End in Sight:
I was thinking about doing a long-ish meditation retreat (date and duration up in the air). Does anyone have any ideas or concrete suggestions regarding ways to make this happen inexpensively (for example, renting a cabin somewhere)? Anyone ever done it or thought of doing it? Positive / negative experiences, caveats, etc?
I understand that there are some good long-term retreat centers outside of the US, but I suspect this option only becomes cost-effective in the case of a fairly long retreat, due to the cost of airfare. (Hence the DIY idea.)
Grab a cheap 2 man tent and tarp some bake beans and noodles and head to a national park or a beach. Find a nice river to camp by, fire a night and walks thru the day.
I DIY every year, some as small as a weekend, usually a week, sometimes at home.
I have done a couple of month long retreats both here in Aus and abroad with teachers but in the end this was because of a belief of that is what I had to do to progress.
There is an oportunity in every moment the only thing that really prevents this is you.
Camping out might put you out of your comfort zone, at night at first it can be pretty freaky but this is fodder for investigation.
Intent: Have a goal whether its achieving a path or investigating a meditation method
Preparation: Slowly increase your time spent meditating in the weeks leading up to the retreat so your mind is concentrated and piable and you've started to develop a consistent routine
Conditions: create the conditions favourable for the desired outcome
Books: take some sutras to investigate, the vidsuhmahgga,
Practice: Mix it up: Meditating - sitting, standing, walking
What is your idea of DIY?