How to Develop Our Awareness in Silence

Silence is golden. It’s also uncomfortable and it has the ability to show us who we are and what we really need.

I just spent the last 10 days participating in a Vispassana Silent Meditation Retreat and it was definitely a challenge!! Engaging in the practice of Noble Silence is surprisingly easy once you get started. You get used to not talking or communicating with the people around you. It can be difficult though when you accidentally bump into someone and you want to apologize. But everyone there is also engaging in noble silence so they know you are not being rude.

The Power of Silence

This was my first silent meditation retreat so I wasn’t sure what to expect. Every time I told someone that I was participating in this retreat the first question was always – “what will you do all day?” Meditate. “Yeah, but what else?” Meditate – that’s pretty much all you do there.

The gong (yes, gong) goes off at 4am and the snooze goes off at 4:20.

Meditating starts at 4:30 and goes up until 9pm. Here is the schedule for the day:

4:30-6:30 – Meditate in the hall or in your room

6:30-8 – Breakfast and rest

8-9 – Group meditation in the hall

9-11 – Meditate in the hall or in your room depending on teacher’s instructions

11-12 – lunch

12-1 – interview with your teacher or rest

1-2:30 – meditate in the hall or in your room

2:30-3:30 – group meditation in the hall

3:30-5 – meditate in your room or in the hall depending on teacher’s instructions

5-6 – tea and rest

6-7 – group meditation in the hall

7-8:15 – discourse in the hall

8:15-9 – final group meditation

9-9:30 – speak to the teacher or retire to your room

10 – lights out

As you can see, it’s a long day! The 4am wakeups were not fun but like with anything as the days went on it became easier. I found that I really enjoy meditating though it can be hard to maintain your posture.

The location for this retreat was Egbert, Ontario, which is about an hour outside of Toronto. Since it is still winter, and we had just had a snowstorm, there was still a lot of snow. Men and women are segregated here with each gender having their own dining hall and residence. We share the meditation hall, but the room is divided in half with men on one side and women on the other.

The dining hall

My residence

My half of the room for my stay

The meditation hall

The noble silence lasts until mid-morning on the 10th day. Once noble silence is over, you are encouraged to communicate with the other participants everywhere except inside the meditation hall. This is done to help you to transition away from the centre. Once we were able to talk again, I found it really hard to focus during my meditations!

Vispassana meditation teaches you first how to bring your awareness to the breath in a technique that you practice for the first three days. You then start to learn the instructions of Vispassana which is becoming aware of the sensations in the body that are occurring. You do not react to these sensations or identify them as pleasant or unpleasant. You just observe them. The practice is about teaching the mind to sharpen and to identify the subtle changes that occur in the body.

Vispassana teaches you through observation the connection between mind and body through these sensations. It is this awareness that results in a balanced mind by understanding through direct experience how one can produce or free themselves from suffering.

I found that by the end of the week, my ability to focus became stronger and that I was starting to become aware of the patterns that exist in my life through my own creation. I plan to continue to meditate now that I am back home. I will also definitely attend another silent retreat in the future!

Charlene xoxo