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Generally the retreats in India/Nepal are all in Tibetan with little heat, no AC, and basic foods. So that rules out most Westerners. Plus Westerners are seen as lightweights that can’t handle retreats, so they’re not made welcome.Looking at your two statements above, do you want to venture a guess as to why you can still do everything for "free" in India and Nepal?
Nop. Except for the language thing this doesnt rule out most westerners. This rules out most rich westerners. Wich is the whole point of the thread.smcj wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 3:43 pmGenerally the retreats in India/Nepal are all in Tibetan with little heat, no AC, and basic foods. So that rules out most Westerners. Plus Westerners are seen as lightweights that can’t handle retreats, so they’re not made welcome.Looking at your two statements above, do you want to venture a guess as to why you can still do everything for "free" in India and Nepal?
I heard of a story of a drikung retreatant in India who was given a nice dry and spacious cave in a place that always had good weather. He stayed for few months until he realised it was too easy, his sweet spots weren't poked. He asked for another cave and he got an awful one that was always cold and damp. He started making progress.smcj wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 3:43 pmGenerally the retreats in India/Nepal are all in Tibetan with little heat, no AC, and basic foods. So that rules out most Westerners. Plus Westerners are seen as lightweights that can’t handle retreats, so they’re not made welcome.Looking at your two statements above, do you want to venture a guess as to why you can still do everything for "free" in India and Nepal?
Greedy frak bastards.passel wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 4:26 pm Point of comparison: I did a 3-month vipassana retreat at Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts, USA a few years ago for around $3,000 because I pounced on the scholarship opportunities early, which I'm thankful for and it seemed like an ok price. But during the fundraising- excuse me, "dana"- pitch at the end they said the base cost for each person was $10,000 (about 80 people, just sitting in a big room all day for three months apparently costs nearly a million dollars??), which was astonishing and a little disturbing to me. I have never spent that much in 3 months in my life, and more than a few whole years on less than that.
Admittedly the following is a second hand story. It comes from Shenpen Hookam and three of her students.Sangyum Kamala said Chatral Rinpoche did all his retreats without the above mentioned comforts. Makes one think...
They don't live in those, they live in the monastery below. They just practice in there.
Well, lets say I know something about life.
Their gompa: http://gebchakgonpa.orgLiving so roughly takes many years off your life though. Bad winters can be especially hard. Being a corporate slave is no picnic either. Becoming a cog in someone else's machine warps the mind in strange ways. Being a useless individual is good advice. Become useful and it will be much harder to.escapesmcj wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 5:24 pmAdmittedly the following is a second hand story. It comes from Shenpen Hookam and three of her students.Sangyum Kamala said Chatral Rinpoche did all his retreats without the above mentioned comforts. Makes one think...
In 2016 they came back from a visit to Nepal. The said that there were a group of Kagyu Nuns doing a Mahamudra retreat with their meditation boxes in the open air on a hillside. The had umbrellas over the top of them to keep rain off but no walls or anything else to protect them from the elements. Harsh.
I guess they really wanted to test how unattached they could be from their thoughts. That’s way beyond what I aspire to. Heck, to me checking my emails takes priority over practice!
I honestly don't think it's greed, I think it's just not having a clue.zenman wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 4:44 pmGreedy frak bastards.passel wrote: ↑Sat Feb 02, 2019 4:26 pm Point of comparison: I did a 3-month vipassana retreat at Insight Meditation Society in Massachusetts, USA a few years ago for around $3,000 because I pounced on the scholarship opportunities early, which I'm thankful for and it seemed like an ok price. But during the fundraising- excuse me, "dana"- pitch at the end they said the base cost for each person was $10,000 (about 80 people, just sitting in a big room all day for three months apparently costs nearly a million dollars??), which was astonishing and a little disturbing to me. I have never spent that much in 3 months in my life, and more than a few whole years on less than that.
I get it, and i'm not saying I support it, it seems very steep to me, in fact pretty ridiculous.lama tsewang wrote: ↑Thu Feb 07, 2019 12:13 am I just read an advertisement online for the sukhasiddhi foundation on their
Website .they are holding an advanced mahamudra retreat,that's not residential , and that's being held in their Center, and they asking people for 600 dollars for this .This kind of thing makes me incensed.is mahamudra a commodity to be sold. It changes the teaching.
PLEase Comment.
Yeah, yeah, i'm sure we can all agree in theory, but it doesn't answer my question:lama tsewang wrote: ↑Thu Feb 07, 2019 3:15 am I think , that when you charge exorbitant amounts, you change the teaching,you become a business with something that you're selling. We, in all our behaviour, should embody the teachings. Does the end justify the means.
