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Spiritual retreat
Weekly Short Term
PRESENTATION
The so-called yogic sabbath contains
– a spiritual retreat of a few hours to 12-24 hours
depending on our aspiration, energy and capacities
-Otherwise
the inner attitude of meditation in action,
of conscious orientation of thoughts
towards the spiritual, the study of spiritual books and texts,
cultivation and surrender in spirituality.
Weekly withdrawal, whether shorter or longer, means first and foremost
a constant – or almost constant – attitude of detachment from worldly things
and of abandonment in spirituality.
Nivedana Mudra – the yogic Sabbath is actually
an inner attitude
based on the cultivation of a
offerings of time, attention and human energy,
to all that we have holiest and highest.
It is an aspiration to erase limitations, a purification,
a spearhead of our existence.
It is a more general concept that means
to direct our resources of time, energy and attention – (preferably) regularly,
to the deepest part of our being.
This is all the more important for the person in the middle of life,
busy with many natural and necessary activities.
We live in a universe governed by rhythms, and on Earth
One of these rhythms is the lunar one:
7-day week,
that is, a quarter of the lunar revolution around the Earth.
The yogic spiritual path is composed of:
– INITIATION – active presence at the course
– TAPAS – the spiritual effort determined and assumed for spiritual transformation
– Longer or shorter spiritual RETREATS
– MEDITATION IN ACTION – this encompasses the entire existence, no matter what action we take.
The most important spiritual retreat is the yogic Sabbath.
Spiritual retreat into various traditions
The Sabbath (or Sabbath) is the weekly day of rest and holiness in the biblical tradition,
Rooted in Judaism
and then being taken up in different forms by Christianity and other religious currents.
It appears for the first time in Genesis,
where God “finished His work” on the seventh day
and “rested” from all His works, blessing and sanctifying the seventh day.
• In Judaism it isthe seventh day of the week,
that is, from Friday evening to Saturday evening
(According to the Hebrew calendar, the day begins at sunset).
It is a time of rest, prayer and celebration of creation
and the legendary possible liberation of the people of Israel from Egypt.
The 39 types of “melachot” (work) are prohibited
mentioned in the rabbinic tradition (Talmud).
• In Christianity – the JewishChristians of the first centuries
continued to observe the Sabbath on Saturday.
Subsequently, most churches transferred
Rest day and celebration Sundayof
– The Lord’s Day, the day of the Resurrection of Christ.
However, some communities
– e.g. Seventh-day Adventists , Christian Judaizers –
Keep the Sabbath on the Sabbath, as in Judaism.
• In Islam there is noSabbath proper,
But there’s Friday,
considered a special day of collective prayer, but not of complete rest.
• In yoga and tantra there is no such day,
But there is the principle of occasional spiritual withdrawal
or permanent – for sadhus and some swamis
and dedication of every moment to spirituality.
Thus, it is not necessary to dedicate a day
because all days are dedicated to spirituality.
Yogis dedicated to spirituality actively practice daily tapas,
so that even their food or sleep has a spiritual orientation
This way of life is very different from what the samsaric, worldly man does.
However, the optional practice of the yogic Sabbath is precious,
because it is a spiritual “spearhead” practiced at the beginning of the week
and which then diffuses throughout the yogi’s entire existence,
finally coming to live
“a Sabbath” of 7 days in a week.
The Sabbath or rest?
In our opinion, in the case of the Sabbath, unfortunately,
From the Original Spiritual Wisdom of the Sabbath
Only the idea of rest remained.
In fact, the Sabbath was thought of as a day of the week dedicated to spirituality.
For this reason, it is recommended that activities oriented towards material gain not be carried out on that day.
However, even Jesus was criticized for “working” on the Sabbath day when healing the sick.
His complex answer can be summarized by its essence:
“The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”
If we practice karma yoga, that is, actions done with
Secondment
dedicated to spirituality and
in accordance with the divine order,
Then these efforts can also be part of the Sabbath, especially if they support a spiritual process.
However, rest remains beneficial.
That’s why, once a week, it’s good to put aside even karma yoga and yoga activities.
Let’s aim to make a spiritual leap:
to be more careful than ever,
to live with more awareness and
to make a spiritual leap, as much as possible for us at that moment.
The best and most effective way to live this time is through a spiritual retreat.
Many times, simply sitting
it does not even generate rest or regeneration of the body.
