Silence is Good For the Brain
(By Tsem Rinpoche)
As many of you may know, Kechara Forest Retreat regularly organizes Inner Peace Retreats. I came across the article ‘Why Silence is So Good for Your Brain‘ and I wanted to share it so that those who are planning to attend these retreats in KFR can harness the full benefits of the program.
As people begin to realize the increasing importance of meditation and looking within, more places are offering meditation courses, and scientists are conducting studies on the effects of meditation. While some may claim that meditation is a phenomenal discovery, in reality meditation has always been a tool used by various yogis in the past and also Buddhists.
As a Buddhist, reading about these scientific discoveries does not excite me at all, simply because I already know the effectiveness of meditation. I have seen how my holy teachers have used meditational methods and gained much attainments from it. However, I do understand that others may not have this type of exposure and as such, scientific studies offer us the opportunity to appreciate the effectiveness of meditation.
As a Buddhist teacher, I would very much like my students to understand that meditation is not a means to an end as some modern adaptations have made it out to be… but it is in actuality a tool to further our spiritual practices. Meditation programs are often marketed as a form of stress relief or to help us deal with depression, etc. While these are genuine, beneficial side effects of meditation, they are however not the goal of a Buddhist practitioner. As we progress on the Buddhist path, our meditations should be more focused on our actual goal — Enlightenment — instead of these temporary benefits.
Therefore, meditation is a technique that we should integrate into our lives. What is the point if we only feel at peace while engaging in short retreats in KFR, but revert back to our anxious and stressed mental states at work? In this case, we have not applied what we have learned as it did not help us in our day to day life. So, we should always make it a point to practice meditation whenever we can.
Some may think that it is impossible, but in fact we are meditating at every moment. The only difference is that the object we are meditating on doesn’t contribute to our inner peace! For example, we may be thinking deeply about our anger towards someone, that’s a form of meditation; we may be wondering if our children are doing well at school, that too is a form of meditation. So, do not think for a moment that you are unable to accomplish this… after all, what you meditate on is based on what you are habituated to, so start changing your focus today.
I hope this short sharing will help you to be more focused when engaging in any form of meditation and meditational retreats. I wish everyone the best and may you continue to apply what you learn in your lives continuously.
Tsem Rinpoche
Why Silence is So Good For Your Brain
by Carolyn Gregoire, syndicated from huffingtonpost.com, Mar 14, 2016
We live in a loud and distracting world, where silence is increasingly difficult to come by — and that may be negatively affecting our health.
In fact, a 2011 World Health Organization report called noise pollution a “modern plague,” concluding that “there is overwhelming evidence that exposure to environmental noise has adverse effects on the health of the population.”
We’re constantly filling our ears with music, TV and radio news, podcasts and, of course, the multitude of sounds that we create nonstop in our own heads. Think about it: How many moments each day do you spend in total silence? The answer is probably very few.
As our internal and external environments become louder and louder, more people are beginning to seek out silence, whether through a practice of sitting quietly for 10 minutes every morning or heading off to a 10-day silent retreat.
Inspired to go find some peace and quiet? Here are four science-backed ways that silence is good for your brain — and how making time for it can make you feel less stressed, more focused and more creative.
1. Silence relieves stress and tension
Florence Nightingale, the 19th century British nurse and social activist, once wrote that “Unnecessary noise is the most cruel absence of care that can be inflicted on sick or well.” Nightingale argued that needless sounds could cause distress, sleep loss and alarm for recovering patients.
It turns out that noise pollution has been found to lead to high blood pressure and heart attacks, as well as impairing hearing and overall health. Loud noises raise stress levels by activating the brain’s amygdala and causing the release of the stress hormone cortisol, according to research.
An unpublished 2004 paper by environmental psychologist Dr. Craig Zimring suggests that higher noise levels in neonatal intensive care units led to elevated blood pressure, increased heart rates and disrupted patient sleep patterns.
Just as too much noise can cause stress and tension, research has found that silence has the opposite effect, releasing tension in the brain and body.
A 2006 study published in the journal Heart found two minutes of silence to be more relaxing than listening to “relaxing” music, based on changes in blood pressure and blood circulation in the brain.
2. Silence replenishes our mental resources
In our everyday lives, sensory input is being thrown at us from every angle. When we can finally get away from these sonic disruptions, our brains’ attention centers have the opportunity to restore themselves.
