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

[The Marvellous Omannobazong!!!]

You will see we are not very religious people in the usual senses of the word on this forum.

... I'd call myself religious ...  ... but don't you worry about that, even a communist could do Vipassana!

Vipassana is like food, you can eat it no matter if you wear a suit or a loincloth.

Enjoy your course says Stefan

[island]

I am a student of Buddhism, poetry, philosophy, and psychology.  I was a professor at UC Berkeley and am now training to become a psychotherapist at an institute that has East/West studies.

I started meditating with a Vipassana teacher in 1993.  I have gone back and forth between Zen and Vipassana since then.  Right now I am in between sanghas so an online sangha is just right.

I live in Santa Cruz, California, a college town with an active surfing community.  I would like to move to Hawaii because I love the ocean and snorkeling.  Also the university there has more in depth courses in Buddhism, philosophy, and Japanese.

[mettajoey]

Hello island,
Welcome to our virtual Sangha.
You have an impressive resume.  What did you teach at Berkeley?
Also, why have you decided to become a therapist? 
There are many parallels between cognitive behavioral therapy and Buddhist thought, is it your intention to develop a deeper or more comprehensive approach to CBT by incorporating more aspects of the Dhamma?
At any rate, welcome once again and it will be interesting to have you join in on our discussions.
Warmly,
-Joe
 

[Matthew]

Hello Island

Warmest welcome. I'm glad you have come by. I hope you find something useful from being here.



Matthew

[urb]

Hi everyone, 

I am from the Midlands in England.  I am a beginner really.  But I do listen to dhamma talks every day on my mp3 player... and I have read "Mindfulness in Plain English". I feel drawn to the Theravadan school because it seems more down to earth than some of the others I have read about.

I find myself drawn more towards the philosophy side of things than the meditation, in fact I've hardly ever meditated. But I do stick to the five precepts as closely as I can and have managed to do this for about 4 months.

I feel now that I need to visit a Sangha and learn to meditate from scratch. 

[mettajoey]

Hi urb,
Welcome to this virtual Sangha. 

I would recommend going on a ten-day retreat with one of the Vipassana centers near you.  The beauty of the Goenka schools is that there is no cost and you will walk away with a deep meditation technique.

Good luck on your path and I hope you find a lot of useful information on this site.

Warmly,
-Joe

[urb]

Thank you for your advice. 

I am self employed and 10 days is out of the question at the moment.  There is a monastery about 20 miles from where I live, so I may start going there for dhamma talks.

[Matthew]

urb

Welcome.

Matthew

[mettajoey]

"I am self employed"

As an electrician?
I don't think I've seen a self-ballasting compact fluorescent as an avatar before.   

[urb]

Thanks Matthew 

silentflute 
The fluorescent's nickname is a "Lotus".... and I am unenlightened.

[turtle209]

Hi everyone,

My name is Joyce and I'm interested in Vipassana. I'm working on a Master's degree right now and I'm in recovery for compulsive overeating and alcohol. I've had some issues with anxiety particularly in the last few months of my recovery but I remember having these feelings even as a child. I've researched alot into Vipassana and I think it could help me. but I feel really intimidated by the 10 day noble silence thing. I've also read some peoples posts that talk about how their whole lives were altered. I guess I'm afraid I'll get in there and find out something really terrible and I won't be able to handle it. childhood issues and all that. What if I come out really freaked out and it screws up what little serenity I feel like I have right now. On the other hand I know there are issues there and they will come out eventually whether I want them to or not. And on a lighter level I really like the idea of the meditation. I know this would be a tool that would help me. I'm just intimidated and a little scared.

i've been accepted to attend a 10 day course in March over spring break. I'll leave right away from classes and come back and have to go straight back to classes. Does this seem like a reasonable thing to do? Am I going to come out of this thing all wigged out? Any comments or experience would be great.

Thanks,
Joyce

[Matthew]

Joyce,

Welcome to our Sangha. Forgive me for "recycling" but the same issues came up for someone else this week. This is what I wote:


I also suffer Chronic PTSD, have had addiction issues in the past and started recalling my awful childhood in flashbacks within a year of becoming a Buddhist meditator.

