Hooray, I'm going to see the Dalai Lama when he visits England next year in May. I'm going to the whole 5 days teachings. Those of you with any interest can visit www.dalailama2008.co.uk

The Dalai Lama is the Spiritual head of Buddhism. Almost every tradition of Buddhism at least acknowledges him, even if they are not in the same tradition as he is.

I admire him for being interested in so many things, such as science, and how it relates to meditation etc.

David

In my previous blog about the benefits of meditation, I mentioned in passing that some people have criticised the use of meditation in the West for a form of relaxation. They point out that meditation was initially discovered or developed by people who were on a spiritual journey, and they used meditation as a means to getting closer to their 'God' or enlightenment. Personally I do not know anything about the development of meditation. I do not know who the first person was who discovered that paying close attention to an object such as the breath would lead to an altered state of consciousness. Perhaps it was discovered by people concentrating single pointedly on their personal deity, and they realised that the mind in a very relaxed state is very receptive to the attitudes brought forth to it, such as faith in their religion. It is inevetible that such techniques will be adapted and used for other purposes, such as relaxation. I do not see this as being a problem in itself. The problem may arise if people initially use meditation as relaxation, and then take it further. Deeper states of concentration can be quite pleasurable and beguiling and it would be very easy to become very attached to this. As soon as this happens, one might become very inward looking, selfish, and personal development would come to a halt. Futhermore, frustration would eventually set in because there would always be a desire to repeat that 'great meditation experience I had yesterday', and the more you want it, the less likely it will happen.

The the ultimate aim of meditation is to step beyond the bounds of wanting and craving. The teacher on our meditation retreat stressed every day that craving for good things and aversion to things we don't want is the cause of all our misery. He kept saying, let go of your craving, let go of your aversion, step out of your bondage and misery.

Ultimately, meditation is simply a means to an end to achieve an escape from our bondage. Wrongly used it can take us deeper into our bondage.

Does meditation affect short term memory? That was a question a friend posed to me the other day, when I forgot that I had sent her a photograph of myself. After returning from my meditation retreat (see previous blog) I checked my emails, and I had received a photograph from my friend in Arizona - we met at a youth hostel in Bath a few months ago. I then replied asking if she wanted a photo of me, to which she replied that I had already sent her one, and jokingly asked if my meditation retreat had reduced my short term memory. That got me thinking about what the benefits of meditation are. Well, on a mundane level, I can definitely say that regular meditation, done correctly can lead to many far reaching benefits. Certainly meditators feel generally more happy and are able to cope better with the ups and downs that life has to offer. It's like a work out at the gym. A person who is physically unfit may be able to run quite a distance and not feel any exertion, but then suddenly it will catch up with them and they feel absolutely tired out, and it takes ages to recover. For a person who is fit, their body reacts to exercise much more quickly, and it recovers much more quickly after the exercise has finished. So similarly, a meditator's mind is more fit: they may not get quite as angry or upset when something goes wrong, and they will also recover back to normal much more quickly than a non meditator, for example there will be less feeling that you need to bear a grudge. On the other hand their capacity for feeling positive emotions will be enhanced. Also, meditators have more calmness and confidence, and more space in the mind to deal with day to day issues.

Are there any drawbacks or undesirable side effects? I would say that in general, for gentle meditation, there are no side effects. It is an ancient technique which has been tried and tested by millions. It is a natural form of relaxation and enhancement which does not rely on drugs. However I would say that if one was intending to meditate more intensively or seriously, you need to be aware that it can bring up and release feelings, emotions and memories which have been suppressed and long forgotton about. While this can be very therapeutic and healing, you need to know how to deal with them, and close guidance of a teacher is recommended. Meditation may not be advised for people with serious mental disorders, because it could make the condition worse rather than better.
So does meditation affect short term memory? Well funnily enough that was a question that a friend posed to me the other day, when I forgot that I had sent her a photograph of myself.....

Ten day meditation retreat in Hereford - not only do you meditate for 11 hours a day; but you are silent too - titter ye not.

This ten day meditation retreat is a standard course that is offered by an Indian teacher S N Goenka and his assistant teachers. It is the second one I've been on. I have been meditating regularly for about ten years, and a couple of years ago I thought I would try something different, an intensive course. To give you an idea of the structure, 'noble silence' is maintained for 9 whole days, which means meditators do not communicate in any way with other meditators, although you can speak with management for practical reasons. Wake up bell is 4a.m. followed by meditation in your own room until 6.30 when it is breakfast. There follows many sessions of meditation throughout the rest of the day, until 9 p.m., then it is lights out at 930 (I've never seen so many people keenly get into bed for 930). I've enlosed a link below. Oh - and the last main meal is before 12 noon, and until breakfast the next morning you might get two pieces of fruit at teatime if you are lucky. The idea of this is to live like the Buddha did and renounce attachment to worldly desires to food, only eating as much as you need. However I wouldn't have thought that soup and a roll would have put us at a disadvantage! Another major consideration is that they strongly advise that you do not leave the course before it is finished, otherwise you might cause yourself problems. The course is like a deep surgical operation on the mind, and to leave early would be like walking out of the theatre half way through an operation.

I have jokingly called this course a 'meditation boot camp' in the past, and my second stint recently has done nothing to dispel that impression. There is certainly alot of work to be done in learning the technique of Vipassana meditation as taught in this tradition. the big plus I would say is that if the first course took my meditation to a new level, then this second course has taken it to a whole new level and beyond. I feel I have learn so much it feels like I've been away for a month! I also feel that I have had a mental detox. Near the end of the course and for a few days afterwards I suffered from a very tensed up stomach and my appetite was very low, although there was nothing much else wrong with me. I realised that this was not a bug, it was stress deep down, literally coming to the surface and being released. I put alot of work into this retreat and reaped the rewards.

If there are any minus points, they let beginner meditators join this course. Personally I do not believe this is a suitable course for all beginners. They do keep a close eye on people through the course in case any problems arise, and you do fill in a health questionairre at the beginning, but people should be pretty sure they will be able to cope before embarking on it. http://www.dipa.dhamma.org/