The ceaseless attentional demands of modern life put a significant burden on the prefrontal cortex of the brain, which is involved in high-order thinking, decision-making and problem-solving.
As a result, our attentional resources become drained. When those attention resources are depleted, we become distracted and mentally fatigued, and may struggle to focus, solve problems and come up with new ideas.
But according to attention restoration theory, the brain can restore its finite cognitive resources when we’re in environments with lower levels of sensory input than usual. In silence — for instance, the quiet stillness you find when walking alone in nature — the brain can let down its sensory guard, so to speak.
3. In silence, we can tap into the brain’s default mode network
The default mode network of the brain is activated when we engage in what scientists refer to as “self-generated cognition,” such as daydreaming, meditating, fantasizing about the future or just letting our minds wander.
When the brain is idle and disengaged from external stimuli, we can finally tap into our inner stream of thoughts, emotions, memories and ideas. Engaging this network helps us to make meaning out of our experiences, empathize with others, be more creative and reflect on our own mental and emotional states.
In order to do this, it’s necessary to break away from the distractions that keep us lingering on the shallow surfaces of the mind. Silence is one way of getting there.
Default mode activity helps us think deeply and creatively. As Herman Melville once wrote, “All profound things and emotions of things are preceded and attended by silence.”
4. Getting quiet can regenerate brain cells
Silence can quite literally grow the brain.
A 2013 study on mice, published in the journal Brain, Structure, and Function, involved comparing the effects of ambient noise, white noise, pup calls and silence on the rodents’ brains. Although the researchers intended to use silence as a control in the study, they found that two hours of silence daily led to the development of new cells in the hippocampus, a key brain region associated with learning, memory and emotion.
While preliminary, the findings suggested that silence could be therapeutic for conditions like depression and Alzheimer’s, which are associated with decreased rates of neuron regeneration in the hippocampus.
Source: http://www.dailygood.org/story/1237/why-silence-is-so-good-for-your-brain-carolyn-gregoire/
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The most precious moment of silence for me is during the retreat. A personal retreat is the best, the following is the family retreat with my girls. I do like group retreats, however normally it ended up with chit-chatting more. I attended a silent retreat when I was in my teenage year, organized by Church members once and I still remember that. I like the quietness, but not much of the solitude as I still have fear of being alone totally. I do concur that I can focus more after a period of silence. Besides, I feel that it helps to reduce stress as well. For those who can’t sit still, I will suggest silence retreat, even for an hour. Besides, we can reduce the karma of speech as well!
It is rejuvenating to read about the importance of silence to our brain. In this day and age, many are pre-conditioned to see being loud is better and sometimes, right. Therefore silence is extremely rare where there are no less people who use the strength of their voice and quantity of their words to woo the crowd. While more people are lost in their own noise, it is easily forgotten that words (or speech) only matter to those who understand them. Understanding comes from like-minded-ness and a willingness to be open. In the absence of these, it is just noise that our brain cannot or will not register. Thank you for this sharing.
I suppose silence allows our brain to relax and regenerate.
And why not, when our attention span is preoccupied, our minds latched onto all all the things that are distracting us, like sights and sounds, and being silent and not just constantly grabbing hold of sights and sounds will help our brains to recover from constant stress.
I do agree that silence is really good for the brain. We are able to think clearly and focus what we are doing. I myself is becoming more and more sensitive to noise these days. And i prefer to do my stuffs with mantra songs on from my computer to have some peace while i’m doing online stuffs. And KFR is wonderful place to getaway from all the stress and noise in the city and work once in a while to do meditation and retreats. Thank you very much Rinpoche for sharing this article on how to relieve stress and have some silence for the mind _/\_
I do agree that silence is good for the brain. As I’ve been leaving at the centre of KL for the past 4 years, life is hectic. My home to my work place is only 10mins walking distance. Every morning I have to listen random sound of the trains,car honks etc.It’s irritate me cause I hardly find a real peace of mind though I practice meditation.
Since I joined in KFR, I feel more relieved and I’m getting adapt to peace and silence surroundings. It’s like turning on a new leaf.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article.
With folded palms,
Andrea
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing the article describing the benefits of silence for our brain as well as Rinpoche’s explanation about silence. Last time I used to switch on the loud speakers for songs and music as part of temporal entertainment to relieve stress and tiredness. However, the loud sound of music did not have a long good effects or solutions for me and it could only increase my attachments to music and entertainment.