The addictions are a form of self medication, a defence mechanism against recall. I think the advices above are good advices for looking at the alcohol aspect. My personal experience of 12 step is none - other than what I have seen friends go through with it. For friends with complex interrelated issues such as these I have often seen 12 steps become another way of hiding and sometimes quite damaging. The whole idea of higher power is dis-empowering and first you need empowerment to build a healthy ego.

In addition I would recommend you explore deep therapeutic approaches and try to find a therapist who specialises in dissociation and abuse recovery issues (therapeutic is believed derived from Therevadin interestingly).

The idea that you need to live in the present and not dwell in the past is a very attractive lie in this case I am afraid - another form of running away. Until you have recalled the events you are now suffering flashbacks of in full and processed them, you will never be able to live in the present. The dark past will hang over you like a shadow. The reason you are having flashbacks is that the events are unprocessed by the child mind which can not resolve the paradox of care givers causing hurt.

It is not just the memories that get pushed away however. Your sense of being the empowered owner of your own body and mind (basic goodness as Trungpa put it) gets destroyed. As dissociation is about avoiding feeling pain and painful emotions it drags feeling other emotions into the black hole with it: joy, love, peace.

You are facing a road to recovery many have walked before you and it is a good, if sometimes painful, road to walk. That others have walked this road tells that you too can do so.

To integrate these issues, I would recommend keeping up with simple Buddhist meditation practices of calming (shamatha) and insight (vipassana) but not worry too much about thinking about the meanings of Buddhism, find the right support to deal with your addictions and look into appropriate therapeutic support. This is the route I have found to work and many others.

I hope something I have written here helps empower you to make the right choices towards coming out of the darkness and into the light. If you want to talk privately you are welcome to PM me.

Always remember the past is the past and gone, but until you face it squarely it will cast long shadows and no amount of intellectualising will shed light on them.

You are a survivor. Now it is time to become a thriver.



Matthew

ps Joyce I know tthis is not exactly the same as the position you are in but the same basic principles apply. a ten day course may or may not be healthy for you now. If you are not feeling strong I would be cautious about attending. It sounds like you could benefit from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy which incorporates Cognitive Behavioural Therapy and Buddhist Insight practices or working with a depth therapist as a container for your healing journey at this point. You could explore more with pure meditation techniques as part of this growth as you feel more grounded.

In the meantime you could read the introduction to meditation page and start doing a very small amount of mindfulness on your breath. I would keep it very short and simple, 5 minutes a couple of times a day and be prepared to back off it it is not helping. There is no such thing as failure, merely a need to review ones approach.

[turtle209]

Hi Matthew - thanks for the input. I have started doing a few minutes of breath focus in the morning and sometimes in the evening. part of 12 step recommends daily prayer and meditation so that's what I'm using for meditation. I still haven't decided one way or another. I'll keep reading and posting here on my progress.

thanks,

Joyce

[The Marvellous Omannobazong!!!]

I'm just intimidated and a little scared.

Welcome! We all are ...

i've been accepted to attend a 10 day course in March over spring break. I'll leave right away from classes and come back and have to go straight back to classes. Does this seem like a reasonable thing to do? Am I going to come out of this thing all wigged out? Any comments or experience would be great.

in my course (I attended it last spring) some people stepped out there and never will touch a cigarette again in their lives, some stepped out and lit a cigarette immediately, but the point is, they all took this decision actively, and they all were pleased with their decision. noone will be able to tell you what is going to happen, everybody has to find out for her-/himself, but that's life... if you don't do Vipassana, still you won't know what is going to happen next.

But you are strong enough to face your problems, and you are strong enough to write about your problems in a forum that you don't know, and you are even strong enough to try changing your situation. You are strong enough to admit you're scared. That's not regular, you know. Sometimes people step out of a Vipassanacourse and have troubles afterwards, but normally they are people without any self-knowledge. They suffer because they get confronted with irregularities of their mind that they can't cope with ... their egos get shaken too much by the realisation that they aren't the good guys they thought they were. I think that's the most dangerous thing about Vipassana. From what I read you are not going to have these troubles, because you already have a certain ammount of self-knowledge.  You will do a good course! (I'm sure but of course I couldn't grant you that, being a beginner as well ...)

There are a lot of stories in this forum that are going to help you in taking the right decisions, enjoy reading!

