Spiritual retreats and coming back to 'society'

[Javfly33]

When I go retreat to my village (they live 20 people there, and is in between a mountain range) I realize just looking at the beauty and rawness of this place, the fresh air, the pure water, the wild nature, I realize I want to live here all my life.

I only want to Go deeper into the silence and bliss, until who knows what happens. Is like there is a vacuum of energy that pulls me there and wants me to stay because something profound awaits to be discovered.

But then at one point my mind says, no, you have to achieve more in order to live here forever. Is not normal to be in your late 20s and go live on an almost unpopulated village.  You have a lot to achieve before that.

And so I go back. I succumb to the fear or the pressure. Not maybe from society but also from my mind. 

Does someone else feels the same?

 

Edited August 16 by Javfly33

[Keryo Koffa]

To desire such a thing so early sure is a sign of spiritual accomplishment or 'successful reincarnations'!

I feel similarly, well it varies, I do love technology and new experiences, but most of society is a void.

One arbitrary desire reinforces the other and creates a whole industry of superficial endeavor.

Yet there's also lots of beautiful art and interactions.

You have all the time in the world to figure this out.

[Davino]

@Javfly33

 

 

[Joshe]

59 minutes ago, Javfly33 said:

Does someone else feels the same?

I felt like this in my late twenties. Had I had the option to retreat, I probably would have. I wanted retreat because I was tired of resenting society. 2 or 3 years in a village might have done me some good but I can't say it would have been better.

Either way seems fine. Both paths can be fruitful in terms of growth and experience. Both are challenging and come with their own sacrifices. 

You have two options. Act on impulse or guide yourself by analysis. Analysis is best but requires a lot of work and the questions therein are not easy to answer. Some questions might be impossible for you to answer, which is the problem I ran into. This is why Know Thyself is one of the highest pearls of wisdom. If you knew yourself well enough, it'd be much easier to make the right decision.

I think it comes down to your values and what you need most to put yourself in the position you want to be in. 

Edited August 16 by Joshe

[Breakingthewall]

2 hours ago, Javfly33 said:

 

But then at one point my mind says, no, you have to achieve more in order to live here forever. Is not normal to be in your late 20s and go live on an almost unpopulated village.  You have a lot to achieve before that.

Normal, we are humans, not plants. Within our facets the social pushes strongly. Thousands of genetic triggers make different springs spring. There are people, like Ramana Maharshi and those, who do not have that genetic compulsion, but most of us have to finding our place in human society, which is quite difficult. It is a software from which you cannot escape, any attempt at evasion, in my opinion, takes you to a deeper and more complicated prison. It is better to look your desire in the face and materialize it. As Muhammad said, Leave the things of which you doubt for the things in which there is no doubt. 

It's simple, just listen yourself. Maybe your destiny is being a true ascetic in communion with nature. 

Edited August 16 by Breakingthewall

[Javfly33]

@Davino @Joshe @Breakingthewall i Guess if my Mind ends Up bothering me also in the retreat, is not that important if im there or in the city, the growth must be within, and from that inner Evolution things Will align

Because the desires or blockages are the same in both places. Is just that i see tremendous easier to go deeper in certain places more than others. 

In Cities going Deep Still and silence is very difficult, but things seem to move faster, the stress seems to be in a way a process forward towards something.

In nature or village going Deep Seems very very easy, all of the surroundings and the energy collaborates It for you. However there is the fear of stagnation. What if i invest 10 years and dont go anywhere? Maybe those 10 years in the city altough more tough would acelerate certain growth.

 

Edited August 16 by Javfly33

[Breakingthewall]

39 minutes ago, Javfly33 said:

Because the desires or blockages are the same in both places. Is just that i see tremendous easier to go deeper in certain places more than others

You can try to force yourself a little, 3, 4 day intensive meditation retreats without a phone in the nature for example, then return to the city, and your tendency will become clearer with time

Edited August 16 by Breakingthewall

[Joshe]

52 minutes ago, Javfly33 said:

What if i invest 10 years and dont go anywhere? Maybe those 10 years in the city altough more tough would acelerate certain growth.