I truly agree with the article as it mentions the needless sounds can cause us high blood pressure, heart attacks, impairing hearing, increase the stress and tension level, distraction and mentally fatigued. As I continue to learn the Dharma, I have started to realize that silence can even shape our mind to be more focused and alert without easily getting mentally tired even after working for long hours. Silence is a kind of self-healing method to many of our human’s problems, which sometimes medicine cannot help too.
Thankfully, through Rinpoche’s blessing and compassion, Inner Peace Retreat is made available as part of Dharma activities in Kechara Forest Retreat so that many people can gain the opportunities to learn the right method of meditation and at the same time, able to tap into the blessed energies in Kechara Forest Retreat.
Thank you Rinpoche with folded hands,
kin hoe
Once I was told by a Master of Silence Meditation that “IT IS EASY TO SILENT THE OUTER NOISE BUT CAN WE STOP TALKING TO OURSELVES FOR EVEN 30 SECONDS AND WE WILL SEE A BRIGHT LIGHT IN OUR MIND”. That level of meditation results in great bliss.
Meditation is also good to clear us of our afflictions and habituations of worries and unnecessary expectations of events and circumstances which we constantly create in our minds.
It is very kind of HE the 25th Tsem Rinpoche to have created Kechara Forest Retreat and the Inner Peace Retreat for us to have a repose from our mundane existence even for a short moment of time.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this write up with us. I think all the benefits that listed in the research is just good for the gross level of our mind and our physical well being the most important when we medicated like what Rinpoche said we must try to contemplate the Buddha teaching because our ultimate goal is not about just one life time as a buddhist our ultimate goal is to achieve enlightenment .
Before reading this article, I never actually heard about so many beneficial effects of silence practice, but the study of how it can help the brain to generate new cells that associated with learning, memory & emotion is really amazing. While silence is a method to calming the mind & relieve stress, what really matter is the meditation of looking inwardly our inner thoughts, a reflection on our actions & how these actions have changes our emotional states. Meditation is to train & transform the mind to have awareness & mindfulness of our actions so that while we are out of the meditation session, we are aware of our actions & be able to apply the practice of mindfulness & integrate in our lives.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this interesting article.
Thanks for the great sharing Tsem Rimpoche.
Thank you Rinpoche for the clear explanation on meditation. Its true that all the scientific fact has proven meditation heals anxiety, depression and stress. But in Buddhism goal, enlightenment is the path.
Its very interesting statement that Rinpoche has mentioned. We are already meditate most of the time, anger, frustration, happy, unhappy…blah blah blah…all these are another form of meditation, we just need to be focus but in a positive way hehehe… very cool and clear article. Good read for me. Thank you Rinpoche.
I agree! Silence is good for the brain and also physically and mentally. Having live in KFR most of the days in a week, when I get back to the city, I find everything loud and noisy, which I actually find annoying. It makes me feel stressful and not calm. But in KFR, its peaceful and calming, and it keeps me on my toes in everything I do especially while doing some light gardening. It gives me ‘alone’ time to analyse situations and do some thinking. I find it a very good way to just think ‘straight’ and make decisions. Imagine being in a short retreat sometimes or silence(few hours a day, everyday) and just focusing on peace and quietness. It would definitely help habituate our brain to be alert and mindful.
“When the brain is idle and disengaged from external stimuli, we can finally tap into our inner stream of thoughts, emotions, memories and ideas. Engaging this network helps us to make meaning out of our experiences, empathise with others, be more creative and reflect on our own mental and emotional states.”
This is very true. It is when in silence are we able to truly go deep and tap into our emotions and in Dharma we would tap into the roots of either our problems or potential. Most of the time I realise we do not dare go beyond the surface, and being in silence, especially in long retreats, alone, you will no choice but to face yourself, in all its ugliness and also all its beauty. It is at this moment that you truly discover who you truly are. And when we have the Dharma and Rinpoche’s teachings in our hearts, this is when the real test comes, which voice do we want to give in and listen to, the positives or the negatives. Which one do we dwell on to the most, how our mind jumps and play tricks, bringing us up and then back down again. We become a slave to this if we do not catch ourselves and snap out of it.
So yes silence or silent meditation brings us a different realm, the realm within ourselves, our own imaginations, our fears, hopes, regrets, happiness, attachments and everything one may think of. But like what Rinpoche says if meditation is used only to help us relief ourselves from the temporary problems, to just feel good and at peace for that period of time, but the moment we are back in samsara, we forget everything we’ve experienced and learnt, then the meditation becomes useless because it’s main purpose was not fully utilised. And the main function of it is that it is in actuality a tool to further our spiritual practices, but we mistaken it for another quick fix for the moment practice.
