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The Monkey Mind – Friend or Foe

A huge misconception when it comes to Meditation is that we get to “Stop thinking”… Be great wouldn’t it, 20 minutes of no thought, like a holiday from the “Lunatic who lives upstairs”, that crazy old’ voice that if left to its own accord would probably have most of us in straight jackets.

And perhaps if we had friends talk to us the way our minds tend to, think it would be a very short friendship indeed.

Throw in the perpetual merry go round, thinking of the past, worrying about the future and concocting realities that rarely – if ever – play out. It is no wonder that for millennia we humans have been searching for a way to stem the tide, build a stable dam so that we can quiet the mind.

Which we can most certainly do, but I do reckon the mind has a bit of a bad wrap and is a misunderstood friend, like that mate that’s always got something to say and forgets to run it through their filter first, great intentions yet the execution is average, to say the least!

Yet the mind truly is an incredible tool, kinda like a scalpel in the hands of a skilled surgeon – lifesaving – yet put that same tool in the hand of a criminal it becomes a pretty scary picture.

Reminds of a wonderful saying/proverb: “The mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master”.

Look at all the incredible feats mankind has achieved, take away the mind and thought, and I guess we can unwind all we’ve created as pretty safe to say, notta lot would have got done without it.

Celebrations aside though, it can certainly also be a royal pain in the ass.

So let’s just play with this for a second. A lot of us believe that we are the mind, our thoughts, yeah? That the voice in the head is us?

I know I certainly have spent a lot of my life identifying with this incessant narrative.

Let me throw something to you though, what if your mind was just like your heart, or your hand or an ear. Just a part of the system that makes up your physical vehicle to get around this world we live in.

And believing we are our minds, is akin to believing we are our heartbeat or our hand.

I don’t know of many people that would identify with their hand as who they are. Yet our minds, most of us think that collection of old data, emotions, and images is who we are. Yet most of those are just impressions of a moment that has taken place (or imagined to take place), in which we shape certain beliefs and labels. Remove all those and who are we?

What if our hand had its own voice, would it’s experience be different from the minds, would the narrative change?

I know it seems ludicrous, but if we look at the whole nervous system, why is it any less ludicrous to identify with our thoughts/mind as our sense of self.

As that would also, therefore, imply that if we are not thinking we are in fact not real? Yet we all have had many experiences whereby we are purely experiencing a moment with no thought involved, just the experience. Think of when you are laughing hysterically, most the time, there’s no thought, an intimate moment with a lover (hopefully you’re not thinking….) and so on.

These moments give us glimpses into our sense of being our consciousness the awareness behind the ongoing chatter of the mind. If according to a lot of the great teachers, you behind you.

So taking it a step further, just like the heartbeat, just like a hair growing, or your stomach digesting, these are all activities being played out by that part of the nervous system, it’s their job so to speak. Same as the mind, its job, role, is to have thoughts, it is as involuntary as the heart beating. It just happens without any effort on our end.

Now if we start to see the mind chatter as the same as we would the heartbeat, would we be so disturbed by it?

My imaginary answer: Yes, especially when the thoughts I have to bring me down.

Ah good point, yes if the mind is creating thoughts that disempower us, that is certainly a drain on us. But does it have to be?

What if we just observed these thoughts and did not associate into them? What if we treated the narrative like a movie playing out and we were just watching eating some popcorn as the screen of our mind plays out its story?

If we take that perspective, it loses power, as we are a witness to it, rather than the starring role.

We can then even start to laugh at the absurdity of the chatter when we catch ourselves buying into it.

I believe this is an important step to start to disempower the monkey mind, loses it’s a firm grip on our reality. From there we can gain greater access into those powerful states where we are in focus and absorbed within the present.
So what about when we meditate as we progress do we stop having thoughts?

Well, I can only speak for myself and reporting from the front lines of my meditation experiences, yep, thoughts are still flowing…

Sure I have many moments within my meditation classes whereby there are no thoughts and these are great, but the technique I teach – Vedic Meditation – we learn that the busy meditations (aka, thinking, thinking, thinking) is equally as beneficial.

We learn to just let the nervous system do its dance and if needs to think thoughts we let it, if we need to drift in and out of sleep we let it, if we happen to transcend to a sea of bliss we let it, it’s all part of the delicate dance of the mind/body relationship and beginning to remove the currents of stress riddling our body.

And all that with nonattachment.

We don’t place any power or charge on any experience, and nor the mind when it is busy, we just observe it, let it play out and in doing so remove its stronghold over us.

This, in turn, will start to empower us to start to shift the mind to our friend, not foe and to become the servant and not it’s master.

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Jeff's story, Arriving at meditation after medication, psychologists and councilors

“The course I completed with Rich Muir on the practice of Vedic meditation has been life changing. What led me to this course: After many years of working in stressful service and sales positions and having marriage breakdowns I finally cracked. At 62 years of of age I couldn’t do life anymore. I awoke one night and felt like I was having a heart attack. It was frightening at first with my heart racing and my limbs feeling numb and my lungs gasping for breath. Eventually I settled down but when I went to the doctors the next day and told him what had happened he told me that i had had
an anxiety attack and could of had a stroke. My concern was that I really didn’t care if I had died.

My doctor suggested taking a couple of weeks off work but after another month nothing had changed. I eventually had to resign from my job. I couldn’t think, I couldn’t face customers or meet budgets. I just wanted to hide. I wanted my cave.

