Appreciate so much him speaking of the risk of psychological crisis/harm during retreat - i rarely hear anyone speak of this. I sat a 3 month silent retreat before i was really ready - my enthusiasm was greater than my capacity. While some openings and beauty came out of it, that I treasure, i also had a severe breakdown, and years later i still struggle because of it, and feel confusion about my path forward in the Dharma. Hearing Dr Nida give time to this topic helps to normalise what happened for me, and blame myself less.
Great video thanks for uploading. Thanks for your hard work to give us these Teachings! May Dr Nida live for a very long time and continue to guide us. May all of his wishes come true 🌹🌹🌹❤❤❤
This guy is so down to earth, like Guo Gu, and like my own old roshi. Humility is the path. Too many spiritual narcissists out there now days, walking around like royalty with yoga mats.
I resonate with everything Dr. Nida is talking about. To me, emotional intelligence and relaxation towards my and other's definition of 'me', are both prerequisite for true spiritual expansion and the result of it (another level). Isolating human or psychological 'me' from spiritual 'me' offers limited opportunity for spiritual growth leading to pride, spiritual bypass and often mental decline too... What follows each leap of holistic expansion (body - mind - psyche complex), is renegotiation of our relationship with the world and some karmic connections. It is natural process. Thank you for this wonderful interview 🙏🤍
Hi Steve! Did you consider having Damo mitchell, lotus nei gong, on your channel? After years studying theravada Buddhism I finded another source of clear information. The daoist process to Awekening that he present is probably distant from the normal personality that you bring on, but I find him really grounded and honest in presenting this sensible knowledge. Best regards
exciting! You reinforced my conclusions about retreats: in the end a person goes into a retreat but he takes himself with him… In a retreat itself a person does not change - his karma does not change and the patterns of thinking and behavior do not change. In Retreat you can stop the flow of life, recharge with higher energy, learn and practice new techniques or delve deeper into techniques you are already familiar with. But the real test of retreat is back to life - has your attitude towards family, friends, work and others changed? Do you manage to see life differently? Are you functioning from a new, deeper, more compassionate place? Can you forgive yourself more? Do you more easily accept the moments of depression, the anxieties? Can you act better in stressful situations?
I found that there was some sadness that accompanied me as the energy level dropped. It is important to accept it. The hardest for me was to sit down to the meditation routine again and find that all the experiences and fireworks were gone and I went back to the same place as before the retreat. It takes time and patience to feel the change.
You may not notice any change at all for some time and then realize the change is there, but very, very deep. Just be super careful about the first week out. Limit talking, limit activity, limit and slowly go back. Your energy will be zooming out, very strong and pushy energy, so be very cautious about speech and your reactions. Go for long walks, that helps. Also limit contact with ordinary people, what you see and what you hear. Protect yourself. You are super sensitive when you come out of retreat, so everything pierces right into you. So carefully limit and slowly re-enter. Especially be careful about negative news, chatty people- even friends and family, and really careful about the negative or violent things you might inadvertently see online. I find that if you treat the first week or ten days out of retreat as a sort of slower retreat as if you were sick with flu and just putzing around the house, and be protective of yourself. You can keep your equilibrium better because you are super sensitive to others' energy then. Do not tell anyone you have been in retreat or talk about your retreat to anyone but your teacher or a senior student you have as a friend. Just say you went away traveling, or for a shorter period just say you were at a conference, or workshop, or taking a senior seminar. People can accept that without question. Be careful who you talk to and what you say. Jealousy is a problem: "Well, if he had all these fantastic experiences, why haven't I had them???" and so trouble arises. So don't talk about it. If you do, you run the risk of others thinking you are proud, vain, or conceited. Now you are looking from the inside out, but they are still on the outside and can't understand. So say nothing. Or you will get conflict and negative opinions that shake you. "Oh, she thinks she is such a hotshot yogi!" You know, the old " hot snot on a silver platter, but really just a cold boogie on a toothpick!" you have to protect yourself from others' put-downs and disrespect, so just don't talk about it except to the very few dharma friends. Following the old ways, the old customs is the safest because they really work and will keep you in good balance and easy-going practice. Remember, you are in the deity's form as you go about the earth. Be confident. Also, don't be afraid that you will lose the retreat head. You will find that at a very very deep level, it never leaves you from now on. _/\_ Wherever you are, that is your cave. There are wilderness cabins you can rent. When you meditate well, you will be able to stop the river. Dogen Zenji did, and you will also, and find yourself far above this planet in outer space! . "Dharma Gates are immeasurable, I vow to enter them all." So know the dhatus and enter from all of them , as they present themselves to you. That way, there is no hindrance or obstacle at all. Everything is Buddha dancing, the dancing guru presents as the dakini and all appearances and situations are her gauzy scarves that she dances with to teach you how to actually put the teachings into practice. Sun-faced Buddha. Moon-faced Buddha!
So interesting. But I can’t ignore how reductive I feel the good Dr is being? And, if so, who will qualify to embark upon retreat? My hunch tells me that anyone who has turned to meditation and to understand themselves have likely felt depressed before? A disconnect if you like? I have found meditation to be very helpful in my recovery. But I suspect I wouldn’t make the cut for a long retreat. I feel excluded.
@@GuruViking well. You can try fabio andrico, main linage holder of yantra yoga. Adriano clemente main translator for norbu rinpoche or maybe elias capriles, diciple of norbu rinpoche, dudjom rinpiche and tinle norbu. Malcom smith might be a good option also
