VIPASSANA Meditation Retreat – The Practice of Choiceless Awareness

1. VIPASSANA Meditation Retreat – The Practice of Choiceless Awareness

co-led by facilitators Masta Dominique Vincent and Leela Berchot

from 8 to 17 November 2024

Come and experience a ten-day silent retreat in the Pyrenees mountains of Ariège, in South West France to recharge your batteries and find your true self through the practice of Vipassana meditation and the teachings of Buddha and Osho. 

There is also a three-day option. 

Vipassana is the very essence of all meditation, a simple yet powerful method through which, it is said, the most meditators in the world have come to their own realisation.  

Vipassana, at the heart of the Buddha’s teaching, literally means witnessing, developing a deep and immediate vision of what is, developing a choiceless awareness, rejecting nothing. In this retreat, you will deepen your state of attentive presence, awareness and witnessing. You are simply what you are, and you observe it in a relaxed and gentle way. 

During these ten days, you relax into the rhythm of your breathing, and consciously accept everything that happens, both in your inner world and in the world around you. Everything is constantly changing – sensations, moods, thoughts… This state of witnessing leads to an awareness of impermanence: to non-attachment, to liberation, that ‘this too will pass’. All that remains is a vibrant, luminous state of being – a state of love.

The Vipassana retreat will help you to let go of mental agitation, physical and emotional stress, distress and pain, and to find the happiness and peace that are always there deep within yourself. This meditation technique does not invoke the help of a god, a spirit or any external power, but depends entirely on your own conscious effort. It is therefore open to everyone, people of all faiths and none. It is a path of personal transformation. 

 

The Vipassana retreat consists of two main elements:

• Watching the breath, feeling the movement of air in and out in the area around the nostrils. It is also possible to watch your breath in the depth of the belly around the area of the navel. 
• Acting with mindfulness all day long – walking, eating, taking care of your body 

Vipassana is sometimes perceived as a difficult, even painful path. We bring you Osho’s approach, which is peaceful, feminine and gentle on your body and mind. A Vipassana retreat is first and foremost a love affair with yourself. It is meant to be pleasant. 

Vipassana was created 2500 years ago by Buddha. Men and women have changed a lot since then: our way of life has evolved. Some Buddhist retreats have adopted a dry approach which is not suitable for everyone. 

With purely traditional methods, it is often difficult, especially for beginners, to joyously sit in silence when one’s emotional world is disturbed. According to some accounts, a certain number of people remain locked up in their mental dialogues for a long time and go through great physical, mental and emotional suffering without sufficient individual support. 

Osho makes an immense contribution to the practice of Vipassana, almost a revolution. He suggests we take into account the impact of our personal history and social conditioning on our body-mind. Therefore, Osho insists to include some active meditations to the process to release our repression and nurture vitality, joy and love. 

This Neo-Vipassana retreat, as proposed by Osho, takes place in silence, but with some fundamental additions:

• We will accompany you step by step in your meditation with respect and kindness. This retreat should be a comfortable, enjoyable experience, as well as being rigorous and effective. Today’s minds are cluttered and stressed, and observing them can be disturbing! During this retreat, we’ll give you the tools and support you need to avoid remaining identified with your inner mental discourse and spending your time judging yourself. 
• Osho’s active meditations are integrated into the process, and so we avoid sitting on unmanaged emotions and physical and mental tensions due to our hectic and stressful lifestyles. Witnessing becomes easier. 
  
• While meditating it is essential to be loving towards our body and therefore to take care of it. Meditation is not a struggle but an inner journey. There is no point in being in pain. Cushions, meditation chairs and ordinary chairs will be available. Special care will be taken with posture and flexibility to support your meditation while ensuring maximum well-being. Conscious walks and active meditations, which include phases of emotional release and dance, will make your experience more enjoyable and profound. 
• There are some common misunderstandings about meditation, such as the idea that it consists of stopping all thought… Not at all! Meditation means witnessing the mind with kindness, without trying to change or control it, and it is in this observation that the magic key lies: the mind gradually calms down, giving way to intervals of silence. Slowly emotions subside, and a presence becomes more tangible and intense. 
• Another common misconception is that meditation is concentration. Concentration is not meditation, because it is an effort of the mind. It is the mind that gives itself the order to concentrate! As Osho tells us very clearly from his own experience, “Enlightenment can only happen in a state of total relaxation”. 
• Osho invites us to make the experience of these retreats more joyful, more playful, more light-hearted, so that it doesn’t become a source of suffering, or a matter of spiritual ego. He also invites us to look at the world with wonder and to participate in the dance of the universe with all our heart and soul. 
• Meals are vegetarian, but there’s no question of depriving yourself of food, as some ‘monastic’ schools tend to do. Food is a natural need. Consciously eating delicious and healthy food contributes to our physical and mental wellbeing and supports our meditation efforts. 
• In this retreat, the morning wake-up call is at 7 am with the practice of Osho’s Dynamic Meditation, which is both an energy booster and a cathartic technique for expelling everything that clutters and burdens you: anger, fears, frustrations, jealousies… For those who feel like sitting in meditation earlier, the meditation room will be open. 

This Neo-Vipassana retreat is suitable for beginners and experienced meditators.

• If you are an experienced meditator, we create for you a safe space, one of silence, with the minimum of interference 
• If you are a beginner, we will guide you individually through the different states you are experiencing. Throughout the 10 days, you will have the opportunity to have individual sessions with one of the retreat leaders, according to your needs. 

Why do an OSHO Vipassana Retreat ?