You can't operate on this mindset. Failure cannot be an option. It would only be fruitless if you allowed it to be. Don't allow it. When it comes to decisions this big, you have to fully commit. If you fully commit and it turns out that you didn't gain what you sought, it would not be a waste.

It's hard to waste life. All experience has some value, IMO. 

[Javfly33]

19 hours ago, Breakingthewall said:

You can try to force yourself a little, 3, 4 day intensive meditation retreats without a phone in the nature for example, then return to the city, and your tendency will become clearer with time

 @Breakingthewall Yes, probably thats a good route.

It seems is getting clear for me now. There is a blockage in my energies that i can not avoid just trying to meditate and sit Still. 

Or maybe the spiritual work is a way to activate that inner Power that cuts through the blockage. So in the city or nature one can do the same i Guess.

18 hours ago, Joshe said:

You can't operate on this mindset. Failure cannot be an option. It would only be fruitless if you allowed it to be. Don't allow it. When it comes to decisions this big, you have to fully commit. If you fully commit and it turns out that you didn't gain what you sought, it would not be a waste.

It's hard to waste life. All experience has some value, IMO. 

Thats true Thought

[BlessedLion]

On 8/16/2024 at 9:28 AM, Javfly33 said:

When I go retreat to my village (they live 20 people there, and is in between a mountain range) I realize just looking at the beauty and rawness of this place, the fresh air, the pure water, the wild nature, I realize I want to live here all my life.

I only want to Go deeper into the silence and bliss, until who knows what happens. Is like there is a vacuum of energy that pulls me there and wants me to stay because something profound awaits to be discovered.

But then at one point my mind says, no, you have to achieve more in order to live here forever. Is not normal to be in your late 20s and go live on an almost unpopulated village.  You have a lot to achieve before that.

And so I go back. I succumb to the fear or the pressure. Not maybe from society but also from my mind. 

Does someone else feels the same?

 

Totally man.

 

I've found that it is healthy to balance it out. Your mind is right in that and even in some Indian traditions, your younger years are for worldly things and pursuing enlightenment while being "in the market". It is only when you are really older like 60-70 you can drop off completely.

I want to merge God Realization with this human experience and enjoy it as much as possible. I basically live like that. I spend 8 hours per day meditating and contemplating but i still hang out with people, go to bars, cafes, parks, shoot youtube videos, etc to still be involved in the world. That bliss and depth will always be there for you. Enjoy manifestation while pursuing Enlightenment, it only gets more fun. Try to master the manifest world (women, career, health, discipline, study, life purpose) 

That said, I do think it's important to have time (for me it's usually 3 months) of pure contemplation, solitude, and cosnciousness work.

[BlessedLion]

On 8/16/2024 at 9:38 AM, Keryo Koffa said:

most of society is a void.

Not if you see it as God manifest. Yes, people may only be able to go to a "certain" level with you, but that is still fully 100% God (you) and there is no such thing as shallowness. That duality can dissolve (shallow people vs deep people)

[BlessedLion]

On 8/16/2024 at 10:56 AM, Breakingthewall said:

. Maybe your destiny is being a true ascetic in communion with nature. 

I think it's better to be in solitude and fulfilled than try to fit in somewhere you feel alienated 

[BlessedLion]

On 8/16/2024 at 0:19 PM, Javfly33 said:

What if i invest 10 years and dont go anywhere?

I think it's vital to INTEGRATE those mountain times into the city. That's probaly the best path.

 

I usually do retreats then go straight to a crazy busy city like Rio to talk to girls and socialize. It's fucking perfect.

[BlessedLion]

Also, if it helps at all, the mountain top God is the same as the city God. The Truth (as i'm sure you know) is that it is already True, its already the case. Full Enlightenment and Non Dual realization is the case whether your in a temple in Japan or a strip club in Houston. With that mentality you can remove the dogma of needing to become an aestetic and just constantly work on your consciousness at all times. If you need to do a retreat for a bit to really focus, you do that. If you want to deepen your practice in a city and see if you can your self-awareness, go party in Rio. It's a win win. 

