Any recommendation for retreats in vedanta / self enquiry

[cervid]

Hi all,

 

I tried a vipassana 10 day retreat but did not really like it. To me self enquiry and vedanta tradition makes much more sense to me. Do you know any online retreat or offline retreat in europe in vedanta tradition or which focuses on self enquiry ?

[Leo Gura]

You can find some enlightenment intensives here:

https://www.sandoth.com/

[herghly]

@cervid No shortage of options. Find what you enjoy

[Raptorsin7]

@cervid What didn't you like about the vipassana retreat?

 

[Brandon Nankivell]

Peter Ralston: https://chenghsin.com/workshops/

[cervid]

Thanks for your suggestions  I will have a look at them. I also found silent retreats with adyashanti. Has someone tried the courses from adyashanti and can recommend them ?

 

@Raptorsin7

To me the teachings do not resonante with me very much. The vipassana meditation is very exhausting for me and I don‘t really like it. I did not experience great benefit from the retreat and to me the theory is not very convincing. Why should I invest so much focus again on sensations and my body ? The journey to investigate into the nature of my self is much more appealing since there is first the subject (I) and everything else appears after this. To me Self enquiry is much more enjoyable and I can sit longer periods. The thought „who am I“ infected my consciousness like a virus. I can not stop to investigate into this question, it is very addictive. 

Edited June 29, 2022 by cervid

[Consilience]

1 hour ago, cervid said:

Why should I invest so much focus again on sensations and my body ?

Because the nature of your identification with self is intimately tied with your clinging and craving to body, hence why you would experience fear if confronted with physical death. Long term investigation of these sensations obliterates and dissolves this false identification through this relentless observation. This is not even accounting for the beautiful, energetic, tranquil, and intrinsically rewarding states of mind available by begin to observe the body with real mindfulness. 
 

Self inquiry is a perfectly valid approach as well. But to dismiss the rational for vipassana body scanning would be to misunderstand the rational. 

[cervid]

1 hour ago, Consilience said:

Self inquiry is a perfectly valid approach as well. But to dismiss the rational for vipassana body scanning would be to misunderstand the rational. 

@Consilience

I dont understand what you mean with this sentence. English is not my native language.

I am sure vipassana is a great and valid technique for many people. I dont want to talk bad about it.

But since the wrong identification with the false self (ego...) is the root problem of suffering, it makes sense to ivestigate into the core of my being. Vipassana is more like purification and releasing sankharas. The vipassana teacher said, insights about yourself and the world will come along with this technique and enlightenment happens only after you have released all your sankharas and do not create new ones. Its just a different approach.

 

With vipassana I get a whole body buzz, similar to the bodyload from dmt or shrooms. Its very pleasurable, but with SE I often get into a state of pure silence/void where there are no thoughts and it is soooo peaceful and blissful. I am motivated to do SE and the technique is so simple, that it is much easier to do. Actually just beeing or sitting in beingness or observe beeingness... Vipassana is very hard work for me. I got better and faster with the body scan and at some point the constant scan from top to bottom / bottom to top can be done in a few minutes. But to sit for 1h or more and scan the entire body again and again and again becomes so annoying. Thats just my experience. But on thr other hand there are also enough people who have struggles to practise SE.

Edited June 29, 2022 by cervid