New members introduction thread 2017 - present.

[aayushkr]

Hello vipassana community!
My name is Aayush and I attended SN Goenka's 10 day vipassana course in March this year. Since then, I am actively developing the habit of meditating in the morning and night for an hour and the habit is solidifying at a moderate rate. I am grateful for my present way of life where I try to observe rather than react and opine  .

I mostly rely on the dhamma.org app for instructions and meditation and have been reading the mahasatipatthana sutta published by VRI. Other than SN Goenka resources, I also used the resources created by Yuttadhammo Bhikkhu of Sirimangalo monastery, Tathagata monastery's insight to meditation instructions, the Hamilton project blog's 'Going For Stream Entry On A Goenka 10-Day Vipassana Course'.

For monetary sustenance I work as a software engineer and I live in Southern California.

I plan to attend another 10 day course (or preferably a 30 day course) early next year. I have set an intent to lay the groundwork for it now and to use that time as 'diligently, patiently and persistently' as possible and to meditate continuously.

Thank you for creating this community I will definitely be reading the discussions quite a bit and adding/asking my thoughts every now and then. Please feel free to help me with whatever advise/remarks you have. I am eager to develop on this path.

[raushan]

Welcome Aayush.

[Vivek]

Welcome, Aayush.

[mobius]

Hello! I joined here to learn and ask questions, as it seems getting advice from more experienced people in meditation is a wise thing to do (rather than just reading or listening to podcasts, which is what I've been doing).

I'm 28 years old, I started meditating for the first time several weeks ago and now I'm in the process of solving a mystery from my childhood. (I'll explain that in another topic).  I am not religious, though Buddhism and Hinduism does interest me quite a bit. I'm Agnostic when it comes to God or spirits. I'm a scientific person, but I also try to have an open mind about such things. I've never done any drugs though I've been reading a lot about them recently, like on the John-Hopkins psylocibin studies, one thing that got me interested in this in the first place. Fascinating studies/stories to listen to.

In spite of what I just said; I always thought meditation was just about relaxing, and forcing yourself to be calm and reducing stress in your life. Wasn't I wrong?  After meditating for several weeks I've gotten a few tastes (for better or for worse) of the... mind/life altering capabilities. Wow. I promptly realized I needed to take this more seriously and learn and research before just going about this willy-nilly.

Reading through some existing topics has already been helpful, so thank you!
As I'm very new to this and not a practitioner of any school of thought of religion, please excuse my ignorance and perhaps lack of appropriate language.

[Merrikay]

Hi everyone! I’m Kaela, 27 year old mother of two and I am an inconsistent meditator, haha. I’m happy to be here and love to everyone.

[raushan]

Welcome mobius and Kaela.

[Nope]

Hi Everyone!

First and foremost, thanks for accepting me in the group

I attended my first 10 Days Vipassana (SN Goenka) in December 2017, without any previous experience in meditation. I was introduced to Vipassana by a former Yoga teacher; After the retreat, i maintained the following routine: 1h mediations a day + 1h of group meditation/week + 4h meditation course/per month. I stuck to this until the last 2 months and in 1 week I am attending my second 10d.

Thanks again for letting me become part of the forum and also for all the information and support you are guys providing

[Bambs]

Hello everyone!

Thank you for accepting me into the group.

I have meditated on and off for several years, sometimes very regularly and sometimes not, so I hope participating in this community will help me build up a steady practise.

I'm a longtime reader of the forum and a lot of what has been said on here has been very valuable and useful to me - as I am sure it has been to many others 

Bambs

[derek]

Hi Everyone

My name is Derek, I've been meditating for a few months now and feel I've hit a bit of wall. I'm continuing with it. I tend to use an app called Calm, I like a little help in getting started. I'm hoping to learn more about meditation and to work on finding that calm place that I know exists somewhere.

Thanks

[KHo]

Hi everyone!

My name is Kevin and I started practicing Vipassana meditation last year on a 10-day Goenka retreat. I've been meditating on and off and am looking forward to growing my practice into a daily habit alongside the rest of this community.

[aspen patchouli]

Greetings fellow journeymen.  I'm not sure if this is how I'm supposed to post an intro or not, but this is the best I can figure out so here goes.  I have had a very troubled past.  When I was 6 years old I was in a wreck that killed my little brother and a family friend, and literally killed me.  The emts had to bring me back to life on the scene.  I spent 91 days in the hospital, the first part(over a week) in a coma.  And I had to learn to do everything all over again.  Ever since then I have felt disconnected from society somehow, but I digress.  About 2 years ago, I started weaning myself off of caffeine.  That led to taking myself off of sodas.  Fast forward to now, and I have been a vegetarian for a month now.  I have been meditating for almost 2 years now, and I think I am just now starting really feel the benefits.  The emotions that I had kept inside after the accident are coming to the surface now, and I feel more at peace with the natural world around me.  I no longer watch television, I pretty much just keep it on a meditative station.  Yesterday I pretty much meditated all day, and I had the best nights sleep of my adult life......10 hours without moving an inch!

[VipassanaXYZ]

Welcome!

[savethelastbreathforme]

Hi folks,

Thank you for hosting this forum. Nice to know so many other people are exploring meditation. As for myself, I have started meditation since getting ill over christmas 2017. End result of the illness is loud Tinnitus (both ears), and strange neuropathic head problems.

I have been doing mindful meditation & deep breathing meditation, and have found so far it keeps me in balance - if that makes sense.

Although only meditating for 2 weeks - I think I have found a new friend.

Thank you.