Meditation Retreat Photos

This is the main plaza of the meditation retreat center. Unfortunately I didn't get more pictures of the garden or the mountain backdrop, but you'll have to take my word for it. I definitely learned a lot in my short time here. You can view more pictures at the link below. You can see the group all dressed in white doing yoga, sitting meditation, walking meditation, etc. There are some photos before meals where we took a moment to be mindful of the food we were about to eat, along with some chanting. It was interesting to think about only eating to get rid of the feeling of hunger, not to eat because it tastes good or that it's a social activity. I appreciate the idea, but I'm not going to stop eating chocolate or burritos with my friends. (Aw, I miss burritos....) I enjoy tasting food way too much. I do agree with being aware of what you're eating and taking time to enjoy it; not eating mindlessly. We've all done that before, as in, 'hey, where did my burrito go?! Oh wow, i practically inhaled it...'

The pictures of the group lined up outside are when we gave our offering of food to the monks. The monks never eat anything that is not given to them. We gave them each spoonfuls of white rice and we had to be careful not to touch the bowl or to touch them. Spooning sticky white rice from your bowl into theirs without touching anything is way more difficult than it sounds. Think board game 'Operation.'

We also had an opportunity to break our vow of silence for an hour to have a discussion with the monks. This was very similar to the monk chat that I attended, and it was interesting to hear about other people's experiences while meditating. The monks gave good (but simple) advice: just don't think, listen to nature, and relax. I dare you to not think a single thought for 20 seconds. Try it for 20 minutes. It's actually quite funny to listen to your mind chatter away, you might be surprised what it has to get out of it's system. I had a lot of 'my back hurts', 'am i breathing properly?,' 'I have to find that guy who sells meatballs on my street who is supposedly a spitting image of Obama' and 'ugh, please stop thinking for ONE minute...please?'

This was such a great experience, as well as an extremely personal experience, which makes it difficult to write about. I encourage you to try a retreat if you're at all interested. Even if you're not interested. Do it.

See more pictures at this link: http://www.monkchat.net/?name=gallery&file=gallery&galleryID=20