Celebrating the Success of Our 10-Day Meditation Retreat in the Beautiful Center of OBV
- venobhasa806
- 1 day ago
- 3 min read
We are deeply grateful to celebrate the completion of another 10-day meditation retreat, a precious period of sincere practice, perseverance, and inner transformation.
Ten days may seem short, but ten days of continuous practice can create conditions for profound changes in the mind.
Through careful observation, we begin to recognise how craving and clinging condition suffering—and how letting go brings freedom.
We have seen how Right Effort, mindfulness, loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity can gradually transform the mind when they are cultivated consistently.
Ten Inspiring Dhamma Lessons from Our Retreat
Throughout these ten days, we discovered:
Right Effort 6Rs — Keep going, even when practice becomes challenging.
Mindfulness — Be present and know clearly what is happening.
Mettā — Meet ourselves and others with kindness.
Karuṇā — Understand suffering with a compassionate heart.
Muditā — Rejoice in the goodness and progress of others.
Upekkhā — Remain balanced without clinging or pushing away.
Patience — Allow the practice to unfold naturally, moment by moment.
Letting Go — Learn to release craving, resistance, and unnecessary tension.
Collectedness — Allow the mind to become calm, unified, and deeply settled.
Wisdom — See directly how experiences arise and pass away, opening the way to freedom.
The Meditators’ Experiences
What made this retreat especially meaningful was hearing directly from the meditators themselves. One participant reflected:
"After a number of TWIM retreats, this was the first time I attended one led by Ven. Obhāsa. I wanted to understand how to further my practice after a period of stalled progress - this aim was very well met.
During the retreat Ven. Obhãsa extensively used guided meditations - of an intense and transporting quality - to show how to lead the mind to collected states in the Brahma Vihãras. She has an impressive depth of wisdom and meditative skill which she shares in teaching the path, both in relation to sitting meditation and to everyday life. Her years of study under Ven. Vimalaramsi clearly contribute to an expertise in teaching - variously kind, tough, challenging and humorous but always based in wisdom and compassion - which led many on the retreat to attain advanced states.
In daily interviews, her genuine and declared interest in engaging individually with students to help them was apparent. She very perceptively recognised in me subtle hindrances of which I had not been aware; she drew my attention to these, explained them and gave me guidance on how to address these with forgiveness meditation.
By the end of the retreat I was clear on what had been obstructing me, and clear on continuing Dhamma practice both in sitting meditation and in daily life."
And another meditator beautifully expressed:
"This has been one of the most profound and transformative experiences of my life.I arrived without any particular expectation of what I might experience, and I was genuinely surprised by how far the practice developed over the course of the retreat. The progression felt remarkably coherent: rather than simply being told about different meditative states or Buddhist concepts, I was gradually given the tools to explore them through direct experience.
Venerable Obhāsa’s guidance was an essential part of this. I found her teaching exceptionally clear, practical and attentive. The individual interviews were particularly valuable: she listened carefully to what was actually happening in my practice and gave precise guidance about what to do next, without creating expectations about what I was supposed to experience.
What I appreciated most was that the retreat never felt like an exercise in adopting beliefs.
The emphasis was on practising, observing and discovering for oneself. Some of what emerged from that process affected me much more deeply than I could have anticipated. I came away with an extraordinary sense of clarity and gratitude, but also with a very practical desire to bring what I had learned into my relationships and everyday life."
Each person’s experience was different. Some experienced greater peace and stability. Some encountered difficult emotions and learned to meet them with compassion. Others discovered a deeper understanding of craving, resistance, letting go, and the nature of the mind.
Let us take the peace, mindfulness, kindness, and wisdom cultivated during these ten days back into our homes, our relationships, our work, and every moment of daily life.
There is no need to rush.
There is no need to compare.
Just keep practising with joy, confidence, patience, and a sincere heart.
Congratulations to all our meditators!
May the Dhamma continue to grow within each of us.
Sādhu! Sādhu! Sādhu!
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