I do hope that one day I have the fortune to go into intense meditation, to face myself, to be truly self reliance like Tenzin Palmo being alone in a cave. I do not know if I am just kidding myself, day dreaming or what, but ever since I read her book, that has been a tempting experience to explore one day. I guess it is to see if I can really truly endure those hardships. Maybe yes, maybe no, who knows, I will only know when I am in it I suppose. However, the goal should be — Enlightenment — instead of these temporary benefits.
Thank you Rinpoche, this was a short but very good meditation read, makes one think deeper and more.
HE the 25th Tsem Rinpoche mentioned in this article that “what you meditate on is based on what you are habituated to” giving me a very strong impact. It told me that the situation i am having now is because of the daily focus i have in my mind. Mostly the focus is more on oneself which doesn’t bring any spiritual grow and pull me far away from the path of enlightenment. Moreover, i realized focus on Me actually bring stress to myself. So, now the focus of mind has to be change to focus on how to benefit others. And meditation is the way for us to aware of what our mind is focus on.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article with us on value of silence. I have always enjoyed the moments of silence as they are rare in the world of technology that we are currently in. From the moment we wake up, we are assailed by noises. I think the noisiest of them are the thoughts that goes on in our minds. Constantly focusing on external stimuli which creates stress in us rather than dwelling in the minds of peace within us. I had not really thought of our thinking being a type of meditation until Rinpoche pointed it out. I wonder if we were to take away the times we spend on “meditating” on work, family, food, daily routine, etc. how much had we actually spend of meditating without the “I”. “My” and “Me”. As Rinpoche said, spending the time in retreat and yet remain in dwelling within our “self”, we will be just going right back in to stress again after the retreat is over. With scientific proof backing what the yogis and Buddhists had practicing, the benefits of meditation should encourage more to take that daily break of peace. We should habituate the meditation of benefiting others and dwell within the happiness of others.
We live in a world where sound and noise envelop us in both the physical world as well as in our inner world. Even when we shut off noise and sound from the physical world and lock ourselves up in a quiet room, we cannot stay still because our mind hang on to the same noise and sound that keep us busy in the physical world. It is therefore very important yet rare to allocate time to quiet down and meditate. Finding a conducive environment to meditate, a place like Kechara Forest Retreat where the outer noise is at the lowest possible is equally important. Now that we have scientific proof on how silence can benefit us, we shall cleverly utilize the power of silence to boost our mental capacity through proper meditation program (e.g. Inner Peace) or adding meditation time as an extension to our daily sadhana. Thank you very much for this good read.
Multi tasking has been labeled as progressive and a crucial talent for success. Hence many will strive to multi task in their daily lives, setting high goals for themselves and meeting expectations. When doing so the brain may get over stimulated and emotions gets stretched. Over time disappointments may set in and we feel all unhappy and completely burnt out. This mostly is a result of unrealistic views and actions. This is so common in this generation.
For those who have learnt meditation, it will come in very handy to control these negative emotions. For those who meditate with a higher motivation, the mind can transform and the total outlook in life and existence will change to a higher platform and the goal will be nothing short of Enlightment for the purpose of benefiting others.
Thank you Rinpoche for this teaching on Silence is good for our brain. In particular the fact that we are meditating all the time – even the times that we are holding on to anger, thinking of someone in an angry manner, is also a form of meditation. This sort of meditation we can do without. We should mindfully change the focus from anger to boddhicitta for the benefit of all.
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing the benefits of silence to us. I don’t think silence is being appreciated enough in today’s world. Silence would be labeled as boring and awkward by people nowadays. With all the noise and sensory inputs that we give ourselves, we tend to lose focus of what we are doing and sometimes who we really are.
I agree that when we remove all these noise from our mind, we will have clarity. We will be aware of things that we are not aware before. It will trigger the spiritual side of us.
Humbly,
Chris
These days we are wired and hooked up in so many different ways that sometimes when we do not have the noise around us we feel lost and helpless. It i s so because we are not able to calm ourselves down and we are consistently looking for new excitement unknowingly. It is actually pretty sad that we have trained our minds to do this instead of meditating, shutting out all sorts of noise and sounds.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing this article on the scientific research about meditation. It is amazing how it links back to the teachings. With the information that is being taught in Buddhism to us being researched and verified using science is just great news as it helps those that do not believe to have faith and believe as it is logical and scientifically proven.
