Merete HetlandI recently returned from 3 weeks’ retreat in Acem meditation. It was a retreat with very long meditations that allowed the meditators to explore new aspects of the mind. Periods where the mind wandered through thoughts and emotions regarding present and past life experiences were intermingled with more silent hours where the mind became quiet although awake and present.

The long duration of the retreat allowed the experienced meditators to meditate “around the clock” several times – here time mattered less because it was so affluent, allowing for even deeper reflections and dwelling on important life issues. Working with the repetition of the meditation sound during these long periods in silence, applying still less energy and including more of the peripheral consciousness was challenging and rewarding.