Meditating in McCleodganj

McCleodganj - Dalai Lama's home in exile.  It is also home to many people from around the world and travelers hoping to rub shoulders with His Holiness, or just capture some of the spiritual sense that surrounds him and his fellow Tibetan monks.  So, while in McCleodganj, there are activity choices like: meditation classes, meditation retreats, massage, massage classes, sound massage (?), astrology, reiki, yoga (SO much YOGA) - yoga classes, yoga teacher training, yoga retreats... I actually met a group making a Documentary about travelers in India seeking spirituality.  They all come to McCleodganj.  Well, of course, I didn't want to get left on the sidelines! So, I signed up for a silent meditation retreat.  There was a Vipassana meditation center which holds a 10 day silent retreat.  But it sounded so intimidating - no reading, no journal writing, no listening to music on your ipod, no eye contact!  I opted instead for the 3 day meditation retreat at Tushita. 

  And it was - great.  When in our lives do we get to slow down like that?  And it turns out, even for an extrovert like me, silence isn't so bad.  It's funny, when you know you can't talk, and neither can anybody else, it takes the pressure off.  Like, whew, kind of nice to not have to make small talk with this person right now.  Also funny that you can connect with people in silence - of course eye contact helps, and I liked the thumbs up. 

Meditating on your own is one thing, but there is something extraordinary about a roomful of people meditating together.  Very powerful.  And when we chanted together - Wow.  Amazing experience, and I think I can take on the 10 day course now!  Oh, one thing I forgot to mention about the retreat.  This center was in the middle of the woods and surrounded by monkeys! They had caught on to the fact that there were humans hanging out at this place every day and had become very aggressive and creative in trying to get food.  Needless to say it was a constant challenge to meditation practice.  They ran around on the tin roof, whizzed past the windows and once even opened the door of the meditation room and grabbed a participant's purse to get her chocolate croissant!