I agree that when we shut out all sounds and noises that we can experience we will learn more about ourselves. It gives us a moment to think deeper on what is going on so that we give our brains a break to focus on ourselves to make it improve based on our reflections. It is the best way to improve and know what is wrong with ourselves.
So scientific research has shown so many benefits from silence, including silence being therapeutic in effect and relieving stress and tension .
Noise on the other hand has so many negative effects on our mental health and creativity and higher thinking skills and capacities.Higher noise levels raise blood pressure, increase heart rates and disrupt sleep patterns of people who are sick and who are recuperating from sickness.
Noises cause us to be distracted and mentally fatigued, and in the end our higher level of brain activity of focusing, solving problems and coming up with new ideas is disrupted.
With the absence of noise, we can tap into our inner stream of profound thoughts, emotions, memories and ideas. This helps us to make meaning out of our experiences, empathize with others, be more creative and reflect on our own mental and emotional states.
A long period of silence of two hours will lead to the regeneration of new cells in a key brain region associated with learning, memory and emotion. Studies so far also suggest that silence could be therapeutic for conditions like depression and Alzheimer’s.
However, by far the most powerful benefits are the spiritual benefits of silent meditation , which is a prerequisite for achieving concentration and mental quiescence and then wisdom to finally realize enlightenment.
Nowadays we are all wired and there is too many stimuli. Our minds and eyes and ears need to be stimulated and entertained all the time. If we’re on a train or have a few seconds to spare, we must look at our smart-phones. We can’t sit still and do nothing. We get bored. Today we had a Sunday dharma sharing by Pastor Niral on Developing Mental Quiescence, Day 21 Lamrim. It is necessary to develop mental quiescence up to the 9th state then switch over to the Wisdom path in our quest to gain enlightenment. KFR would be a conducive environment that we could begin to train our minds.
Thank you Rinpoche for sharing with us the benefits of doing meditation. Living in this modern era, we cannot be alone all the time, it is impossible to be out of the hassle and bustle of the city most of the the time because we are living in this environment. Therefore, it is important to integrate the meditation technique into our lives, not meditate only when we are in a mountain or away from the city.
Meditate on enlightenment, meditate on death, meditate on impermanence, when we meditate on these, we will be able to let go of our anger, develop compassion and be free of emotional burden.
Most people feel uncomfortable in silence either alone or with people around. Therefore many people feel the need to fill the void of silence with needless chatter, with TV, with music, with noise of some kind. When there is silence, it’s time for introspection, to focus on our true self and feelings. That’s why sometimes it’s a bit scary for some people, to be with their true feeling, e.g. loneliness, helplessness, sadness, etc. It’s much easier to turn outward for some entertainment, chatting, rather than face our inner vulnerability. But we don’t realize that by avoiding our inner world, we will gradually lose touch with our true self, our intuition, our creativity.
It’s good to know from this article that there are so many benefits being in silence especially when our lives become more stressful and our outer environment becomes louder and louder. We indeed require the silent moments to quiet our thought, to tap our deepest potential and to get more relaxed, more focused and more creative in life. Let’s spend some time each day in silence, be it in our room alone, out in the nature, or when we are in group or even in argument with people. See the wonder that silence can bring to us!
Thank you, Rinpoche for this gem of an article. As Rinpoche mentioned, most will think of meditation as a destination and not a means to en end.
Getting started, in itself is quite a feat for most of us. Getting that 10 minutes to ourselves without anything pressing can seem like a luxury. Merely tuning out the thought of the next appointment seems like a task.
But, once I was able to get to that 10 minutes of quiet time, I had to keep going. Once, there’s a break in that daily ‘spa’ I just lose the momentum and find it difficult to pick up where I left off. I then have to start from square one, struggling to sit down for the 10 minutes without even thinking of struggling to keep an eye on the monkey mind of mine.
The times when I could sit quietly was so revitalizing and serene. So, I’m sure it is as Rinpoche said, “it is in actuality a tool to further our spiritual practices” and that attainments can be gained from meditation.
Dear Rinpoche,
This was a very interesting article to read, as I am also incorporating a bit of Buddhist teachings into my projects here in the UK. Thank you for posting this; it is comforting to know that science is slowly progressing and catching up to what Spiritual teachers have taught years ago. 🙂
Your student,
Keng Hwa.
