Hello all: Introduce yourself in this thread or just read it to meet the members

[ivana]

Hello

My name is Jaroslaw, I live in eastern Europe I'm almost a MD [ 1 year left :>]

I don't have much experience as for meditation techniques - I started reading& researching& practising Vipassana just a few weeks ago.

Regards

Hi,
welcome, I am in the UK but I am Czech.
Ivana

[Morning Dew]

Welcome friend 

Feel free to roam around Vipassanaforum and see whether you can find what you are looking for. or simply start a new topic if you like.

Friendly

[thomas]

hello

Guess what my name is

hope everyone's good

quick intro - seems polite before i ask q's.

I've only been meditating for about 3 months (after planning to for maybe...7 years). was following a tape which went for 10 minutes then carried on for about 20 minutes on my own. Turns out it was vipassana orientated.

now i've bought a book called 'mindfullness' and have weened myself off the cd.

I've enjoyed it from the start and actually look forwards to it every day. I have no doubts about its potential benefits.

have been planning for a while to do a 10 day vipassana retreat but want to be prepared first.

my reason for joining up here is to hopefully get some help to a couple of Q's. but i'll save that for another page

Happy new year...

[Matthew]

Welcome to the forums Thomas,

Try searching the forums for the things you have questions on - you may find someone asked before.

Congratulations on establishing your practice. I hope and trust the community here will be of help.

Warmly,

Matthew

[Brizzleben]

Hello. Ben here, from the west country, England, UK.

Despite a lifelong interest in meditation I have never practiced it, at least not for more than half an hour or so for a few days. It's not easy, is it.

But I do really sense I could live more richly, infinitely more, if I could even just be more aware of what is happening in me. As it is, I am always blocking what it feels like and my thoughts take me away, round and round. A familiar tale, I expect.

I understand about mindfulness, in theory, but can't even begin to put it into practice. It's as though there's a layer of something preventing me from feeling my phsysical sensations. Instead, I have words. Words about what little I can feel, about what think I should be feeling, about something else altogether. Focusing on what feeling there is is do-able, for one inbreath, when I remember that's what I'm supposed to be doing. Staying with it during the pause before the next breath takes just about all I can muster and by the outbreath I'm commenting on how well I'm doing, or not doing as the case may be.

Is there any hope for me?!

As I say, I've tried meditating from time to time, always on my own and without anyone to share my experience with  and given up after a few days so it feels quite good  having this forum to come to.

Anxiously, Ben

[Morning Dew]

Hi Ben my friend and welcome aboard of Vipassana forum 

You are not alone in this turmoil I you can sit assured. We all share the same more or less cluttered ego mind. Meditation like this sure aids in seeing the conditioned, fragmented self better and through it we gain the ability to diferentiate from the ego-self from the suffering one so to say.

You can feel free and look around the boards and see if you find something inspirational and useful to you or if you feel to start a new thread about something which interests you please do so mate  Don't hold back and dont be shy, in these waters we are all dealing with inner crap 

Good man for joining us. Looking forward to knowing you better.

Friendly Dusko

[chintan]

I understand about mindfulness, in theory, but can't even begin to put it into practice. It's as though there's a layer of something preventing me from feeling my phsysical sensations.

Hi Ben,

Welcome aboard. There is a world of difference in understanding in theory and gaining snippets of experience of meditation and samadhi. Across all forums / teachings in  Buddhism there is the constant reminder of the need to balance Pariyatti (study) and Pattipatti (practice). Just dive in and it will wrap you around..

With Metta...

[Brizzleben]

Thank you both for your warm welcome and encouragement. 

You describe it very well, Che, describing my perception of self as 'fragmented.' It's sobering to realise how little I actually take in of life and how much is just twitter.

And Maun, I have only had the briefest of snippets in the past. Talking of diving in, I have been considering doing just that with a ten day course at Dhama Dipa centre in Hereford and have asked them for a place on one in March. Would that be folly so soon?

To me, ot feels like I will always be dithering around on the periphery unless I put myself in a situation where all there is to do is to look the fragmented self straight in the eye, for a second at least, and then come back to it and maybe manage two seconds, and so on, until I can quieten down and see past the noise.

What do you think?

[ivana]

Hi Ben
Welcome on the forum. Do not ask a lot before 10 days course how it is. If you want to do it do not let others to make an influence on you. Of course there are some restriction regarding your health.
Take care
Ivana

[Brizzleben]

Hi Ben
Do not ask a lot before 10 days course how it is.

Hello Ivana, I'm not quite sure what you mean,

[Morning Dew]

EDIT: link removed

Before taking any retreat make sure to practice calm-abiding for at least a year or two to create a stable balanced base, otherwise you might pop-up like a pop corn  

Friendly Che

[Brizzleben]

Thanks Che.

EDIT:deleted

Are you really advising I don't do a retreat for a year or so and could you say a bit more about popcorn as well? It's a vivid image but I'm not sure what to make of it!

