Meditation retreat @ Southern California Vipassana Center (Goenka)
Here is the tiny cavelike room I crawled into for 10 days with no TV, computer, phones, books, diaries etc. The room was practically just a 5'X10' passage to the bathroom (lucky me, I got an attached bathroom), with a 3'6"X5'6" alcove with a twin size mattress on a hard platform. Twelve hour introspective meditations in noble silence every day from four in the morning to nine @ night!
Unlike the Buddhist monks we did not have to go out & beg for food, simple meals were provided through the generosity of previous meditators. There is no money collected upfront or you can not even donate money to the center unless you have taken the Dhamma path yourself for ten days first! So you are depending on charity of others for your meals, accommodations & the facility!
Obviously when your motivation is anything other than enlightenment (like bliss or just plain pain alleviation in my case) all you would find is more pain & disappointment! Far from being equanimous; I was obsessed with cravings & aversions! Who knows, may be with time & practice the miracle of "Dukhkha jaye tanik tanik" may happen some day!
Here is a neat little set up @ the front of the modest buffet lines for pre-dishwashing that all cohousing common dining areas should adopt. The sink in the center has a foot operated spigot & a large strainer for food scraps. On the left are bins for composting & trash, a scrubbing brush in a soapy pail & on the right trays for dishes, bowls & cups, the bin for scrubbed silverware is in the middle right behind the spigot (not all trays & bins are in the picture here).
The Las Vegas Seniors meet on the fourth Saturday of the month @ the temple now & are getting serious about raising funds. Will post more info on it in a couple of days.