I find this article fascinating nonetheless, although I already know the benefits of meditation and solitude, which are particularly emphasized in the Buddhist contemplation practices. I myself am not particularly a fan of quietude and solitude but I still appreciate the quietness that comes with doing my sadhana and engaging in a retreat.
Somehow and despite the feeling of being tired from mantra recitation and keeping the mind in focus during retreat always seemed to be somehow refreshing mentally. Now I know why with this enlightening article, I get it that silence, quietude and solitude helps the brain especially the part of the brain that has to do with higher thinking. This is incredible to know…
Nowadays we have constantly access to TV, radio or Internet and some people may like to have the TV running in the background.
This article proves that silence is very beneficial and instead of being distracted, silence and meditation have a positive effect on our mind and on our life as a whole.
The manyfold opportunities that the Internet offers should be used in to improve our mind and and to benefit ourselves and others instead of distracting ourselves.
Thank You
感谢仁波切分享这篇章文
在现在的社会里太多人承受了太大的压力也很难静下心来，沉默可以缓解压力和紧张。
我们可以学习保持沉默创造一个平静心态。
Dear Rinpoche,
Thank you for sharing this important article. By reading this article, I come to understand the benefit of staying silent and focus always.
I can learn to be focus and stay silent to create a mind that calm and focus through my daily life also. My advantage is i am working in Puja House, where most of the time, we have to do puja and do set up for various puja . These actions have create a “silent” moment for me to train my mind.
Thank you
Love,
Freon
For those who cannot tune out from the noisy world we live in, perhaps these will help, they are from the pioneers of noise-cancelling headphones:
https://www.bose.com/en_us/products/headphones/earphones/quietcomfort-20i-acoustic-noise-cancelling-headphones.html
Indeed, human beings in this current era are drowned by overwhelming noises from all directions. Etc, colleagues, city, friends, family members, technology, inner-self and more.
According to some researchs, noise, precisely, White noise could actually help certain people to sleep better. However, it’s depending on an individual’s living habits and spiritual pratice.
We should start looking for the correct way to pratice and meditate to find inner peace within ourselves.
尊贵的仁波切,
谢谢您的分享关于这一则文章 !
读完这编文章后, 让我有点感触, 因为在我生活中一直面对不同的挑战, 每当遇到不同的挑战和事故时, 我就会想起一面湖水, 每当石头掉进湖和湖水混浊时, 就需要时间和平静的状况才可以再让湖水平静下来。我的挑战也一样, 平静的心态和冷静已经时常在我脑海里用于面对所面对的问题 !
感恩合十
AW WEI LING
Silence is good for the brain…thats wonderful. Thanks Rinpoche for sharing and reminding us.A very clear explanation and whats all about the benefits and importance of retreat especially for me to know.I can understand better now.. the reason why we needed a retreat and why Rinpoche always encourage us to go for the retreats.I do hope i will have the opportunity to do one in the near future.
With folded hands.
Thank you Rinpoche for constantly reminding us the importance of retreats, I have often asked myself repeatedly why and what is the purpose of a retreat and the result I hope to achieve. I had the opportunity to participate in retreats locally and outside Malaysia for many years, the longest was twelve days I would say that it has changed me in many ways.
After having been exposed to various kind of retreats I am aware now that the quick, bad and ill-tempered in me has toned down considerably, my senses are more sensitive and the ‘me, me me, I, I, I, mine, mine, mine’ that I have always being shrouded with have been noticeably reduced.
The mind habits that I have unconsciously been feeding to my brain over the years of growing up so much so that it comfortably sit in and became me and however hard I tried in engaging the mind with other altering modalities it was not too successful.
Recently, I attended an inner peace retreat from Aug 27 to 28 with my wife and daughter at Kechara Forest Retreat and throughout the session Pastor Tat Ming reminded us that it is a silent retreat. During the sunrise morning meditation at Manjusri hill I noticed that my hearing was so sharp at that moment that I could hear so clearly the sound of one leaf that fell from a tree to the ground. It was a very refreshing experience meditating in the mist shrouded hillside where the senses of hearing intensified considerably.
It also helped my daughter to opened up during our group sharing on how misguided she was in our relationship with her and admitted that this retreat had somewhat opened her eyes and made her more grounded. Though my life aspirations has not been completely achieved yet but I believe that opportunities in Kechara are abundantly available for me to further elevate my spiritual attainments.