Newsletter #69, by Sarah (UK) (2 December 2013)

Samarpan Online Group Meditation Newsletter

TOPIC FOR THE WEEK – Experiences from the international Retreat #2, by Sarah (UK).

I went to the Samarpan International retreat at Dandi Ashram in October 2011. I had been practicing Samarpan meditation for six months and had a strong desire to go to the ashram, so I was very pleased when my application was accepted.

In the weeks before going to India I felt that all the things I had to organise seemed to fall into place ; even problems resolved themselves without too much difficulty or input from me. I felt that Swamiji was already blessing me to make sure that I reached to ashram in a good and steady state ready to start the retreat.

We flew overnight to India and stayed one night in Mumbai then had to get up at 5am to drive up to the ashram which took about 5 hours. Even with the long flight, the time difference, a very early start and the intense heat I did not feel tired when I arrived at the ashram.

We got up at 5am every morning for silent meditation which I did not find difficult after the first morning. I have never been good at getting up early in the morning but I seemed not to have a problem with getting up in the dark and earlier than I would ever choose to get up at home.

The programme during the retreat was very full and our time was taken up with talks and workshops. However I did not get worn out and always found time to do my washing etc even when there seemed no time in the day. Things seemed to flow without much thought or need for organisation. I felt that this was very different to how my life was at home, where it never felt there was never enough time in a day.

During the retreat I felt involved but also detached in a way that meant I did not think about what was going on around me, I just flowed through each day with little thought for what had was doing but still feeling that I was very much in the present all the time. I did not think about the future only as far as knowing what the programme was each day and where I needed to be at a particular time. I did not get attached to emotions or issues that arose and let these pass me by. I found I did want to speak very much (I am normally a very chatty person) and instead listened to and absorbed everyone elses thoughts and expressions. I did not get irritated when people said things I did not agree with, there was no emotional attachment and I let anything I did not like pass me by rather than following it and wrestling with it.

All the staff and sadhaks living at the ashram were incredibly kind and helpful. I was able to stay on at the ashram for 4 weeks after the retreat finished and it was during that time that I realized what a constantly happy and peaceful state they were in. I began to feel like this myself and I understood what it means to be in the Samarpan ‘family’. I felt I had entered a ready made family and was treated like a family member, where kindness, generosity and good will are normal and egos and negativity are absent. I absorbed this way of being and felt it had a dramatic effect on the way I see life.

Spending time at the Samarpan ashram was one of the best and most valuable experiences I have had.