For the ordinary man, who does not yet have a conscious spiritual approach
and only accepts, theoretically, some principles of transformation,
The Sabbath is usually reduced to
– A day of rest and reflection –
More important is the deep, often lost meaning:
ONE DAY OUT OF SEVEN DEDICATED TO SPIRITUALITY.
This is a mystery of the universe.
Just as the principle of tithing shows
that by giving you do not lose, but gain,
In the same way, the Sabbath shows that,
if we set a day of rest every seven days,
We don’t lose materially, but on the contrary, we win.
And if, on that day, we not only rest, but also devote ourselves to spiritual actions,
then we gain a lot and spiritually, without losing anything material
– we can even win materially
(by the way the conscious universe responds to us in the coming days
and through our abilities enhanced by spiritual training ).
For authentic spiritual seeker yogis,
“Yogi Sabbath” means a day out of seven dedicated,
as far as possible, entirely to spirituality.
The weekly Sabbath has two main components:
1. Absolute spiritual withdrawal – with exceptional effects on spiritual evolution.
2. Dynamic perspective – the rest of the time, when there is no actual retreat,
But the practice continues through meditation in action.
Many yogis choose to perform a 12–14 hour or even 24-hour retreat,
And for them, the yogic Sabbath becomes “the whole day” dedicated to spirituality.
INDICATIONS • EFFECTS • BENEFITS
Through the Nivedana Mudra – the yogic Sabbath – we can obtain:
• Recovering the spiritual chances that we have not been able to capitalize on during the week.
• Recovering the spiritual efforts that we have not been able to fulfill during the week.
• Self-improvement, both in the quantity and quality of spiritual practice.
• Amplifying the feeling and fulfillment of the deep meaning of existence.
• Accelerated spiritual evolution, which places us on a higher spiral of transformation
• Confronting other, more refined and meaningful life tests
• Overcoming major obstacles in our lives.
• Solving some health problems.
• A beneficial life change, which is revealing itself more and more,
as we constantly practice the Nivedana Mudra – the yogic sabbath.
• An intensely transformative spiritual evolution in a short time,
through a concentrated and strong effort,
like a spearhead.
• We achieve major spiritual effects and,
for consistent practitioners,
who want to do more for their own evolution
even paranormal powers.
• “Burning” any karma, in an effective way
• Detachment, renunciation and inner freedom.
Isolation
The principle of a spiritual retreat is that
to isolate ourselves from external disturbances,
which can come from:
environment (environment),
the physical body and the astral body (sensations, perceptions, thoughts),
or the causal body (emotions, meanings, subtle tendencies).
! We aim to withdraw from the social and sensory environment
and to close any possibility by which
The mind might be distracted from spiritual effort.
Sometimes it is even useful to put “obstacles”
in the way of the tendency to get out of isolation in any way,
so that it is more difficult to leave the spiritual effort
than to continue it.
“Mental animals”
The mental “monkey”
In general, when we aim to focus our mind on a concrete action,
This facet of our mind is frantically looking for solutions to get out of this state of focus.
The mind does not desire coercion – even if it is voluntary
and because they, more often than not,
he finds “something else” more attractive than the “current one”,
Just like a monkey whose next branch of the tree
it seems much more interesting to him than the one he is currently in.
To prevent this and to be able to focus intensely,
it is necessary to organize certain practices
in a space where we are not disturbed –
a cave, in the forest or in the mountain,
in unmanned places… but not only.
We can organize spiritual retreats in any space
which can be arranged with the necessary
and in which we will not be disturbed – and such a place can be, most easily,
even our room in which we usually live.
Ram Gopal to Yogananda (in ” Autobiography of a Yogi):
“Young man, I see that you are going to leave your Master.
He has everything you need. You have to go back to it.
Mountains can’t be your guru.
No cosmic law obliges masters to live only in the mountains.
The Indian or Tibetan Himalayas do not have a monopoly on the saints.
If you can’t find something in yourself by your own effort,
There’s no point in looking for that something by taking your body here and there.
As soon as the believer is ready to go
to the end of the world for spiritual enlightenment,
The guru appears next to him.
Do you have a small room where you can retreat into solitude?
-Yes.
– That’s where your cave is.
There is your holy mountain.
There you will find the kingdom of heaven.“
In fact, spiritual retreat is the most convenient, easy, and inexpensive to accomplish
right in the ambience of our home.
People retreat to the mountains or caves for the silence and resonance of the place,
but also to put many mental “fences” against the possibility of “escaping” to the outside.
