticipate events and conversations I know are coming. Again, this imagined future could be pleasant anticipation or dread, but either way it's taking energy away from right now and it's never happened. I've gotten much better being present since I started meditating, but my hope is that I truly train my mind to recognize when my thoughts are leading me away from the now and bring myself right back for longer periods of time until it is automatic.
If you think remaining in the moment for that long will be easy, consider how little time most of us spend in the present. I used to take pride in multi-tasking. Folding laundry while prioritizing my to-do or flashing back to the past, replaying and rewriting scenes in my mind, both pleasurable and unpleasant, forgetting that whatever happened is done. I also anticipate events and conversations I know are coming. Again, this imagined future could be pleasant anticipation or dread, but either way it's taking energy away from right now and it's never happened. I've gotten much better being present since I started meditating, but my hope is that I truly train my mind to recognize when my thoughts are leading me away from the now and bring myself right back for longer periods of time until it is automatic.
Ok, amigos, starting tonight I am officially unplugged so I'll report back.
Photo courtesy of www.enthusiasticbuddhist.com
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