Longest period of Meditation!

Cedar, modified 6 Years ago at 8/27/17 1:20 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 8/27/17 1:18 PM

Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 26 Join Date: 6/23/17 Recent Posts
Many of us know about places of intensive meditation and practice.

On the Zen side places like Antai-ji in Japan & Gyobutsuji Zen Monastery in America come to mind.

For Theravada, Panditãrãma or Pa Auk Forest Monastery.

I am curious what are the longest stretches of intense meditation you have heard and also completed yourself!

It can be a folk story or true.

I am having a hard time finding the information now but one of the longest periods of meditation I have heard of is the 100 day Sesshin! I guess it all depends on the time-table of each day but if it is a standard Sesshin that would be beyond intense.

For myself I had a period a few years back while watching a property. I would do some simple chores and then walk over to a close park and sit. I probably was sitting around 7-10 hours a day and I think the period was about a month and a half or two.

I had a point were I had an incredible absorption/mystical experience. Almost like a powerful psychedelic experience although it was totally clear and there was no background feelings.

In it I experienced what felt like the massiveness of Samsara and were I was and had developed so far. Also seemed I had taken Bodhisattva vows in the past as I was experienced as a Bodhisattva. The interesting thing is at this time I was practicing very intensely on the Theravada perspective and so hadn't thought about Bodhisattvas in a long time to my knowledge lol

It was a very powerful experience.
Jinxed P, modified 6 Years ago at 8/27/17 2:53 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 8/27/17 2:50 PM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 347 Join Date: 8/29/11 Recent Posts
There are people who spend their entire lives in caves or huts in Tibet meditating. 

Here is a video of a nun who has been in solitary retreat for 45 years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ50fOmSBrU
Cedar, modified 6 Years ago at 8/28/17 1:21 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 8/28/17 1:21 PM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 26 Join Date: 6/23/17 Recent Posts
Yes I've seen that, the Tibetans really have some interesting practices like the 3 year retreat and Dark retreats.

What about you Jinxed any intense meditation retreat experiences and or personal practices!
Jinxed P, modified 6 Years ago at 8/29/17 8:19 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 8/29/17 8:19 AM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 347 Join Date: 8/29/11 Recent Posts
Cedar:
Yes I've seen that, the Tibetans really have some interesting practices like the 3 year retreat and Dark retreats.

What about you Jinxed any intense meditation retreat experiences and or personal practices!


Longest time I've spent in continuous retreat (at a monastery) was 3 weeks. Nothing to write home about. 
Stuie Charles Law, modified 6 Years ago at 8/31/17 2:23 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 8/31/17 2:23 AM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 94 Join Date: 3/19/15 Recent Posts
Failure to comply with the mental health requirements for participation in a Goenka 14 day intensive, i set up and completed a 3 and a half month (110 days) home reteat.  From this sprang stream entry, a kundalini awakening and second path......extremely messy, but oh so fucking wonderful.......21 months in and each day is just one brand new experience after another.

The most important aspect of all this is the fact that prior to this peek experience i have a practice log here describing in excess of 7,000 hours of meditation..........without that, for me, nothing would be possibe.

I vacated the drivers seat to my life in the last few weeks and benefit flowed immediately 

So strange that all the benefits received, including a higher power, whom i am slowly coming to understand, are directly  attributable to the years spent here in my birth place.........the Beautiful Dharma Overground.......a place of great pragmatism.

Blessings to this good ship and all who sail in her.........xxxxxxxxxxx
Cedar, modified 6 Years ago at 8/31/17 4:31 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 8/31/17 4:31 PM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 26 Join Date: 6/23/17 Recent Posts
Stuie Charles Law:
Failure to comply with the mental health requirements for participation in a Goenka 14 day intensive, i set up and completed a 3 and a half month (110 days) home reteat.  From this sprang stream entry, a kundalini awakening and second path......extremely messy, but oh so fucking wonderful.......21 months in and each day is just one brand new experience after another.

The most important aspect of all this is the fact that prior to this peek experience i have a practice log here describing in excess of 7,000 hours of meditation..........without that, for me, nothing would be possibe.

I vacated the drivers seat to my life in the last few weeks and benefit flowed immediately 

So strange that all the benefits received, including a higher power, whom i am slowly coming to understand, are directly  attributable to the years spent here in my birth place.........the Beautiful Dharma Overground.......a place of great pragmatism.