In the case of short-term spiritual retreats, these desires are easily fulfilled
And it is no longer important whether we are in the mountains, in the cave or in the environment of our own home.
If we achieve spiritual retreat in an accessible place
both in terms of distance and materially and we have all the necessary comfort,
Then we have the advantage that the process becomes very accessible.
This is valuable to the spiritual seeker
who wants to spiritually integrate the natural life.
The mental “donkey”
This is a tendency of the mind to consider possible activities as impossible.
Our mind has extraordinary capacities right now.
For example, if we are very hungry
We can imagine with many details an abundant meal.
In this situation we have our instinct and desire that drives us, even,
Let us consider even what is impossible as being possible.
And we have the situation in which we want that, at will,
to focus on a thought or
Let’s mentalize something simple – a yantra, for example.
The “mental donkey” rejects this task as too hard,
beyond our powers as yogis.
In fact, there is then no engine of aspiration, desire or passion , and therefore
The “mental donkey” makes us believe the opposite and false
that it would be impossible what is, in fact, possible.
Perspective
Short-term spiritual retreats can also be understood
according to the predominant type of yoga we approach.
The main four major practical perspectives in yoga are:
Raja yoga – yoga of intense concentration, deep meditation and full control of the mind,
Bhakti yoga – yoga of devotion or love of God,
Jnana yoga – the yoga of discrimination of the reality of “illusion”, of the philosophical approach,
Karma yoga or yoga of action devoid of attachment and in perfect harmony with the divine will.
The Space of the Heart
The easiest, fastest and fastest withdrawal
the one that can be practiced the longest and anywhere
it is the withdrawal into the so-called Space of the Heart,
Where we can be isolated from the outside world – through pratyahara.
Or we can be with the main attention in the Heart and with the secondary attention to the outside,
even with their eyes open, living what in Orthodoxy is specified under the phrase
” to be in the world, but not to be of the world”.
Thisis the most valuable or authentic spiritual retreat,
because it transforms our life, with all that it could contain from the outside.
“He who meditates is not in Paradise,
but Paradise is in the one who meditates. ”
EXECUTION TECHNIQUE
How to make Nivedana Mudra?
The essence of the yogic Sabbath is
Dedication to spirituality
and the idea of spiritual retreat.
The Nivedana Mudra is, in general, an inner attitude in which we aim to
we direct all thoughts, concerns, aspirations, actions towards spirituality,
through all the tools and methods we know.
This mudra is not synonymous with weekly spiritual retreat,
this is just an effective and profound tool to delve into the Nivedana mudra.
The Nivedana Mudra can also be practiced without any spiritual withdrawal
and can be practiced all the time, every day,
not just one day a week.
We practice it as consciously as we can one day a week
and then we aim to slide on the habit
and the inner realization acquired on the other days as well.
To note
• Themost important part is the spiritual retreat itself, which can last as long as we want.
• The withdrawal contains the practices we want,
freely chosen and “rolled” after inspiration, maybe even several times.
• Itis a determined effort that can be
directed towards a specific purpose,
like any spiritual practice.
• The eastof the time of the day freely chosen as the yogic Sabbath day
It will be spent wisely, dedicating to spirituality and consciously
as much as possible of our thoughts, gestures, attitudes.
In fact, we offer an offering to ourselves and
our thoughts, our time, our energy,
detaching ourselves from ordinary concerns
and using time with maximum intensity
to advance spiritually and spiritually.
It is an inner attitude in which
We actively give every knowledge, every energy, every thought, every action
for transformation and spiritual growth.
This attitude means either an intensive spiritual retreat,
longer or shorter,
or living the day, apparently, in the middle of life,
but with a specific inner practice and attitude.
Targeting
For a follower
amplifying a deep meaning in his life,
The Nivedana Mudra or the yogic Sabbath can be performed as follows:
» Before we start we say mentally or out loud
“I perform these actions – Nivedana Mudra – the yogic sabbath
with detachment and wisdom,
for… (we say here what we want to accomplish)
only and no longer in accord with the universal order
or God’s will
.”
One day a week, a month or several days a year
disconnect from our other usual activities and
• we produce exclusively, intensively and extensively
Everything we know that can transform or uplift us:
meditation first, prayer, energy yoga
strongly avoiding thoughts and collateral concerns
or
• we carry out fundamental study, art, inspired literature,
we watch motivating and reinforcing films;
It is preferable, however, to perform hatha yoga, meditation, prayer
and cultivate the Nivedana Mudra – the inner attitude of meditation in action,
of conscious orientation of thoughts
towards the spiritual, the study of spiritual books and texts,
cultivation and surrender in spirituality.
