Question:

Please would you provide some insight into the need for longer retreats and how they help a spiritual seeker?

Answer:

In the longer retreats, a sincere spiritual seeker receives individual meditation instructions. This helps the meditator move higher quickly on the spiritual path compared to a mass general meditation instruction session.

These individual meditation mentorship programs are offered to advanced spiritual seekers only.

Why?

Beginners on the spiritual path benefit from mass general meditation instructions as they are all at the same level. Beginners need to practice sitting with eyes closed for at least 20-30 minutes for meditation. They are not ripe enough to practice longer deeper meditations that lead one to Samadhi yet. Beginners can, therefore, progress with mass meditation instruction initially for a few years.

When does a meditator become an advanced meditator?

When one meditates for a few years along with attending spiritual knowledge sessions, he soon hits a glass ceiling. He feels that he is not progressing enough even though he meditates and attends short silence programs regularly. This is when he starts feeling the need to find a higher practice that would help take him from ‘Mind’ to ‘No-Mind’. This is when he naturally becomes an advanced meditator.

Does every meditator reach the point of saturation after a few years of practice or can someone hit it very early in his spiritual path?

Everyone comes with his own individual Karma. If someone has strong spiritual impressions from previous lifetimes then he would come to this saturation point very quickly.

Will I be disloyal to my previous teacher if I move onto a higher meditation practices’ teacher?

True spirituality teaches one to get out of the bondage of craving. How can a true spiritual teacher teach you bondage and craving and holding on? Holding on and clinging are signs of a weak mind that is engulfed by attachment. A true spiritual teacher teaches one to let go of attachment, even the attachment to the teacher himself. If a teacher teaches otherwise, such statements only come out of insecurity and personal agendas. Beware! Nobody owns you.

Changing spiritual paths is not advised usually, isn’t that right?

Another way to look at this is that progress can happen only when one moves higher. Didn’t you go to primary school? Didn’t you love your primary school teacher and all your primary school friends? Are you still holding on to them? No! You had to progress to high school, then to college and then to the University. It happened sooner for some people, later for others and never for a few. The story is similar on the spiritual path.

Does a meditator become dispassionate after moving into higher meditations such that he loses complete interest in the world?

No dear. This is simply a spiritual rumour that hinders seekers.

On gaining spiritual maturity, one becomes wiser such that despite living in the world, he can now see the futility of feverishness of running in the mind. He will still continue doing all that he used to do but will make every effort to soften and calm the mind. He moves from ‘Mind’ to ‘No-Mind’ very soon. A time comes when because of the culmination of feverishness, he carries a happier mind.

Are individual mentorship programs only geared towards meditation?

Individual mentorship is not only for meditation but also geared towards helping a sincere seeker gain self-knowledge [self-realization].

What is self-knowledge [self-realization]?

The knowledge that one gains by reading scriptures and by listening to spiritual teachers is borrowed knowledge. Recognizing the truth of one’s own mind and exploring the field of one’s own awareness brings about self-knowledge through one’s own experience. A seeker is helped step-by-step to explore his own awareness.

How should I register for a longer retreat?

Please email knowledgesessionsdl@gmail.com. You can attend a short weekend retreat to get a glimpse of the meditation mentorship program. Once you decide that you want to go higher, then you will be invited for the longer retreats. 

Until then, keep meditating!