Hi friends. I posted this in the concentration section and am also posting here as this forum is set up with this separation between the two. 

If you’re interested, this is a zoom that a much more experienced meditation friend and teacher recorded, asking me some about the Life journey up to this point and about the kayakalpa dark room retreat I recently experienced. Similar to the one in 2020, I chose to stay in a special small building in southern India, in total darkness for three months, this time solely practicing TWIM meditation, letting go and resting and rechargingggg. This retreat was even more fantastic than the previous, I’m very grateful to have really deep and interesting experiences in the meditation, in the darkness and with myself jajaja. 
https://youtu.be/EssN3-IFrSE

Hahaha as I have now experienced over 220 days in darkness in the last three years I decided to record several videos sharing experiences and suggestions for others who would like to utilize this tool which I’ve benefited so much from. Jajaja I was intending for it to be maybe four 30 minute videos but it turned into muchhh moreeee hahahaha. The first four videos touch on Ayurvedic medicine, health and some of my Life in India. The next group share about why I meditate, about the practice I’ve been using which is known as TWIM / Tranquil Wisdom Insight Meditation and about some of the Life change and results I’ve experienced. I am very much a beginner and don’t feel it’s appropriate for me to give any guidance or instruction. I do share misunderstandings that I initially had from having basically zero background in the teachings of the Buddha, where I incorrectly took MCTB as a guide to his teachings, not realizing MCTB and the Mahasi Sayadaw technique are based out of the Vissudhimagga commentaries, not the actual teachings in the suttas, to now where I read them regularly, listen to dhamma talks on them and have many much wiser friends and teachers, including nuns and  fully ordained monks from India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Canada, who help translate them for me. And my experiences in meditation matching what the Buddha describes hundreds and hundreds of times as meditation and jhana ( to my knowledge he never makes any sort of separation between samatha and vipassana, he describes jhana hundreds of times as being integral to the meditation practice while in the same sentence describing insight occuring with the jhanas and he clearly states that he tried absorbtion practices, including trying to "crush mind with mind" and it didnt bring him what he was looking for). Last year, just a few weeks from my scheduled arrival in Burma to practice at Mahasi Sayadaw monastery I connected with TWIM and very grateful I am. Quite a big shift in Life experience. 

The final videos go into some experiences and insights I’ve had in darkness and suggestions and cautions for others. Throughout them I share different bits and pieces of India and Life that I’ve been learning and experiencing as I’ve been here for 21+ of the last 36 months .  I don’t receive any money or ads or anything for this, just sharing with others. 

If you’re interested, enjoy 

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLytLvPVhgJlX_tXzKEW3oo1rrz7beBGYt

I don’t use digital world
much currently but I will come back around in the future. 

May you be happy ​​​​​​​

Hi and thanks for sharing!

I just want to say that I believe most people here use the "recent posts" option when they engage with the forum, so I don't think you need to worry about people not finding it if it transcends category boundaries. Please, from now on, only post the same thing once. I know it's not perfect, but if people start commenting on different versions of the same post, it might pretty soon get very confusing. Thanks!

Very best wishes,
Linda (mod)

Hi Linda. Thank you for letting me know. Haha I understand and was trying to think of the most effective way. I’ll do differently in el futuro. 

dhanyavaad for your assistance in general
Samuel

I totally understand. It would be awesome with the kind of database where you could just tag all relevant categories, for optimal findability. 

Wow, what a resource you are sharing! I so much look forward to digging into it when I have the time. That's some solid experience you've got! Super cool! 

I recognize that word as thankyou thanks to my limited amount of hindi studies on Duolingo. :-) 

Fascinating! And a bit scary sounding. I think I would lose my mind if I were in darkness that long.

Thanks so much for sharing!