Blessings to this good ship and all who sail in her.........xxxxxxxxxxx
Feel like sharing more details?
Stuie Charles Law, modified 6 Years ago at 9/2/17 6:03 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 9/2/17 6:03 AM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 94 Join Date: 3/19/15 Recent Posts
My practice log is here.......do what i did.......dig......dig deep find your path......establish a practice.....put the hours in on the cushion......stop looking for freebies
Stuie Charles Law, modified 6 Years ago at 9/2/17 7:17 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 9/2/17 7:17 AM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 94 Join Date: 3/19/15 Recent Posts
Forgive me Cedar, that was rather blunt and unfriendly......it is hard to speak of my experiences with Kundalini Shanti as the awakening process has stripped so much from me.......i don't have the need to identify with my story........so much shit and crap is falling away......still a massive ego lurking around, but slabs of this also falling......strangely enough, it is not till i read others awakening stories, that i can sometimes say Yes, i remember that happening to me......and that feels so strange because i identified so completely with my personal bullshit......look at me .......thousands of cushion hours and if you ain't got a bad assed practice, you ain't worth shit......now, is so strange, living right here right now, is my only aim.....the constant, never-ending, beautiful now!!!

Forgive a rude 66 year old baby boomer......the sooner my lot drop off this purch the better aye!
C P M, modified 6 Years ago at 9/2/17 8:07 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 9/2/17 8:05 AM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 218 Join Date: 5/23/13 Recent Posts
This is Stuarts the practice log I believe: 

https://www.dharmaoverground.org/discussion/-/message_boards/message/3795572

I've followed and benefited from his reporting. 

Like many other users, passwords are sometimes forgotten, so other accounts are created.  I heard something about the password recovery system working better now, but I am not sure.
Cedar, modified 6 Years ago at 9/3/17 4:42 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 9/3/17 4:42 PM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 26 Join Date: 6/23/17 Recent Posts
Stuie Charles Law:
Forgive me Cedar, that was rather blunt and unfriendly......it is hard to speak of my experiences with Kundalini Shanti as the awakening process has stripped so much from me.......i don't have the need to identify with my story........so much shit and crap is falling away......still a massive ego lurking around, but slabs of this also falling......strangely enough, it is not till i read others awakening stories, that i can sometimes say Yes, i remember that happening to me......and that feels so strange because i identified so completely with my personal bullshit......look at me .......thousands of cushion hours and if you ain't got a bad assed practice, you ain't worth shit......now, is so strange, living right here right now, is my only aim.....the constant, never-ending, beautiful now!!!

Forgive a rude 66 year old baby boomer......the sooner my lot drop off this purch the better aye!

No forgiveness needed emoticon Awesome replies and I think were on point!
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This very moment, modified 6 Years ago at 9/3/17 6:53 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 9/3/17 6:53 PM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 71 Join Date: 7/6/17 Recent Posts
Stu, 

I have read over your practice log and have to say your story is incredible!  Thank you so much for sharing.  It has inspired me to get SE.  To accomplish this after all your family problems and health problems... wow, just wow.  I wish you would check back in here from time to time and let us know what is happening.
Cedar, modified 6 Years ago at 9/4/17 2:55 PM
Created 6 Years ago at 9/4/17 2:55 PM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 26 Join Date: 6/23/17 Recent Posts
This very moment:
Stu, 

I have read over your practice log and have to say your story is incredible!  Thank you so much for sharing.  It has inspired me to get SE.  To accomplish this after all your family problems and health problems... wow, just wow.  I wish you would check back in here from time to time and let us know what is happening.


I have found the journals to be a great idea and resource as well.  Especially the ones that are very clear and systematic.

Good writing skills really make the valuable/resource ones stand out highly.  Especially when there are a few of them as you can really compare for similarities and differences.

Helps you see trends and such.
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Daniel M Ingram, modified 6 Years ago at 9/7/17 4:36 AM
Created 6 Years ago at 9/7/17 4:36 AM

RE: Longest period of Meditation!

Posts: 3268 Join Date: 4/20/09 Recent Posts
Longest I have completed myself: a mere 27 days, that being in Jan to Feb 1996 with Christopher Titmuss and crew in Bodh Gaya, India at the Thai Monastery. Got stream entry on that retreat. Good times. Nice people. Thankful for that opportunity and those teachers and co-retreatants.

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