Home retreat

Warm greetings to everyone!

First of all I would like to briefly introduce myself and this topic as I request guidance/advice: My name is Daniel. I have been meditating for a few years now but have only recently become aware of Vipassana. At any rate, I had a very positive experience during my first Vipassana retreat last December and although I would like to attend the next 10-day retreat coming up soon I will not be able to. So instead, I would like to have a 10-day retreat in my home. Logistically speaking, I will have one person coming to my house to bring food while I am meditating or sleeping - other than that I will have no contact with other people - except if I am able to call a teacher during the retreat to ask questions.

Since I am new to this meditation arena I would like to request some feedback/advice/guidance on the idea of having a home-retreat. I have already resolved to do this retreat and would like to request advice - such as is it advisable for me to listen to dharma talks during the evenings? (or read dharma talks?)
I cannot think of other specific questions at this time.

Thank you in advance for your thoughts.

Metta,
Daniel

Hey Daniel,

Thanks for your post. I have never done a home retreat myself and as such can't offer any advice. I have considered the matter before and I think I would probably listen to a dharma talk in the evening... But hopefully some others will be by to share their experience... I am curious myself... Thanks for bringing up the topic--may you enjoy your retreat...

Clayton

Hi Daniel.
I mostly sit at home because there is no vipassana center where I live. It occurred to me that one thing you might consider is to write out a schedule for your retreat--i.e. setting specific time for sitting and walking, meals, listening to a daily dharma talk or what have you--and really make a commitment to sticking to the schedule. As you probably know, it's very easy to get distracted when you're by yourself and there is no "container" of other practitioners and a formal retreat setting to keep you from getting up and doing something else when your're bored or restless. At the same time, it seems there might be a risk of emphasizing quantity over quality. It might be the case that you should be careful not to impose a schedule that is too harsh or ambitious.
Best of luck!

Thanks everyone for the tips so far.
Here's a bit more info:
My plan is to have the time set up almost identical to the Vipassana sitting i had in December. Ideally it would be
4:00 AM ~ Wake up - bell!
4:30 - 6:30 AM ~ Meditate
6:30 - 8:00 AM ~ Breakfast/break
8:00 - 11:00 AM ~ Meditate
11:00 AM ~ Lunch
12:00 noon - 1:00 PM ~ Rest
Afternoon
1:00 - 5:00 PM ~ Meditation
5:00 PM ~ Tea and break
6:00 - 7:00 PM ~ Meditation
7:00 - 8:00 PM ~ Potentially Dhamma talk
8:00 - 9:00 PM ~ Meditate
Then Rest after 9 PM.

Note about the meditation times: I will also include a short break during the afternoon sitting so that I'm not seated for 4 hours straight. Perhaps I could sit for one hour and walk for one hour and repeat for the four hour session though I'm not sure how best to approach that. Thoughts/feedback?

I really liked the schedule how it worked for the sitting in December. I am also thinking about mixing it up between seated and walking meditations so as to make sure that I am not only seated the entire time during the meditations.

Looks good. The Goenka schedule seems pretty good... doing it on your own seems like it would really help cultivate your dedication... I applause you, I have never sat like that outside of retreat... But it certainly seems doable... and alternating sitting/walking seems like it would be a good strategy. Best Wishes,

Clayton

www.dharmaoverground.org/web/guest/dharm...eformedSlackersGuide


This little gem has some good advice on what to do on your self-retreat.

Hello Daniel, and welcome!
I've done a few at home retreats (much shorter duration though, ranging from 1 - 2 days, and some distractions due to having pets). Family was gone, so it was relatively quiet. Maintained an unstructured schedule, I kept it simple and flexible. Sitting meditations (approx. 2 hrs for each sitting x 4 or 5) alternated with walking meditation, sutra reading/contemplation, qigong, and yoga.

Here's some info from another member of this forum regarding her at home retreat: kennethfolkdharma.wetpaint.com/thread/35...1/Retreating+at+home

The schedule that you have planned looks great.

- Tina

FWIW, I also did some shorter ones like Khara mentioned, and I'll just add that I programmed the whole day on my iPod so that the intervals were locked in and I just had to "show up".

-- tomo

Hi Daniel, have you decided when you will do your home retreat yet? Maybe some of us would want to "sign up" to join you for some of the sitting times. I could commit to do many of the 4:30 to 6:30 a.m.s with you, and try to join you on some of the 8:00 to 9:00 PMs. Also very interested in your experience, I might try this in the coming year as I have more vacation time than retreat $.
Thanks for the great idea and commitment! ~Mark