Mit herzlichen Grüßen, Stefan

(PS.: ten days of not talking ... before the course I thought "this is not possible" ... now I am looking forward to shut up again for ten days, it was one of the best experiences!)

[Niek]

My name is Niek from Amsterdam the Netherlands and since 2002 I have been practicing vipasanna meditation and join every year a 10 days course as taught by SN Goenka in Belgium Dhamma Pajjota.
 
The Dhamma became important in my life in my daily sittings, serving on meditation courses and integrating it into a busy life with family, friends and work.

I look forward to join this forum with kind regards,

Niek

[UDhammaSammi]

Hello I have been a Buddhist in the Theravada tradition since 1991. I have been practicing Vipassana since then as well. Hopefully I will get it right someday. 

I currently live in SW Missouri, but I have lived in Iowa, Arizona, and California as well. I was a temporary monk at the Taungpulu Kaba Aye Monastery in the Santa Cruz mountains.

Recently I have been studying the writings of Ajahn Chah, Webu Sayadaw and Ajahn Brahmavamso.

[Green Tara]

Niek and UDhammaSammi,
Welcome to the Sangha 
Both of you are experienced meditators and it is great to have you in the forum and hopefully you will find it helpful too.
Niek, I would love to hear your comments on some of the posts about Goenka’s teaching.
I have only done one course and hoping to go back for more.

Tara
 

[Matthew]

Niek, UDhammaSammi

A warmest welcome to you both. I hope that you will find this Sangha both useful to your practice and a place where you can contribute in meaningful ways. I second everything Green Tara said

Forgive me that I may not be around too often for the next little while. Dipping in and out, so to speak, because of current conditions.

In the Dhamma,

Matthew

[anicca]

Hello all, I found this after doing a google search after doing a recent ten day 'Goenka' retreat. I'm 36 years old and live on the East Coast of Australia (about half an hour's drive from the most Easterly point on the Australian mainland). In my youth I tried a variety of different meditation practices (I was a regular at the Sydney Zen Centre for a while) but then a friend did a ten day retreat and it had such a profound impact on his life it convinced me to give it a try. That was thirteen years ago and although there were a few detours here and there during the early days my practice has now gotten to a point where it feels solid. I have had the good fortune to have served on a couple of Vipassana Trusts (organise course schedules, etc) which has put me into close contact with several Assistant Teacher's, one of whom I count as a close friend. But probably the highlight of my spiritual path was to go on a dhamma yatra (spiritual pilgrimage) with Goenka and several hundred other meditators to all the major sites of the Buddha's life back in 2001, including several group sits with Goenka under the bodhi tree at the Mahabodhi Temple.

Sorry about the rave, I was planning on saying a quick hello. Anyway, it looks like a nice community here so hopefully I'll pop in every now and then.

[The Marvellous Omannobazong!!!]

Hei Anicca,

it feels good to have you here. I read about that dhamma yatra before and thought "oh boy that's what I want to do too". I started Vipassana (as taught by Goenkaji) only one year ago and already it changed my life. No need to be 'sorry about the rave' ... we hope to hear more of you - please share your experiences with us. 

Metta, Stefan

[Matthew]

Dear Annica

Welcome to the forum. Your experience of meditation sounds very interesting. Don't worry about the rave ... you are right we are a friendly community ... raving is perfectly acceptable here

Hopefully you will add to the meditative momentum of this little community and also find some help with your own practice. Very much the attitude we are trying to engage here is one of mutual assistance and friendship.

Looking forward to reading your words,

In the Dhamma,

Matthew

Sorry about the rave, I was planning on saying a quick hello. Anyway, it looks like a nice community here so hopefully I'll pop in every now and then.

[anicca]

Stefan and Matthew, thank you both for your welcomes.

With Metta.

[pcaso]

Hello,

I am Peter from the North Coast of New SOuth Wales in Australia.

Like the look and feel of this place.

Peace and happiness to all

 

[anicca]

I am Peter from the North Coast of New SOuth Wales in Australia.

Whereabouts on the North Coast? I grew up in Byron Bay and now live in Murwillumbah up near the Queensland border.

[Matthew]

Peter

A warm welcome to you I hope the look and feel continues to appeal and that your experience can be of benefit to others too.

In the Dhamma,

Matthew