Into the Mind: a two-day meditation retreat at Wat U-Mong

Although mostly misunderstood as a boho trance where participants are expected to sit cross-legged surrounded by incense and hum something like "ohmm," meditation is a practice that helps with clarity and perception and is, in my opinion, the most underused tool we have to deal with stress.

When I begin to talk with others about meditation I often hear, "My mind is just too fast to not think about anything." For some reason everyone seems to think that they have a mind unlike others and although some can create a blankness, there is just no way that their mind could settle like that. Meditation is hard for everyone, we all have crazy minds that are constantly incorporating the past, present and future on top of hopes, dreams, perceptions, feelings ect. ect. Sorry to spill the beans, but your mind is not unique.

To fill your mind with nothingness would be an achievement for the highest meditation followers. For the rest of us, we start small. The goal is to think of the present only and when your mind, naturally, falls to the past memories or future hopes you gradually, without grief, return your mind to the present.  It's about listening to the mind. Using your mind as a tool, that you control. Instead of letting the mind control you. It's about being mindful no matter what you're doing. Meaning you're not letting the brain wonder to what you ate last week or what you'd do if you saw your nemesis at a party. It's about being present. If you're doing homework, you are sitting and doing homework. If you are putting on makeup, you are thinking about putting on your makeup. When you're eating you are thinking about how and what you're eating; not of something else that makes you accidentally bite your tongue or cheek because your mind was somewhere else. It should be practiced throughout all times, in every thing one is doing, observing the movements of the body, feeling and mind-objects in each present moment. Meditators should mindfully meditate on external objects; visible objects, sound, smell, taste and touch. Thereby the energies of concentration and wisdom can be developed.

These are all things I learned this past weekend when I arrived at Wat U-Mong. A Wat close to my house known for the turtles that swim around the lake and tunnels that connect the ornate shrines. My Thai friend used to be a monk there and recommended the International Meditation Center organized by the Wat.

We were met early on Saturday morning by a monk nicknamed "Haus" who liked to do a Minnesotan accent and whose laugh lit up every inch of his face, making it completely impossible to not laugh at everything he said. He gave us a white outfit to wear, a blanket, a pillow and a schedule for the next two days. We headed to our rooms; they were completely empty with no furnishings but were equipped with a fan that would later become my favorite luxury in the scorching summer heat. We took a mat to sleep on the ground (O.K I grabbed three) and made up our beds before returning downstairs just in time for group mediation. Here is the schedule we were to follow:

5:00am- Wake Up
5:30-7:00am Group Meditation
7:00-7:20am Cleaning
7:30-8:00am Breakfast
8:00-9:00am Relaxation
9:00-11:15am Group Meditation
11:30-12:00pm Lunch
12:00-1:30pm Relaxation
1:30-3:00pm Group Meditation
3:00-3:15pm Tea Break
3:15-4:30pm Group Meditation
4:30-6:00pm Breaking Time
6:00-7:30pm Group Meditation
7:30-7:45pm Tea Break
7:45-9:00pm Group Meditation
9:00pm Bedtime

Sounds awesome, huh? I don't believe in any time that is before 7:00am. Not in my vocabulary. Truly, it's unnatural. But I decided to give it all a try and follow the rules, here are the eight presents we had to follow while participating in the retreat.

1. Refrain from killing.
2. Refrain from stealing.
3. Refrain from sexual activities.
4. Refrain from false speech, malicious speech, harsh speech and frivolous speech. In general, all meditators should maintain silence at all times.
5. Refrain from all intoxicants.
6. Refrain from eating after midday.
7. Refrain from sensual entertainment or bodily adornment. Meditators should not read, write or listen to music and should wear white, simple and modest clothing.
8. Refrain from sleeping in high and luxurious couches.

The hardest things for me was not eating after midday and killing. No really, it was hard not to kill. Sometimes we meditated outside and I luckily got the spot next to one of the many ant hills in the garden. Usually I flick those suckers off without thinking. Buddhism teaches us that we, as humans, just as ants and other creatures, are made of earth, we are the same and should not kill just as we would not want to be killed. Easy to say, hard to practice when they're crawling up your damn leg.

I began meditating on external things the visible objects, sound, smell, taste and touch and then began practicing other forms of meditation such as breathing concentration, generosity meditation and death meditation.

Breathing Concentration:
Breathing meditation is when you focus on the breath to clear the mind. My favorite is to imagine the breath a certain color (green, yellow or red) and imagine breathing in this colored air, having it fill your body and then exhale it into the room again and again.

Generosity Meditation:
It's certainly one of my favorites but it always makes me cry. You begin by thinking of the love a mother gives. Your mother sacrificed so much for you and you imagine each of the ways your mother has cared and loved you. You then return this love to people you know, people you don't know and then to the whole world, anonymously. I cry when I think of how lucky I am to have amazing parents, how supportive and endless their love for me is.

Death Meditation:
It's very important to be constantly thinking about death. In a book I recently read, The Antidote by Oliver Burkeman he explores the idea that much of our lives are dedicated to ignoring or being irrationally fearful of death. Our avoidance of death is one of the foundations of unhappiness. So this weekend I decided to meditate on death, specifically on a visual that Burkeman introduces in his book. You are to imagine yourself at 80 years old, wrinkly, blinded, deteriorating. While sitting in your Lazy-Boy, as all 80 year olds do, you are to fill in the following sentence, "I wish I spent more time....." and "I wish I spent less time...".

Due to this meditation and many other reasons I've decided to change my career goals to work in an environment doing something I love. Therefore, I am changing my major. I know business is not right for me and want to follow a different passion, english literature. I know I would "wish I spent more time building a life I can enjoy."

So THANKS meditation retreat for the clarity and life perspective.