is a month meditation retreat, which is offered several places, for me it was in France, Dechen Chöling, I just found a lot of photos, and thought it would be nice to show…and inspire…
To meditate for a month, from 6am – 10pm most of the day in silence, some days in total silence…is creating more space in the inner space, its a kind of decluttering…cleaning up a lot of endless repeating thoughts…its some of the best weeks in my life, and I would love to make another dathun…
Dathun is a month-long group meditation retreat. Led by senior teachers and experienced meditation instructors, dathun is an opportunity to fully immerse oneself in mindfulness meditation. Group practice is more than a number of people practicing together, each on their own path. Rather, group discipline and mindfulness creates a shared atmosphere of wakefulness, although there is not much talking. This mutual support, inspiration and awareness is at the heart of the journey that all the participants at dathun take together.
The practice of dathun is centered on mindfulness meditation. Each day consists of a full schedule of mindfulness practice, alternating sitting and walking meditation in the meditation hall. Although it takes real effort to do the practice, the daily discipline is based on joy in settling our minds and making friends with ourselves, not endurance or hardship for hardship’s sake. Participants are individually mentored by experienced instructors, and the leaders of the program offer teachings regularly that help put each meditator’s personal experience in the context of the meditative journey as a whole. The teachings of meditation have been passed down by generations of meditators who traveled the same path since the time of the Buddha.
In dathun, the practice of mindfulness goes beyond sitting on a mediation cushion; every aspect of daily life is part of the mindfulness discipline of rediscovering the present moment and our own hearts and minds. In a world of speed and multi-tasking, the simplicity of the daily schedule and routine of dathun provides a welcome alternative. Bit by bit we become friends with the present moment, unadorned, in the simple activities of the day: waking, brushing out teeth, dressing, sitting, breathing, serving food, eating, cleaning up, listening to a talk, and walking home in the cold evening with a full moon casting blue shadows on the snow.
Especially important is how we eat. In our daily lives, meals are often rushed and distracted, or a form of relief and entertainment. In dathun, you explore group meals as an expression of the sacredness of our connection to the world, each other and the food you eat.
To support this journey, the dathun have borrowed a Japanese Zen practice called oryoki. Each person has his or her own set of bowls, chopsticks and napkins. During each meal the set is opened, food is served accompanied by chanting, and everyone eats on the meditation cushion. After eating, the bowls are washed and the sets assembled right on the spot. (For lots more on oryoki, see http://www.shambhala.org/oryoki.php). For many people (once the ritual is familiar!), oryoki is a transformative practice, one that offers a fundamental perspective on livelihood and the sacredness of daily activities.
What will you take home from our experience at dathun? The heart of dathun is mindfulness practice, which in Sanskrit is shamatha, which literally means “peaceful abiding.” Mindfulness involves training the mind to come back to the present moment and to abandon the struggle involved in clinging to the past or worrying about the future. Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche described this as “turning the mind into an ally.” The ability to place one’s attention on any task or object without struggle is useful in throughout one’s life. More importantly, developing a sense of sympathy and appreciation towards ourselves and the world is the basis of a good human life.
the castle Dechen Chöling in France
preparing the retreat
waiting to get in to meditation
meditating 10 hours per day for 30 days, me in the front
meditationchair
reflextion
outside the meditationtent
happy me, a little break
sky
accommodation for some
smoke ceremony
childrens room
kitchenarea
break
laundry
me in black and purple, celebrating a month of meditation
celebration
buddhist prayer flags
aviajaspace 