Effects of retreat wear off...

Simplify

Hi there!

Hope all is well. I have just finished a second week long retreat, it was about 8-10 hours meditation per day. It was profound. It was profound when I came back to my normal life. But now, the effects wear off.

Is it possible to have a concentrated state of mind in my normal life? Is it possible to let go of the sense of self without concentration? What is the point of retreat if the effects just wear off?

I feel like I just touched magic and it flowed into me, changing me into a better person, and then it flowed out again. Yes I want to hold on to it dearly. I am mostly left with a deep desire to return and go deeper if possible, to go deep continuously in my daily life.

BhikkhuJayasara

the good habits developed at a retreat will wear off because it is only that, a retreat. This is just natural and to be expected. How do you change decades of habit with just 10 days of work?

the point of a retreat is to help with your practice in general. I've done about 6 in the last two years and I will continue to do more because the value of them cannot be understated. It is not the goal or business of the retreat to change your habits or sustain skillful ones, that is your daily challenge.

It is good to have a desire however it's not good to try to crave and cling to these phenomenon. If they go, let them go, when they come back, abide in them until they leave again. This is the practice, even clinging to "good" mind states is clinging.

if that desire gets strong enough, to the point where there is nothing as important in this life then the practice, that is when you renounce. I use to have all kinds of goals to strive for, I wanted to step foot on every continent, and do this and that. With my practice I've come to realize this is just the folly of a striving and craving mind.. in the end what would it get me?

For me the only thing more important then my dhamma practice is my family, but I am willing to leave them and renounce. Being able to focus on my meditation and helping others can't be beat, at least I don't think so haha, I'll find out in May.

Dennis1

Realizations create a ground of awareness that is pervasive and life-long. As your life changes you will gain ground. Night meditation is good this way because it is all night and creates a connection between the days that makes compassion and the realizations which extend from care, grow into the daytime activities. I don't walk around in bliss all day but the gains from meditation pervade my whole day. Day after day. Practice and Bodhichitta make for new and lasting gains. Read a lot of basic stuff, that helps the realizations flower. Practice and study.

lobster

Is it possible to have a concentrated state of mind in my normal life?

Yes. Can you concentrate on your state of mind in your normal life as a practice. Nothing but yourself stopping you . . .

Is it possible to let go of the sense of self without concentration?

Concentration by itself or by the self is a technique. Why not find out the nature of this 'self'.
http://www.liberationunleashed.com/

What is the point of retreat if the effects just wear off?

Inspiration.

:wave:

DairyLama

Simplify said:

What is the point of retreat if the effects just wear off?

It shows you the possibilities. Also you can remember the feelings you had in subsequent meditation.

zenff

Your brain adapts to different circumstances. Be happy about that.
In the retreat your senses are shielded off and they open up like eyes (or automatic diaphragms on a camera) in the dark. You are supersensitive.
But you don’t want to be in a state of super-sensitivity outside the retreat, when your senses get bombarded as usual.
The concentration thing is probably the same. In the retreat there’s not so much distraction. Your brain adapts to that with better concentration. And then afterwards – outside the retreat - from every corner sensory input is fired at you again; and the brain adapts by being more open to these inputs and is less concentrated.

Are there any lasting effects? Who knows!
My guess is that the brain trains this flexibility and the deeper relaxation/concentration/sensitivity are reached more easily.
Also the experience leaves a mark, like @SpinyNorman said. You know what it is like. You can’t undo that.

seeker242

Did you continue a daily meditation practice when you got home, after the retreat was over?

DairyLama

zenff said:

Also the experience leaves a mark, like @SpinyNorman said. You know what it is like. You can’t undo that.

I've found that remembering significant meditation experiences from retreats can be like a short-cut, a way of reconnecting with the original experience.