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Virtual Online Retreat - the Four Foundations of Mindfulness
Bunks
Australia Veteran
in Mindfulness
Hi all - Ajahn Sona (Theravadan Monk from Canada) is running an online retreat from May 1 to May 10 this year.
No need to sign up (as far as the "I" can see). Details are in the video below.
Will join as often as possible. Might see you there 
6
Comments
Sounds very good, thanks for sharing @Bunks. I wonder if there will be guided meditations or just Dhamma talks. The Four Foundations is a wonderful topic. Iโll certainly sample the first day or so.
Enjoy your practice ๐
Thanks @adamcrossley - you too.
If you look in the description on the video it shows the daily schedule. Seems to be a combination of chanting and group meditation with one talk a day by Ajahn Sona.
Thanks @Bunks looks good ๐
Looks great. Thanks @Bunks. Definitely interested.
Eh ma ho!
How wonderful. ๐๐
That monk looks half dead. I like her already ...
... or from a more positive frame ... half alive ๐
Easy in. Easy out. Be at Ease. ๐งป
Iz plan. Always. ๐๐๐๐ฝ
Reminds me of my visit to the bathroom a few minutes ago...
Ooooooh!! TMI!!
Bathroom retreat.
Could be our only alone time ...
For mothers with babies/little toddlers, it is most certainly nothing of the kind. A stay-at-home-mum knows no solitude until the little darlings begin to go to playschool. Until then, they have a perpetual hip-weight and leg clamp.
Starts in 5 minutes ๐๐ปโค๏ธ
I can hardly wait ...
Oh wait ... I Can.
Think I have learned something already.
Bravo Santa Sangha
Well I signed up for a free to Londoners course on mindfulness instead ... which I found out about. The course is run by the local council and NHS.
https://www.good-thinking.uk/
My first exercise involved listening to a raisin (or tangerine segment). I was really impressed and tried very hard, trying to go beyond listening ...
Looking forward to body scanning for the first week
... talk about one hand clapping ... I am listening out for fruit ... ๐คช
Wow thank you virus, my spiritual path is now officially sanctioned ... ๐ฆ โ ๐ค๐ฆ๐ฆ
I tried it with a mandarin segment, no raisins or tangerines at hand, is that ok? Could not hear any Chinese. It certainly got me focussing on silence and the bit of tinnitus I usually hear.
Also I had a look at Ajahn Sonaโs talk, I thought his warning that this wasnโt a beginnerโs retreat but intended for a more seasoned group quite interesting. I will listen to the rest of it when I have time.
Basically we started with looking at the segment, concentrating on its feel, its smell and when you held it to the ear you rub it to find what sound it makes.
The course seems very healthy and I like the two presenters. That monk that Bunk is following seems all very well if a little not well.
Hope the course does him healthy ... Long live/love the Sanghria ... wait that is wine and fruit ...
... I gone and dun wrong agin ... ๐ค๐ถโ๏ธ
I did the body scan (excellent yoga nidra) Sadly I fell asleep after 20 minutes. It is the lying down breathing into my body parts. Last thing I remember is breathing into my back ...
We have homework.
One mindful meal
one mindful action
and dailyish body scan ...
I iz Buddhist. I iz mindful. I iz z z z ...
Itโs interesting, they are doing the full sessions of the retreat but then online. Iโm not following the retreat rigorously but I am enjoying the sense of being there, with the morning puja and evening chanting and especially the teatime Q&A sessions. Itโs the closest I have ever been to attending a whole retreat like this...
You can send questions in via the website for consideration in the question and answer sessions I saw.
Yes, same @Kerome - obviously the time difference is a bit whacky but I've been sitting with them for the morning chanting and meditation. Then listening to the Q and A in the afternoon and Ajahn Sona's talk each night.
This teatime I did my 30min body scan sitting up. No question, easier to stay awake. ๐๐ฆ๐๐ฝ๐
Why is that unhealthy looking monk not being questioned or maybe that is a mask?
Here is my ugly question. Is the bodhi beautiful a Buddha?
You are right, he does look unhealthy, and even more, he looks more unhealthy in the retreatsโ later videoโs. It is a mystery...
The retreat is still going on, I just read the Satipatthana Sutta for the first time, things now make a bit more sense, wicked of me I know.
Well she is probably dying soon enough ... much like the rest of us ...
How is my mindfulness practice going? Rubbish. Missed two days to do meditation instead. They are posting me the usual drivel scientific NHS dharma science. They act like a pair of reboots robots ... etc
meanwhile ...
https://newbuddhist.com/bestof/everything
... I am listening to the radio
https://www.radio-uk.co.uk/search?q=buddhist
Finished a half day home retreat this morning based on the first day of this retreat. It was nice.
Loose schedule:
5.30 am - 6.45 am -> Coffee, shower and walk
6.45 am - 7.45 am -> Morning chanting and meditation
7.45 am - 8.30 am -> Breakfast and clean up
8.30 am - 9.30 am -> Ajahn Sona talk
9.30 am - 10.30 am -> Ajahn Sudanto Teatime Q & A
10.30 am - 11.30 am -> Evening chanting and meditation
11.30 am - Finish
Might do it again tomorrow
It certainly helps to have it all on YouTube where you can watch it anytime, even days or weeks later...
Exemplary, @Bunks.
Selfish as it might seem, I am going to wait until hubby is back at work. That will give me time to plan some kind of schedule in his absence, leaving me free and unhindered to focus, concentrate and meditate.
Currently, it's like having a 6-year-old...
Itโs not selfish @federica
Iโm planning on another half day retreat tomorrow morning ๐๐ป๐๐ป๐๐ป
Iโm finding Ajahn Sonaโs YouTube talks on the mindfulness retreat, right effort retreat and the noble eightfold path excellent.