It is a gift to treat yourself to do a Vipassana retreat in the beautiful Pyrenees mountains – to slow down, recharge your batteries and find your centre. It is an opportunity to re-energise, to rediscover yourself without distraction, without worrying about practical things, without escaping into reading, without telephones or other media screens. 

“When you walk, eat and travel, be present. Otherwise, you will miss out on your life”. Gautama the Buddha 

“Buddha says meditation should become a constant phenomenon; only then can it transform you. And he developed a new meditation technique. His greatest contribution to the world is Vipassana. There is no other teacher who has given such a great gift to the world.” Osho 

About our Vipassana Retreat

We offer two options for the Vipassana retreat: 10 days or 3 days. 

The 10-day retreat begins at 6pm on Friday 8 November 2024 and ends at 4pm on Sunday 17 November 2024. 

The 3-day retreat begins at 6pm on Friday 8 November 2024 and ends at 4pm on Monday 11 November 2024. 

Timetable for a typical day of Vipassana retreat:

7.00am to 8.00am: OSHO Dynamic Meditation 

8.00am to 9.00am: Breakfast 

9.00am to 10.00am Vipassana sitting and walking with awareness 

10.00am to 11.00am Vipassana Sitting and walking with awareness 

11.00am to 11.30am Tea break 

11.30am to 12.30pm Vipassana sitting and walking with awareness 

12:30 to 14:00 Lunch and rest (13:30 end of the meal) 

2:00pm to 3:0 pm Vipassana sitting and walking with awareness  

3:00pm to 4:00pm Vipassana sitting and walking with awareness 

4:00pm to 4:30pm: Break and tea 

4:30pm to 5:45pm OSHO Kundalini meditation 

6.30pm to 7.30pm OSHO Evening Meeting 

7.30pm to 8.30pm Dinner 

8.30pm to 9.30pm Evening meditation

The Supporting Team:

The team consists of two facilitators and several assistants. What is specific to them is that they listen to each person’s process and offer their unconditional, non-judgemental support. They have extensive experience of meditation (and Vipassana meditation in particular) and of providing individual and group guidance. 

Dominique Vincent, born in France, having lived in Canada, Middle East and India, has made meditation a central part of his life from an early age. He discovered yoga at the age of 14! He met Osho in India at the age of 35 in December 1979. Osho gave him the name Anando Masta. Since then, he has never left this guidance while continuing his quest and enriching his experiences in many traditions: Sufism, Zen, Tibetan Buddhism. He has been providing therapeutic support and leading personal development and meditation groups for some fifty years. He loves to pass on what has always inspired him, with gentleness, energy and passion. 

Websites: https://www.meditationfrance.com/therapie/vincent/index.htm and https://www.tantraaucoeurdeletre.com/

Leela Berchot, born in Moldova in the former Soviet Union, discovered meditation when she was a teenager, inspired by Osho’s book “Meditation: The Art of Ecstasy”. She then spent several years at the Osho International Meditation Resort in India, where she worked as coordinator of Osho’s meditations. She lived in England where she led Vipassana retreats. Today she runs the OSHO Meditation Centre in Foix, SW France, which offers courses, retreats and trainings linked to Osho’s teachings such as Vigyan Bhairav Tantra courses with Prem Shunyo & Marco, Osho meditative therapies, Gurdjieff movements, silent retreats, Zorba the Buddha courses and weekends, etc. 

Website: oshofrance.com

The retreat venue: Vallon d’Aïga at Ornolac-les Bains in Ariège, SW France

The Vipassana retreat will take place at Vallon d’Aïga, a haven of peace in the heart of the Pyrenees and a place conducive to silence and self-enquiry. Surrounded by nature and tranquillity, it is in the middle of a Natura 2000 listed park, just 1 hour from Toulouse, 
Andorra and 10 minutes from Tarascon-sur-Ariège train station, Vallon d’Aïga is easy to get to, with ample parking and space for caravans and camping vans. The centre can accommodate people in single, double, triple and dormitory rooms. The 120 m2 meditation room is large, bright and made of wood. Visit the Vallon d’Aïga website 

How to get there:

The international airports of Toulouse and Carcassonne are about 1h30 drive away. The airport of Perpignan is 2h30 drive, Montpellier and Barcelona airports are 3 hours’ drive away. There is a train station in Tarascon-sur-Ariège, a village situated at 6 km from the centre, with good connections from Toulouse, Paris and Hospitalet (near Andorra). There will be a courtesy pick-up from the train station. Please contact us if you need help with arranging your travel. 

Prices 

The 10-day retreat prices:

Prices are inclusive of accommodation, meals and tuition from Friday 8 November at 6.00pm to Sunday 17 November at 4.00pm. 

• In dormitory accommodation 895 EUR (Early Bird 800 EUR before 15 June 2024) 
• In a double or triple room EUR 1275 (Early Bird EUR 1150 before 15 June 2024) 
• Single room EUR 1690 (Early Bird EUR 1500 before 15 June 2024) 

The 3-day retreat prices: 

Prices are inclusive of accommodation, meals and tuition from Friday 8 November at 6.00pm to Monday 11 November 4.00pm. 

• In dormitory accommodation 395 EUR (Early Bird 350 EUR before 15 June 2024) 
• In a double or triple room EUR 495 (Early Bird EUR 430 before 15 June 2024)

 

For further information and personal communication with the facilitators please contact: 

Masta at +33 6 89 36 45 01 vincent@yahoo.fr 

Leela at +33 7 80 30 53 05 leela@oshofrance.com 

An interview with one of the facilitators is necessary before you book in order to see together that this retreat is right for you at this time in your life. 

For more quotes from Osho and Buddha follow this link…

Click here to read what Osho says about Vipassana in The Dhammapada, his commentaries on Buddha’s teachings…