Participating in a darkness retreat is one of the most powerful ways to know oneself
That the world and its numerous stimuli take you away from living in the present is something that we have more and more assumed, and hence the rise of practices such as meditation, silent retreats and accommodations that are advertised with great fanfare as "without coverage". But you can still go one step further to achieve full consciousness, the " illumination " of which many sacred texts speak; to know ourselves like never before, to achieve inner peace and even experience hallucinations typical of the most powerful drugs. We talked about the dark retreats.
"Darkness therapy is simply seclusion in a dark abode, usually a cave or room. This tradition derives from the Taoist tradition of using cave meditation practices to experience higher states of mind ", explains in a Medium article. "This practice is also closely associated with sensory deprivation, but most darkroom retreats offer food and conversation during therapy, in addition to encouraging activities such as meditating, writing, sleeping or focus on visualization techniques that enhance the spirit," he continues.
In Spain, it is difficult -although not impossible- to find places that offer this type of experience, while in Germany, the Czech Republic and Slovakia there are several possibilities, as can be seen in this list. However, the most common is to find them in Asia -the ones in Thailand are quite well known, like this one that takes place in adobe domes, on Koh Phangan-.
From this continent comes the practice that, it is said, was born in Tibet , where it is still preserved as a ritual to find peace of mind in the face of fear of death, and is also common in India, where it is considered a ayurverdic treatment to rejuvenate the body . Likewise, in South America, especially in places like Mexico, Peru and Guatemala, linked to the culture of healing plants, this service is also offered.
IN FIRST PERSON
It was precisely on Koh Phangan where, back in 2015, the French Victoria Miguet , a 35-year-old web developer and traveler, first heard of this practice. As passionate about meditation, yoga and Eastern philosophy, she was immediately attracted to it, deciding to embark on an experience of 40 days in the dark.
"The tradition of this type of retreat is kept alive today mainly through the Tibetan Buddhist teachings, and the monks of this religion usually do** 49-day retreats**, which is how long they last in the Bardo thodol" , he explains to Traveler.es. The Bardo thodol is the Tibetan book of the dead, in which it can be read that death lasts 49 days and that, after them, a rebirth occurs in the cycle of reincarnation.
"I wanted to do 49 days because it is very symbolic , but the darkroom wasn't available that long, so I settled on 40, which is also an important number in several traditions (the 40 days of Christ in the desert, for example)," continues Miguet.
"I made the choice to make a long retreat because needed a breakthrough , a way to deepen my practice and I knew that the challenge of spending six weeks in the dark would give me a much better chance of achieving it than doing just one or two. I have done many silent retreats of this duration in the past and, although they have been very beneficial, I always felt that They ended just when things started to get interesting. ", she affirms.
40 days of darkness to achieve inner peace
THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF SPENDING TIME IN COMPLETE DARKNESS
Despite the religiosity associated with this practice, its defenders argue that the effects of darkness on our body are, in reality, the most mundane: pure chemistry . Aaí, they maintain that the Pineal gland , located in the brain, begins to generate melatonin, which accumulates until the body realizes that it is not needed; then, it begins to produce other compounds, among which, the most important for the 'lighting' process is DMT, baptized by its greatest scholar, academic Rick Strassman, as "the molecule of God".
This molecule, present in sacred plants such as ayahuasca, "is capable of producing experiences that, in intensity, exceed those associated with standard doses of most psychedelics administered orally and, in fact, of most other drug categories", according to an article in La Vanguardia about one of the latest scientific studies carried out on the substance.
"At high doses, the experience is often characterized by a feeling of entering another world or dimension, apparently, as real as the present. It is not uncommon for people to describe encounters with conscious entities or presences within this other perceived world. Along with strong hallucinations, both with the eyes open and closed, can occur near death sensations ", continues the text.
It is just that powerful and healing feeling of ' ego death ' the one that triggers the 'making peace' with oneself and with the world that unravels from the sacred texts in which experiences in the dark are narrated.
The first retreats were held in caves
Miguet also felt that way: "Sitting with oneself without possible distractions, without even being able to look around, was a big challenge for a long time. Really, you have to make peace with your mind, with its constant chatter, with the difficult memories and with all the visions and hallucinations that throws you Seeing creatures from horror movies as if they were real was also difficult; being alone in the dark can be scary sometimes, and nothing can be done to stop the visions," he tells us.
Akshay Nanavati, author of Fearvana -prologued by the Dalai Lama-, who has also participated in one of these retreats, recounts his experience on the Tangentially Speaking podcast, assuring that the most healing thing is to accept these visions surrender to them. In this way, the practice will become something that can change your life. "Having profound spiritual experiences, experientially understanding what Rumi meant when he said: 'You still don't know? It is your light that illuminates the world,' profoundly changed the way I experience life," recalls Miguet.
"I could see, for many weeks, how my mind can recreate a whole world that seems very real and external, but it is not . So what if the world we experience every day is just as unreal as the one I experienced in the dark? That is what the Buddha said, and my days in the dark helped me tremendously to get a sense of how this statement could be true."
IS A DARK RETIREMENT A GOOD IDEA FOR YOU?
The centers that offer this type of experience warn that they can be difficult to manage for people with certain mental disorders. Miguet, for his part, considers that It is not an experience for everyone : "You have to be comfortable facing your deepest demons and fears, at least during a long retreat," he explains.
"I believe that anyone can do it in five to seven days ; it can be very relaxing and rejuvenating, as you tend to sleep a lot at first. But spending a longer time like this is very challenging, especially if one does not have a great spiritual formation and a solid meditation practice that can prevent the mind from going crazy. Total isolation is considered a form of torture , so you really must be prepared to deal with the suffering associated with total abstinence from the senses. However, if someone feels ready and wants to go deeper into themselves in a short period of time, this is the way to go."