It has been a Full year since I discovered the Al Anon program and MIP family, after a lot of struggle in codependency...and maybe even 'thanks' to the disease of alcohol, i have had  my so called awakening. I experienced the misery this disease brings along, but at the same time I realized the importance of the tools given here in Al Anon. Applying them saved my serenity in many cases, I am really grateful to have encountered that path, because it led me quite gently to serenity and peace within myself. And that on time. I learned so many things on that path, about myself, other, the relationship between all people, tools, wrong and right deeds... I learned fore-mostly to trust  again, in myself and in others, and this is priceless growth. I kept an open mind and open heart all along, which helped me move forward. Not every day is an easy day, not every day is a miserable day. My curiosity has been strong enough that I kept on researching, listening, sitting, waiting. I grew in knowledge, in patience, in awareness, in compassion. I became a better person following this program, and love inside grew more. and it is spreading to others as well. 

I told you recently that I would join a meditation course of 10 days in the past month , and i promised I would come back to share. i never thought that one day i would speak so fondly of that technique...it usually seemed to me like magic or some kind of wrong belief that only work for religious people. My faith wasn't strong, not in myself , not in others, and certainly not in any God. You see, I am not a religious person, more a scientific, realistic person...but very spiritual since always.

So I came across Vipassana meditation. 

So I went to that class for 10 days, complete silence, turned inward, no speaking, no reading, no writing, just me and my mind.....and wow, it's a tricky mind we have, and when Mind has control over us, instead of we over it, then we are in a dangerous position. So basically in those 10 days i learned to observe my mind, to NOT react...and more than once did I think during those 10 days, 'this course is Al Anon tools applied in real life at the fullest perfection'.....naturally perfection doesn't exist in any life, it's natural. But I came across this meditation technique to speed up and excel in the practice of those tools, and I got more calm, am more in the present , and feel more connected. Besides 10 days away from it all, giving me the real peace to reflect wisely, permitted me to see more clearly how all things are related. 

Those of you who are interested in something new, something good, please give it a try,. 10 days sounds a lot, but it is actually nothing in the midst of chaos we are all living in. Please try, and condemn later if you wish so, but I promise you won't . If you love Al Anon, you will love Vipassana. It's the practice. It's work, I won't say it's easy...but it's the truth of life, compassion and living with other. You have to experience it to see what it does as benefit. I cannot teach you that, I cannot tell you my full experience, I am still and always practicing.

This is not a sect, not a religion, not any group, it's pure science of the mind, it's simple but hard work at the same time...and the 10 days are for free, the whole teaching is given on basis of donations, and they are voluntary.

I am simply doing my duty and passing it on, in service to all of us here, we struggle, we try, we despair. But we also hope, we fight, we try.

why not....life is short, and it can be so good...please have a look: 

www.dhamma.org

there are teaching centers on every continent, you will find one near you. Those 10 days have been the best and the most caring days I have given to myself and to others.

there is also hope, I am currently joining again with my ex ABF, he is crawling out of misery himself, and he will join the Vipassana meditation course in a couple of weeks himself, because he observed some change in my behavior towards him, and he got hooked. He is trying..and I love him for that. I am trying, and I love myself for that. 

My message of hope to you.

Thanks all for being....and Thanks to those who whistled to word 'meditation' in my ear a few months back....eternally grateful for this fellowship....constantly learning, constantly  growing.

May all be happy!

 

The Technique

Vipassana, which means to see things as they really are, is one of India's most ancient techniques of meditation. It was rediscovered by Gotama Buddha more than 2500 years ago and was taught by him as a universal remedy for universal ills, i.e., an Art Of Living.

This non-sectarian technique aims for the total eradication of mental impurities and the resultant highest happiness of full liberation. Healing, not merely the curing of diseases, but the essential healing of human suffering, is its purpose.

Vipassana is a way of self-transformation through self-observation. It focuses on the deep interconnection between mind and body, which can be experienced directly by disciplined attention to the physical sensations that form the life of the body, and that continuously interconnect and condition the life of the mind. It is this observation-based, self-exploratory journey to the common root of mind and body that dissolves mental impurity, resulting in a balanced mind full of love and compassion.

The scientific laws that operate one's thoughts, feelings, judgements and sensations become clear. Through direct experience, the nature of how one grows or regresses, how one produces suffering or frees oneself from suffering is understood. Life becomes characterized by increased awareness, non-delusion, self-control and peace. 

 

Ah - the beach and butterflies avatar again. Thank you for that avatar. Thank you, too, for feeling so strongly about the time you spent in meditation that you kept your promise to us and shared as much of your experience as you could and the method of meditation that you chose to experience. It was so delightful to me to read that you came back with such a new view and practice of beingness that your bf responded positively to it. Even if he discovers it isn't a method that suits him, he's willing to experience it himself. Says a lot about the change that this method helped you effect for yourself. I'm all for any method that helps me stay balanced, centered and calm. So happy for you and your experience, sister. Thanks for the sharing of it and your avatar.

WOW!!!  What a great post....I , too, am a meditation fan.....being mindful of my breathing and my  integrating me w/my body, etc....

LOVE meditation

thank yo for sharing this lovely story.......