What do we do if it “does” well?
If a technique, especially meditative, is very effective and we have an exceptional state,
we don’t change it, but we deepen it…
until we are satisfied or until the state of samadhi
or until we get bored – if something like this happens again.
What do we do if we are NOT “doing well”?
If we feel that a technique has “dulled”, that is, its effectiveness has decreased,
we change it for another, then for another, then for another, or we go back to the first one,
maintaining the freshness of the practice and thus tricking the mental “monkey”.
Nivedana Mudra to help someone
If we want to help someone who has a big problem, an accident, a hard exam, etc
We perform the same actions as above
But before we start we say mentally or out loud
” I Perform These Actions – Nivedana Mudra – Yogic Sabbath
with detachment and wisdom,
so that this person having the name of …
to succeed …
(we say here what we want to achieve)
only and only in accordance with the universal order
or
only and only in accordance with the will of God.”
What day of the week?
It matters little on which day we perform the yogic Sabbath.
In our view, it is only necessary to
May it be a day consecrated by us for
spirituality or
personal development
and transpersonal.
The various authentic religions consider
different suitable days,
But this is
to realize apparent differences between believers of different religions.
It’s easier for us to make a weekend retreat
because the world we live in has a cyclicality of 7 days,
But we can choose whatever day we want and that suits us in the present.
It is said that God Himself “rests” on the Sabbath.
This does not mean, symbolically, that it “stands idle”,
but that he abandons himself in the transcendent mental void,
which is alive and active.
The Big Secret
Although the yogic Sabbath means a cessation of worldly activities,
they do not suffer,
but are fulfilled through Nivedana Mudra.
Even in the Middle Ages, when material means were difficult to obtain,
No matter how hard the work was,
If man directed one day a week to spirituality,
He noticed something backwards than it seemed at first glance:
He wasn’t poorer
but, somehow, richer.
This is because the universe is conscious and not mechanical,
and the purpose of existence is not
material or technical-scientific progress
It’s spirituality.
If we put spirituality first in our hearts
all the others will be offered to us on top of that.
This Mudra is a practical secret,
A spiritual “spearhead”
What can be and – we realize – is worth and must be cultivated by anyone.
Temptations, Trials, and Spiritual Traps
It is good to know that, due to the fact that it is a very effective and intense technique,
The temptations or obstacles that we will encounter during it are commensurate.
We may even be amazed at how actions that are normally very simple
They can become less easy to achieve due to integration that allows intense karma burning.
From case to case, they can manifest themselves
Exceptional states of supreme consciousness
or spontaneous and lasting focus on the state of presence
or the so-called state of “being”,
mental clarity,
nondual happiness
or even samadhi.
But malaise can also occur,
high body temperature
or cold, chills,
strange and unusual states.
However it may seem to us that it is the quality of our feeling,
Spiritual advancement occurs
And we must continue to the end of spiritual withdrawal.
It is good not to give in to the temptation to sleep at all,
aware that we will be able to do this very well
when the assumed hours of spiritual retreat will end.
However, we will find that,
no matter how sleepy we were at any given time,
after the withdrawal is usually over,
we don’t need to sleep,
we even have a state of activity and spiritual enthusiasm.
One of the most important tests that occur inthis type of withdrawals
is the false impression that we are not efficient inwhat we do,
that it would be something pointless,
that it does not contain anything spiritual
and that the teacher or spiritual master taught us an unrealistic method and others.
It is good to know that, no matter how “dry” our effort may seem at a given moment,
Spiritual results certainly exist and these are, first of all:
• strengthening the will,
• the accumulation of experience in the transformative spiritual effort,
• (and, more importantly) strengthening the spiritual aspiration,
• the accumulation of spiritual merits,
• the accumulation of God’s supreme grace.
No matter how sterile our effort may sometimes seem to us
it is very good to continue it,
Because the results will surely appear eventually.
The biggest danger in this kind of retreat is blasphemy,
that is, the false impression that it would be pointless and that everything could be formal.
What is to be done then? LET’S CONTINUE.
It isgood not to show self-indulgence, not to give up
and not to lie down during the retreat.
If, however, we have done this, it is good to continue
thereafter at least until the end of the assumed period.
Due to the effectiveness of the method, it is possible to face karmic obstacles,
with certain evil influences and with many mental inaccuracies.
The important thing is to ignore them and to continue our spiritual effort seriously.