Ben

[Morning Dew]

Hi Ben,

Are you really advising I don't do a retreat for a year or so and could you say a bit more about popcorn as well? It's a vivid image but I'm not sure what to make of it!

I would be very happy to answer your questions in a specialy started thread not in here. This is only a welcome board and I smell a good topic out of your questions  
You can start a thread named "Retreat To Do or Not To Do" example  

Good man. Friendly Che

EDIT: as above

[Matthew]

Hello. Ben here, from the west country, England, UK.

....
Is there any hope for me?!
...

Dear Ben,

Worry not. There is hope. Everything changes. First step is to stop knowing about meditation through thinking and know it through doing. Given your anxiety I would thoroughly recommend a gentle start to retreat practice to feel your way and get over any anxiety.  As you are living nearby check out the Barn on the Sharpham Estate near Totnes. See this post: http://www.vipassanaforum.net/forum/index.php/topic,1261.msg9443.html#msg9443 I would recommend this over a Goenka retreat for you.

Welcome to the forums and, as Che said, if you have questions start a new thread as that will gather answers and support. This one is for brief introductions and etc.

Be gentle with yourself.

Warmly.

Matthew

[begratefulnow]

Hi everyone!

My name is Teresa and I just got back from my first course in Texas a couple of days ago...I'm happy to have found this board so quickly, because I know that it helps to have a community in order to support a practice.

I'm 36, am a psychotherapist, and live in the mountains above Boulder, CO with my husband and our three dogs. I had a lot of chaos in my life over the past year and a good friend recommended a Vipassana sit...and in some crazy turn of events (I have never felt the universe take care of me this strongly) I got a call the day before the sit that a spot had opened up. I told the woman that "thank you very much, but I think it's unlikely that I'm going to book a flight for tomorrow to fly from CO to TX". I got off the phone with her and thought, ok - why don't I just look online to see how much a flight would be. I found an incredibly reasonable flight...and my heart started pounding. Could I really just get on a plane tomorrow morning and leave my life for 10 days? I worried about what was required - would I need to rent a car? How would I get from the airport to the center? Could I really just drop everything? I called the woman back and she reassured me that if I landed in TX, there would be someone there to pick me up and take me where I needed to go, and that they would make sure I had a ride back when it was over. But she needed an answer soon because she wanted to fill the spot.

I felt my mind go crazy for a second. Did I really want to do this? I mean, I could just spend the next 10 days on the couch with my bong and remote control...that certainly sounded a lot easier. In two minutes I made my decision. I called my husband. I booked my flight. And then I dealt with the logistics.

I feel very blessed that things went down the way they did. While I had some knowledge about what the sit would entail, I had NO CLUE about the specifics...and it wasn't until my flight was booked that I started doing more intense research around the website - and my anxiety raised as I looked at the schedule and what would be expected of me. I'm not sure that if I had had more time to think about it...I'm not sure I would have made it. I might have chickened out. I don't know. The next day I was on a flight to Texas.

Absolutely life-changing.

And on our last day, when noble silence was broken, I spoke to the girl who I had the most energetic connection with - and I found out that she lives in Boulder. I had to go to Texas to meet my new best friend. There were actually 4 other people who lived close to me...I get to go to a community sit tomorrow night, and it turns out I have a new group of friends that will help support me in my practice. Since I live up in the mountains and it takes some time to go to town, I do spend a lot of time on the internet - so I'm excited to have this forum of people to connect with. So thanks for being here!

[kidnovice]

Congratulations, BGN!

Its always inspiring to hear someone so excited about deepening their practice. I'm glad that you had such an auspicious start. This forum should be a valuable resource for you. It includes practitioners from a variety of traditions (including diverse approaches to "vipassana"). We are a good group. 

Much metta,
KN

[Morning Dew]

Hi Teresa and welcome aborad 

Thank you for sharing your story. Please feel free to look around or even start a new thread if interested.

Friendly Che

[ivana]

We are a good group. 

Much metta,
KN

Hi Teresa
Nice to meet you do not be to excited about us. Stay with us and make a decision if are a good group for you.
I am happy to have a girl here.
Take care
Ivana

[Matthew]

Welcome to the forums and to being a meditator. Thanks for sharing your story Teresa.

Warmly,

Matthew

[Avo86]

Hi, my name is Thanh pronounced (Tawn) and I'm new here. I am 24 years old and live in Northern California. I'm an old student of Vipassana and thought I'd join a community where I can immerse myself among people with similar interests  Currently I am a broke college student studying at UC Davis. I'm a vegan and it translates to my lifestyle. Meditation was the hardest thing I ever had to do but it was probably the most powerful experience that's ever happened to me in my young life.

[Vivek]

Welcome to Vipassanaforum, Thanh. You'll get plenty from here to further deepen your experience. All the best.

[Morning Dew]

Welcome to you Thanh   

Che

[Avo86]

Thank you Che and Vivek!

[ivana]

Hi Thanh
Welcome, it is fine that you start as young to do meditation.
Take care
Ivana

[Matthew]

Welcome to the forum Thanh. I trust you will find support for your practice.

Warm regards,

Matthew