I've always been curious and keen on exploring meaningful endeavors. The spiritual path, philosophies, mysticism in all colors and forms, martial arts, esoteric knowledge,......etc
After getting exposed to a number of practices, I started perceiving things differently in a way. What made sense for me, did not for a lot of folks. One of them, is this…
Long story short, I embarked on a 12 days retreat in the nature to disconnect. As sort of a " خلوة ".... (solitude in a good way). The main goal was contemplation and meditation. Total Dopamine deprivation. Resetting the neuro-circuits, and also testing the self. To get to know and have a conversation or even a brawl with that inner voice, that inner voice that we all have….the one that wants to sleep more….eat more….laze around and be "comfortable”…
When it comes to the mind, the self, and taming the inner beast, this was one exciting test.

Lessons Learned in a Nutshell:

1- Be the OBSERVER
You learn and practice how to monitor your inner thoughts (and body sensations) without judgment. No craving and no aversion. Observe it and see its impermanent nature, that whatever it is, it comes and goes and never lasts in the same state forever.

2- Embrace discomfort to know yourself
Whether it's martial arts or meditation or even perfumery,
If there's one thing that I might have learned through all these years from different paths and teachings, is the fact that UNDERSTANDING results from DOING and only through DOING! What I mean is, we can never understand something truly by "reading" about it or "imagining" it, or even worse, having the illusion that we already know it.
I'm talking about Virtues and Skills here. You can read about Taiji Quan as much as you want, but unless you practice it, you'd never know. You'd only be an educated fool.
We have to DO.... Practice.
If we never test ourselves, we'd never know our true capabilities. we'd never know who we truly are.
This experience taught me a lot about myself and I'm forever grateful.

3-Scarcity is better than Excess.
I first read about this, but I fully understood it through this experience.
We go about our days with things like food delivery aps. online shopping. clothes...etc.
Our options became waaaaaaay more than the options we had 20 years ago for example.
That's good you might think, but not on a neurological level.
The indulgence and excess of anything desensitizes you. Meaning, you become less responsive to things that used to make you happy. It's the same with being addicted to a substance. You start craving more and more as your tolerance level goes up. You. I. Everyone. We all are addicted to dopamine in this day and age.
after day 5 or so, I felt like I'm seeing things in a "fresh" way if you will. I was present when looking at a tree....hearing bird chirping.... seeing a cat passing by...even when eating food. I remember I was eating plain white rice and yoghurt, and truly enjoying it, savoring every smell, texture and taste.
In a nutshell, Letting go of many options makes you enjoy and appreciate the little options more.

4-Impermenance and Equanimity
Ties back to what I mentioned in the 1st point.
When meditating, you start programming your subconcious mind not to REACT, but rather to perceive things for what they are.
When you have leg/back pain, you train yourself to observe the sensation and the fact that it comes and goes. You start obsevring more than reacting to your judgment (pain, discomfort).
It's liberating to really instill such concepts in one's self. Nothing is forever! Hurraaaai! Equanimity is the true humble essence of "Not giving a flying Fudge :)"

5 - Practice. Not Talk
Ties to what I mentioned in the second point.
So many ( myself included), love to talk about how we love this or that practice ( i.e. religion, martial art, perfumery...etc) and we do so very little!
You like to meditate? Do something like this. It's better than reading books and listening to audio guided meditations......no one will tell you to imagine your pain as a blue ball of healing light.... (fight club reference).

6- You don't need much
When embarking on similar experiences, I always get reminded of how true this point is. Living like some sort of a monk, even for a short while, makes you realize how much you do not actually need. It also shows you that happiness and survival require very few things...
I personally couldn't go into the experience without any oud. I lived with one oil during this experience. Guess which one? lol.

Let me know if you've been through similar experiences and what did it add to you on a personal level.
3arasy.

Music @dopeboyzmuzic #dopeboyzmuzic

свернуть