It is good to avoid any way of mental escape!
We don’t read books, even spiritual ones,
we don’t look out the window at the people or the street show,
we don’t start cleaning the room or washing
and the like.
The mind wants to escape from withdrawal and
wherever there is a crack through which it can escape, it will be tested and “widened”,
That is why we must be very vigilant.
If we feel evil entities influencing us,
we ask for the help of God, of Jesus Christ, the Guardian Angel or of the oneArchangeland/or
We do meditation with the color white-incandescent.
The biggest trick that evil entities
gives it to spiritual seekers is to give them the impression
that their effort is pointless and that it would not be effective.
They accomplish this with effort, so it must be known that they cannot go on indefinitely.
But the very important thing is to be absolutely sure
that no personal spiritual effort is in vain.
Every gesture counts and supports our spiritual evolution,
So we have to keep going,
regardless of external or internal influences.
On the other hand, the ego cannot transcend itself
and when this approaches he tends, through various subterfuges,
to influence us to stop or change the meaning of our actions,
to protect themselves from being transcended.
Because it is based on Divine Grace,
no matter how tired we feel
and however difficult our human effort may seem,
It has great efficiency.
This happens because of something that doesn’t come from us and isn’t done by our power.
but which, on this occasion, gather in our being in large “quantities” or “qualities”:
Supreme Divine Grace!
Spiritual Diary
When we “dive” into the depths of our being,
the conscience “lights up”,
perspective becomes higher
and, in addition, inspirations and meaningful memories appear.
! When they appear, they seem to be ours, but if we don’t write them down,
When we return to the usual level, we forget them, because they are no longer “at hand”.
That is why it is necessary to write down the ideas and inspirations that come to us.
If we don’t write it down, a lot of the information will be lost
or their driving force will be lost.
Don’t rush us to analyzeour feelings or ideas
nor to write them downimmediately,
if the condition is profound,
especially ifyou establish a dialogue with God.
Grading must be done with physical effort and minimal concentration
and only if we are sure that we do not get out of the state of Grace.
Music
If we feel it is imperative, itcan be used MODERATELY
and an appropriate musical background:
certain harmonious, quiet, uplifting melodies,
which can greatly energize our aspiration and state of love for God.
We do NOT abuse music, because there is also the danger that the mind
to look for in it a way out of the continuous focus on the spiritual path.
MISTAKES AND SHORTCOMINGS
“When you lose, don’t miss the lesson.”
» Assessment of obstacles in the withdrawal that has ended
and the programming of the future strategy
for overcoming those obstacles in future withdrawals
It is wise that, once a retreat is concluded,
to make a retrospective of what happened,
to establish the strengths and weaknesses.
Then it is good to think of STRATEGIES:
• to value what we have already seen works for us
and allows us to achieve results;
• for detours or face and transcend weaker aspects,
which can generate a decrease in our spiritual efficiency.
It is good that we already think about what we will do next time
when we are again put in difficulty in a similar way
and to establish already what we could do with the inner means
that we now know better ourselves.
These results can be written inthe special notebook
used during withdrawal
and which can be consulted and capitalized on
(at the latest) before the next withdrawal.
In this way, any mistakes are transformed
from apparent partial failures
in natural stages of spiritual realization.
No spiritual retreat is a failure,
Any spiritual retreat is a success
but this success may be more complete or less complete.
This is not just an optimistic neighbor.
Itcertainly produces a “burning” of karma,
a spiritual advance,
a completion of the knowledge of our inner possibilities.
What we can do during the rest of the yogic Sabbath time,
Apart from spiritual withdrawal (the most important action)
• meditation in action
• Hesychast meditation with open eyes
• fundamental meditation with Ananta with open eyes
• contemplative walks
• meetings with loved ones, quiet, with common sense
• study
• watching harmonious, regenerating, spiritual movies
• tantric love union with the loved one, etc.
What can NOT be part of the yogic Sabbath
• Moneyto gain material resources,
unless the whole purpose of the work is spiritual,
even through those resources.
• Non-mandatory household activities
made with obvious effort and dedication of time.
For example, we can put the laundry in the washing machine, turn it on,
But, perhaps, we avoid not laying them on dry until the end of the retreat.
• We can feed the pets, this is something mandatory,
But not to trim them, or to carry out actions on them that can be postponed.
” Wise advice?
Stay in your cell, and it will give you wise advice.
(…)
– Of course you have a cell.
Search within yourself.“
I wish you success!
Leo Radutz