You know,
The most incredible part of this journey,
Step away from everything and just be alone with yourself.
Don't tell anyone you're starting to meditate.
Keep it between us until the end.
I've noticed that the more I talked about my meditation practice,
The less joy I felt from it.
With each session,
I grew stronger,
Gathering the inner strength to eventually face the biggest challenge,
That voice.
The one that always comes near the end of a one-hour meditation,
Urging you to stop.
At first,
I didn't know what to do and I gave in to that voice.
But over time,
I learned to resist it.
I cultivated patience and humility,
Sitting still,
As if my roots were sinking deeper into the ground.
I would simply observe everything happening within me.
I'd wonder,
What would happen if I sat just a bit longer?
After these small victories,
When I made it all the way to the final gong,
I began to realize I had stepped onto my path,
My true path.
And with that,
Came an overwhelming sense of victory.
Just give it a try,
You'll get there too,
Little by little.
The key is to practice,
And slowly,
Insights that were once hidden,
Will start to reveal themselves.
We'll go through this slowly,
Carefully,
So you're in luck.
It's not as intense as a full retreat.
Whenever I go to another vipassana retreat,
There's always a mix of different people.
It's amazing,
Really.
Some are business people,
Some are stay-at-home parents,
Travelers,
Teachers,
Musicians,
Or factory workers.
People from all walks of life come together to cleanse themselves of the dogmas and illusions that they've become trapped in through their everyday routines.
And then,
There you are,
Sitting with a dozen others who are just as crazy as you are.
They sit like pillars,
Completely unmoving.
Honestly,
When I saw these old-timers,
The veteran students who seemed like no storm could shake them,
It was so inspiring.
It showed me two things.
First,
That it's possible.
If they could do it,
So can I.
And second,
Each dive into an hour-long session opened new doors within me.
I got to know myself better,
And that made me happy,
Realizing I wasn't wasting my time.
I was studying my thoughts,
My mental patterns,
And my behaviors,
Which later would show up in how I interact with others.
Once,
I was volunteering at a 10-day vipassana course in France.
It was early morning,
And I was sitting on a bench in the kitchen with an elderly Frenchman waiting for the morning gong.
He told me about his inner turmoil,
How tired he was of the city,
The noise,
The pollution.
He had a childhood friend who just didn't understand why someone would practice vipassana.
And then he asked me,
How do I explain to him that he should give it a try?
That by doing this,
He'll find answers to so many of his questions.
He'll start moving through life more freely,
Grounded in his own wisdom,
And he'll slowly begin to free himself from attachments and suffering.
This technique is something that can't really be explained.
It's something each person has to experience for themselves.
I sat there quietly,
Listening.
After a pause,
He calmed down and concluded,
Yeah,
I guess everyone has their own path,
Their own level,
And their own timing.
So now I'll ask you,
Are you really willing to miss your chance?
I remember my chance,
The one that inspired me.
It was from Ilya Konobengov,
A Russian rock musician from the band Pilot.
He gives lectures where he shares wisdom about how we are all one,
Living beings connected.
I learned a lot from him,
And I'm incredibly grateful,
Especially for what he shared about vipassana.
Without overthinking it,
I found the center,
And a couple of days later,
I was sitting with a bunch of crazy silent friends in the meditation hall,
Exploring reality through my own body.
The resolve I had at that moment,
Along with the understanding that this experience would benefit me,
Became the cornerstone of my life.
So dear friend,
My advice to you is simple.
Do the homework,
Follow the instructions,
And you'll see results.
Thank you for your attention.
When you're ready at any point during the day,
Feel free to move on to the next audio recording.
