Discover Meditation – dates 2023:

May 26 – 29, 2023

03 – 06 August 2023

October 26 – 29, 2023

This course starts at 5 p.m. on Thursday (check in is possible from 3 p.m.) and ends at 12 noon on Sunday (with the possibility to check out after lunch at 3 p.m.).

 

Only travel partners can share a room. If you only book for yourself, please book the single room.

Why we meditate

Is there not a wish deep inside of all of us, a desire, a longing not just to grow old but to grow up, to  become mature and ultimately to become a wise man or woman? And is there not an expectation that eventually life will guide you there? Will this happen by itself?

Well of course life’s events are the best learning school. Having said that, the Western culture is no longer supporting this evolution very much because it has become so materialistic. These days becoming adult means reaching a certain age, getting a job, having a house, a car, a career, kids perhaps… but that is something very different and has nothing to do with the maturity we talk about here.

The mystical poet Alāl ad-Dīn Rumi said:

Who does not enter this state of maturity has been living life only half.

We talk about the evolution that every person should naturally go through. At birth everyone equally starts in a state of ignorance. We grow into a state of Adolescence when questions come up like ‘what is the meaning of living?’. The mature state can become realised when we have dived into this question and start living our task.

~

“Whoever has become mature

– a human being living in the NOW –

sees the world in wonder

as through the eyes of a child”

~

Meditation is a powerful tool for this exploration and realisation.

What is Meditation

A quote from Yoginâm:

Meditation belongs to your daily life. It is like eating, drinking, breathing and sleeping. It is opening to your deepest essence. Meditation is not an activity. Real meditation is a moment of letting go. It is going back to your base, and then allow things to happen without expectation, without trying to influence things.

Meditation is preparing for a moment that the door opens. It is allowing a moment of infusion of Awareness . We cannot know, see or feel Awareness. We cannot manage Awareness. We can only open the door by letting go.

Letting go is like opening the shutters in a dark room by which the light comes in by itself. This is like the moment of infusion of Awareness. And in that moment it takes care of itself. It is this moment that feeds you. It is your cure, the moment of healing. Meditation is a moment of ultimate peace.

For that Asha- and Breath Meditation are pure meditations. The more we live in Awareness, the more complete and natural we are. We are able to make our choices on a better basis, for better consequences and become better able to deal with problems.

And for those who can hear and understand, for the individual and the human race as a whole, the importance of meditation is to keep the connection with Awareness alive. To keep this connection with ultimate peace. For living Now and what comes after.

 

 

Content of the course

No one can teach another to meditate, this is something to discover for yourself. During this course we provide helpful and proven meditation techniques that are powerful and supportive in the process of letting go and opening. In addition, we provide a framework that clarifies what meditation is and what it is not. Also the not helpful myths like ‘you should stop thinking during meditation’ will be looked at. Thinking for example is not wrong, thoughts coming up is natural and this is very much part of the process, this cannot and does not need to be stopped. You can however deal with it in a certain way.

During this course we will practice meditation together.

You will become familiar with Asha Meditation with rattle and drum and Breath Meditation. To support meditation on a deeper level, we also use HarpMood which is a form of communication that happens beyond words. The sounds of the harp played in this very special way can touch the essence of what we are.

We start with short moments of meditation and prepare this at an easy pace to be able to work in depth. There will be moments of silence throughout the day such as during meals and in some break moments to let the meditation work. This can also contribute positively to the next meditation because you immediately start from the previously achieved silence. But we also facilitate moments to share and ask questions, so the days are certainly not entirely in silence.

Something to take home with you

You will be given breathing exercises which you can take home and we pay attention to integrating meditation in daily life and on how to continue a meditation rhythm at home. This can be different for everyone. For those who wish, it is possible to get support in the form of joint online meditations.

This meditation course is a perfect way to prepare you for our other meditation programmes such as Silent Weekends, communal retreats and private retreats.

And for those who have difficulties dealing with daily life like stress, anxiety and burnout these meditation tools can become powerfull instruments for transformation.

~

“You learn to be with what is,

to let go by breathing

to open yourself

to that which is more than

what can be perceived by the senses”.

~

Programme

Friday:

This is the arrival day, there will be a general introduction in the afternoon with an introduction video about meditation and a short ten minute silence meditation where you practise with the basic principle where everyone starts: ‘Being with what is’.

Saturday:

10.00 – 10.15 We start again with a short ten minute silence meditation; ‘being with what is’.

10.15 – 11.00 A second meditation instruction film, questions and short exercise with rattle.

11.45 – 12.05 Asha Meditation with rattle

12.05 – 12.30 Individual reflection time in silence

12.30 – 13.15 Instruction with attention to breathing, body posture and Intent

13.15 – 13.50 Asha Meditation with rattle and Statement of Intent

Lunch Break

16.30 – 17.10 HarpMood and Breath Silence meditation

17.10 – 18.00 Individual nature walk in silence

18.00 – 18.30 Exchange, questions and answers

18.30 – 19.00 Asha Meditation with drum

19.30 Supper

Sunday:

10.00 – 10.30 – Asha – Breath Meditation

10.30 – 11.00 Instruction with attention to integration into daily life, questions and answers

11.00 – 11.45 Individual reflection time in silence

11.45 – 12.25 Asha – Breath Meditation

12.25 – 13.15 Individual reflection time in silence

13.15 – 13.50 Asha – Breath Meditation with Statement of Intent

Lunch break

16.30 – 17.15 HarpMood with Breath Meditation

17.15 – 18.15 Individual nature walk in silence

18.30 – 19.20 Asha – Breath Meditation with drum

19.30 – 20.30 Supper

Monday:

On Monday we end with a thirty minute Asha – Breath Meditation at 10.00 am, afterwards there is a conclusion with final questions, explanation of follow-up possibilities (online), cleaning up and departing.