Last night some of us finished up a week long meditation retreat/herbal cleanse. We made our own medicine balls with chinese herbs and we ate them three times a day as well as drinking herbal teas and eating mostly fruit with some rice soup and veg some of the days. We meditated three times every day for seven days for anywhere from an hour to 2 1/2 hours. Shifu also taught us a bit, we started off with a lecture and he was very open with us about answering questions and trying to lay down some wisdom for our benefit.
It was very challenging and also very rewarding and although there were several points at which I wondered if I could make it through, I did! I'm proud of myself for persevering, journal-ling every day, and not cheating on the foods (though I didn't really feel hungry). The first half was definitely the most challenging but I got through that and days 5, 6, and 7 were awesome. We've done something similar before but only for 3 days and I think 7 is way better. It gives you a chance to really get into it and start to realize some of the benefits, not just feel a lot of pain.
At the beginning I decided that I would try to cleanse myself of desires as well as physical stuff. I chanted some of the scriptures each day pertaining to cleansing in general and getting rid of desires and during the week I tried to be really conscious of desires that came up and relax, trying to let them go. Funnily enough, Shifu also gave a lecture on the last day about desires that was perfectly in line with what I was trying to accomplish. Talk about synchronicity! Well I feel like I made some real progress and have a better idea of how to proceed too.
Just thought I'd share two of my favorite Shifu quotes from the week:
"If there's something you don't need, just throw it away"
and...
"Sitting is the hardest kung fu"
So true.