When I reflect Over the past few years I had been to psychologist, counselors, prescribed antidepressants and other medications. Nothing had worked. Nothing made me feel any better. I couldn’t sleep, I was getting fat, overeating all the wrong types of food, not exercising and drinking too much to escape. To escape what I couldn’t fix. I had been able to fix anything as an electrical engineer in the mines but I couldn’t fix me. I had lost my way. I needed to do something.

I felt like my body and mind were in different places..

I started reading all different types of self help book, I read a book from the library called “ the effortless mind” by Will Williams on Vedic meditation. Something inside me knew this form of meditation was for me. I searched on line and found that Rich Muir was conducting a course in Brisbane in January. I had to see it was for me so I booked in.

When I told friends and family I got mixed reviews. My mates at pool said I would be wearing orange robes and chanting at next weeks comp while my family were supportive and just wanted their husband, son, father and grandfather back. I had lost my way.

The course I attend on Vedic Meditation run by Rich was enlightening. I was given my mantra and joined the small group to learn the practice. I didn’t find it hard to relax with Rich and after each session it seemed to get easier to relax.

Since the course Rich has followed up and I am finding that the practice is about letting go of all thoughts. Sounds strange but I am finding that by Letting your own mind play out each thought as It comes into your mind It lets both sides of your mind create, examine, play out and release all these thoughts.

After the 2 x 20 mins I do each day I open my eyes and as well as feeling relaxed the world around me seems clearer. I feel No stress, no anxiety, no negatives thoughts. It sometimes makes me smile.
I can honestly say I am slowly but surely finding the path of my life’s journey.
I am centering my mind and finding direction and peace. Allowing what happens to just happen I am so much more relaxed about the future and putting the past where it belongs.

I want to thank Rich and would recommend and encourage everyone to find their own journey through this practice.”
Jeff West

Queries on cost

When it comes to the investment for the course, some people are a little surprised whilst others are not. And I have to say I totally get it. When I learnt the technique I paid my teacher $1,000 and when I told my wife I was going to pay that to learn to meditate, she more than rolled her eyes…

But I just knew the technique was for me. Having failed and explored many other forms of meditation for 8 years but I knew I needed to meditate. And with the Vedic technique from the outset, there was something that really resonated about the history, the technique, the science and the mantras that called to me.

Yet I still had to get my head around the cost, with 3 children and living costs it seemed like a lot at first. However, when I consider it compared to learning Vipassana (10 day noble silence meditation retreats) I had to give up 2 weeks of work and a donation. So in hindsight, giving up 2 weeks of work plus the donation, the cost far exceeded the investment in the Vedic technique.

Here’s a few comparisons to highlight the value of Vedic Meditation:

  • Four sessions with a psychologist @ $250 a n hour = $1,000
  • If you do a Gym/Yoga/Pilates class the average class is about $15-20 so if you went once a week that’s $884-1000 for 1 year.
  • Car registration approximately $750
  • House insurance over $1,000
  • Coffee a day for year over $1,500

You get the idea. Where as this is a technique you will use for a lifetime, and you get free access to group meditations around the world with other Vedic Meditation teachers (and with us), ongoing support and you can re-sit the course again if you want a refresher.

Beyond all that, the benefits of this investment in yourself far outweigh the cost as you will be living a happier, less stressed, more present, creative and peaceful life, and that is why many students who have learnt this technique believe it to be the best investment they have made and call it priceless.

Accommodation Details

You have the following accommodation options when attending the Reconnect Retreat 2022 at the Amara Retreat centre.

  • Main house twin share room bunk $1,100. Sold Out
  • Main house twin share $1,500. 1 spots remaining
  • Main house private room $2,000 Sold Out.
  • 2X Cabin twin share $2,000 per person – private rooms with double bed each (or share cabin with a friend $3,500*). The Cabins are self contained. 1 spot left
Payment

To secure your spot on the Rounding retreat you can either pay in full upfront or pay a $500 deposit with the remaining amount due 2 months prior to the retreat.

Payment plans

If you would like to pay it over a period of months please let us know. This option is only available when booking at least 3 months out from the retreat.

Inclusions

Here is what is included in the 4 day retreat:

  • The powerful practice of Vedic Rounding
  • The incredible power of breathwork and cold exposure
  • 1 X body treatment
  • Daily group rounding sessions
  • Daily immersions in nature
  • 1 X special group session
  • All food
  • Accommodation
Terms

*The deposit is non-refundable unless the retreat cannot proceed due to Covid restrictions. Which in the event of the retreat not proceeding a transfer to a future retreat will be offered or a refund of the deposit also offered.

* Full payment is required 2 months out from the retreat and upon full payment if you have to pull out, no refund can be offered unless we can find someone to take your place. The refund will be minus the deposit paid.

* It is the individuals responsibility to make all travel arrangements to the retreat.

* It is the individuals responsibility to ensure that at the retreat if there are any health concerns or issues the hosts need to be made aware of are communicated.

Optional Extras

During the retreat we can organise the following options for you.

  • Private massage
  • Wellness consult
  • Private sessions with the facilitators/mentors*

All at an additional cost. Please contact for more information.

*These may not be available due to the individuals schedules.

Accommodation

Ruby Baby Bus

Shanti Cabin

Gaia Bell Tent

Aura Bell Tent

Amara Retreat Guest House

Kailani Bell Tent