MEDITATION & DEEP RELAXATION RETREATS

Whether consciously or not, we are all driven by desire, but what is the fundamental desire underlying all our separate desires? If you look closely, you will find the primary desire is for continuous peace and happiness, independent of transient conditions….for no “apparent reason.”

When engaging in an activity that absorbs us, we sometimes feel we have been transported “somewhere” or have been in “the zone”. Actually, we have been nowhere. Circumstances have temporarily connected us to the truth of our being and awakened us. 

Peace, Happiness and Awareness is our primal being, so close and intimate, we tend to overlook it, like the sugar on the table, a sweet no-thing, the timeless, transparent presence in which everything is arising moment by moment.

As babies, the conditioned body-mind was not present, so we know that Awareness precedes the formation of the conditioned self. Through conditioning, the body-mind arises by modifying some of the  original unified Awareness, becoming the deeply rooted “me as body-mind” idea.  Babies are so attractive and delightful precisely because they precede this contraction and exude Awareness.

We have spent a lifetime unconsciously holding onto our conditioning. The identification, maintenance and attachment to the separate self requires a lot of energy and effort. 

In Pure Awareness, we gently reverse this process, letting go into each moment of presence. We discover we are more than a dry set of memories and mind-stuff. We are life, pristine and eternally new.

We do not need to destroy or dismantle the conditioned self. We simply question the identification and shift that emphasis from the limited self to the actual pure freedom at our core. Awareness precedes both the body and the mind. Both arise within Awareness. 

Through this process, the body-mind can assume it’s real purpose, as a unique conduit to Pure Awareness.

The body-mind is not “purpose built” for ultimate happiness. When identified with the illusion of separateness, we all experience relative moments of happiness during favourable circumstances, yet deep down we know everything will change at some stage, including our body-mind. What we really crave is un-changing peace and happiness. Only this will authentically satisfy us at the deepest level as only this is what we essentially are.

As separate body-minds, we create individual virtual realities. If you hunger for the ultimate truth of your actual reality, a virtual reality will not completely satisfy.

When we live under the illusory notion that we are a separate body-mind we live with a sense of lack. We try to fill this empty feeling, seeking happiness in external objects and pleasant sensations. As all objects, including our body-mind eventually pass away, we find no Ultimate Happiness in them and often feel fearful, saddened, frustrated and confused. This is not necessarily a bad thing. This friction and annoyance can encourage us to enquire more deeply into the Truth of Reality, the Truth that we are. Suffering is always trying to tell us something!

We crave freedom because it is our essential Nature. This craving is not the problem, only the mis-placement of it. The Awakened state is not one in which there is no fun, pleasure or enjoyment.  Everything experienced now becomes satisfactory as it is arising freely and spontaneously in and as Awareness.

A Deep Relaxation Retreat can support you in revealing your essential Awareness via self-enquiry and as gentle, felt experience.

How to “do” this?

We discuss these themes to give the mind opportunities to ponder them. It is important that the mind has a grasp of the process we are undertaking in the retreat, so it does not feel coerced in any way. We are, after all, pursuing freedom!

Spontaneity and enjoyment are the essence of this process. We start and continue where we want to end up…in the present. There is no pushing or trying to attain anything. The only effort is to practice an effortlessness…without effort!

We are not looking to find some cosmic enlightenment experience in the future and working hard to get there. We are simply re-acquainting with our primary awareness, which, while not lost, is mainly occluded by a misplaced attention.

The “practices” bring you gradually from gentle  movement to stillness, from easy upright movement techniques , to lying down comfortably practicing effortless Connective Web Release, then to the most concentrated practice, Sitting in Stillness. You have plenty of opportunity to self-pace and integrate, safely and gently. We can always choose to “step back” from the intensity of Sitting in Stillness, to lying on our mat or taking a break. You can create your own structure to suit how you feel.

There is no discipline to perfect or mind to oppress. The practices simply serve to gently soften and unravel the habitual attachment to the reductive idea of the self as   a body-mind, enabling the body-mind to gently transform and release it’s onerous responsibilty to provide our identity. It will let go and relax in the truth of awareness. We “enlighten” our being, via gently orienting our body-minds to the present moment, to the real. As past and presence are incompatible, a natural process of “de-fragging” our body-minds and releasing residues from the past evolves as we steadily become lighter and more aware. 

When mental and physical tensions and feelings arise, they do not need to be re-lived, analysed or modified in any way.  They arise as sensations and are simply given space to release in their own time and fashion. There is no active interference to “remove” them. Patience and a kind of loving indifference are the essence of the practices.

This approach can be confounding at first as we are programmed and conditioned to set goals, and control outcomes by our effort. We want to find out how to master things by pro-active “doing”, but in this process, we are invited into a kind of effortless, directionless “being”, with no right or wrong way involved. Within a flexible structure, whatever arises is right, simply because it is authentic to the moment you are experiencing. The techniques are more about the Open Way you experience them than “doing them perfectly”. 

Issani Deep Relaxation Retreats are very definitely and delicately structured, allowing for personal adaptation, and integration into your life after the retreat.

This is helpful in developing the autonomy and self-reliance needed for the return journey to the Self. 

My role in the retreat is to provide a safe, natural and supported space for pondering and exploring these themes. I am also available to share my experience, guidance and techniques. Ongoing mentoring is always available to you.

Becoming established in Pure Awareness is a delight that defies description….and an incredible relief.  

The conditioned self draws it’s energy from Pure Awareness which is it’s source.

Having concluded this, we can orient the separate self to merge back into Pure Awareness.

Awareness is re-cognised as it is – innocent, loving, elegant, naked, timeless, universally present, effulgent,  uncontained, beyond time, space, matter and energy, unborn, eternal and pristine

Living freely as awareness, every “thing” refers back to it’s source as living awareness. Even the mind finds rest and “gives up”, like someone who enjoys the punch line of a joke after trying so hard to “get it”. 

We wonder “Who am I?” if I am not my mind?

It’s an excellent question to ponder!

I am is the reality.

I am X Y & Z is the illusion, created by memories generated by the mind.

This is not to say there is anything wrong with XY or Z…simply that they are lacking in presence as they are made of the past, and will always feel lacking when mis-taken as our primary identity. As long as we view our life through the lens of the past, we cannot be truly present. We do not need to give up our conditioned identity and become zombies to be free. We simply need to recognise that we are Limitless Awareness appearing as a limited form and and story.

When the mind realises it’s own limitations, the journey has really begun. This is humility.  The enquiring mind may bring us to the doorway of truth, but it cannot go through.

The body and mind arise within Awareness, which has no form, no substance is never  born and cannot die.

The body-mind is limited and changeable and can only infer reality. 

Awareness is free, unchanging, limitless and knows directly.

Awareness is prior and transcendental to the body-mind. 

 We say “My body, my mind.” To whom are we referring? 

Although we make this journey alone, most people who have awakened to Awareness have had guidance from others who have already realised this truth and are able to provide advice and support. 

This opportunity offers such ongoing support. If you are interested or have any queries at all please don’t hesitate to get in touch…