 

"How many times must you go to the mountain before you no longer need to go the mountains"

-Zen Proverb

[Javfly33]

11 hours ago, BlessedLion said:

 

 

"How many times must you go to the mountain before you no longer need to go the mountains"

-Zen Proverb

Damn thats a good one lol

@BlessedLion thanks for your inputs, very insightful

[Javfly33]

@BlessedLion Altough in regards to the Zen proberb, realistically there is a difference of intensity of what im able to reach in the mountains VS in the city or almost any other place.

Same sadhana, same kriya, same yoga, same meditation, but doing It there becomes more profound, every single time.

I mean is not placebo. First 3 days I did sadhana there this last summer, every single day i had tears running down my eyes. 

I literally can just do nothing and just walk around that place and IS like im on 5ug of LSD, just without doing anything, just walking and Breathing that air.

Of course im sure if one Focus one can go the same place in their living room in the middle of Manhattan, but is true some some external influences sometimes acelerate or facilitate a lot.

Edited August 18 by Javfly33

[ChrisZoZo]

On 16/08/2024 at 4:28 PM, Javfly33 said:

mind says, no, you have to achieve more in order to live here forever. Is not normal to be in your late 20s

This is a trap now u fallen for it don’t do again. But the amazing thing is the trap in NOT the act of going back to work but it’s the act of not doing practice and not being present all the time. Plus the future is not real so the mind really wins by both making u believe you are body identity and you can’t do the practice. When you start the internal arguments this the mind is laughing. He got you real bad. 

[BlessedLion]

11 hours ago, Javfly33 said:

@BlessedLion Altough in regards to the Zen proberb, realistically there is a difference of intensity of what im able to reach in the mountains VS in the city or almost any other place.

Same sadhana, same kriya, same yoga, same meditation, but doing It there becomes more profound, every single time.

I mean is not placebo. First 3 days I did sadhana there this last summer, every single day i had tears running down my eyes. 

I literally can just do nothing and just walk around that place and IS like im on 5ug of LSD, just without doing anything, just walking and Breathing that air.

Of course im sure if one Focus one can go the same place in their living room in the middle of Manhattan, but is true some some external influences sometimes acelerate or facilitate a lot.

Totally agree brother. I don’t think the quote is necessarily denying that certain places have stronger energy, more nourishment and flow. 
 

I know what you mean. I’m going to the mountains for a 10 day retreat in a week and the amount of stillness I feel there is hard to get in a city. 
 

I think the one thing that does stay however, no matter the location is the expansive feeling of being in infinity and everything I’m experiencing unfolding and existing within “Me”

 

There is a temptation to just live off grid and meditate though. Super blissful 

[Fountainbleu]

I recently finished watching the Buddah at the Gas Pump interview with David Goodman who I like very much. He’s written most English books about Ramana Maharshi and has met and interviewed many enlightened individuals. In the interview he said he never met a single person who was properly able to practice self-inquiry living a busy life, only in solitude were they able to.

Edit: part about self-inquiry; I remember now.

Edited August 20 by Fountainbleu

[Javfly33]

On 18/8/2024 at 10:04 PM, ChrisZoZo said:

This is a trap now u fallen for it don’t do again. But the amazing thing is the trap in NOT the act of going back to work but it’s the act of not doing practice and not being present all the time. Plus the future is not real so the mind really wins by both making u believe you are body identity and you can’t do the practice. When you start the internal arguments this the mind is laughing. He got you real bad. 

@ChrisZoZo yeah i wonder...If time does not exist and is Always this Now moment..

 

Why we Keep posponing the Dissolution? The surrender? The Bliss? The final trascendence?

 

Yes just 20 more years of running around  please ... Why?? I dont see the point 

 

Death is at the end of the corner, why not go the mountains now and surrender whole illusion and welcome death, why not end this Circus now. I want the Etheric inmortal Bliss, i want to go beyond physicality and mortality. Beyond language and knowing, beyond reality and unreality.