Below is a rough draft of what the schedule might look like for a 4-night Deep Jhana Meditation Retreat in Krabi, Thailand in 2025. This will change slightly over time, so if you have any specific question about any of it, just drop me a note.
| Time | Activity |
| Day 1 | |
| Arrive in daylight hours various times. Check into rooms. | |
| 4:30 PM | Meeting before dinner. Talk about origin story and my take on it. Not magic, superstit., religious, etc. Precepts = none. That comes after Jhana, not before. It comes naturally, without effort. You are changed from the inside, then you become moral, right thought/speech/action, etc. No need to attempt to purify yourself before. |
| 6:00 PM | Dinner |
| 7:00 PM | Explain winding down process – body/mind. 30 minute explanation of process of focusing on tingling in the nose – not breath. |
| 8:00 PM | Body relaxation. Mind relaxation. 5-10 min meditation. Break. 5-10 minute meditation. Break. 20 minute medit. |
| Q&A | |
| Sleep | |
| Day 2 | |
| 7:00 AM | Breakfast – coffee, tea ok early on. |
| 8:00 AM | Talk – Steps of process. 1. Body relaxed. 2. Mind relaxed. 3. Short meditation on tingling. Not adding anything. No fluff. No extra thought. No noting. No mantra. No sounds in your ears with apps. Sitting as if you arent there. There’s only some perception there. Some observer that can sense the object of meditation. Not a whole body. Not a person. Not an ego. Not ‘meditating’, just an awareness of sensation. |
| State what the focus of the session is. Total focus on the tingling feeling in the nose. Body relaxation. Mind relaxation. | |
| 9:00 AM | Short meditation session 20 mins. Break. 20 min session. Break. 20 minute session. |
| Q&A | |
| Break, go swim, etc. | |
| Lunch | |
| Break | |
| 4:00 PM | Pre-Dinner Talk. The importance of seclusion. Solo practice. Isolation. Not turning it into a social practice. Mindfulness. Importance of regular – daily practice that is just enough. Not too much at any one time. Keeping your curiosity and excitement about your practice. |
| 6:00 PM | Dinner |
| 7:30 PM | 30 minute talk. The micro focus on the sensation in the nose. The absolute elimination of all other ideas, thoughts, questioning, body, self, ego, feelings, emotions, etc. |
| 8:00 PM | Body relaxation. Mind relaxation. 5-10 min meditation. Break. 5-10 minute meditation. Break. 20 minute medit. |
| Q&A | |
| Sleep | |
| Day 3 | |
| 7:00 AM | Breakfast – coffee, tea ok at 7. |
| 8:00 AM | Talk – |
| 9:00 AM | State what the focus of the session is. Total focus on the tingling feeling in the nose. Body relaxation. Mind relaxation. Short meditation session 20 mins. Break. 20 min session. Break. 20 minute session. How long do you reasonably think you can meditate per day in this way? The micro focus makes it hard. Like a chore. The game is hard. If can do 20 mins/day – great. If more, ok, within limits because the worst thing possible is to go too long sometime and destroy your curiosity, your motivation for continuing. 40 minutes max in 2 sessions/day. |
| Q&A | |
| Break, go swim, etc. | |
| Lunch | |
| Break | |
| 4:00 PM | Pre-Dinner Talk – When Goal 1 reached – 100% focus/concentration on breath. Goal 2 – transition to Jhana. Describe process. |
| 6:00 PM | Dinner |
| 7:30 PM | 30 minute talk. |
| 8:00 PM | Body relaxation. Mind relaxation. 5-10 min meditation. Break. 5-10 minute meditation. Break. 20 minute medit. |
| Q&A | |
| Sleep | |
| Day 4 | |
| 7:00 AM | Breakfast – coffee, tea ok at 7. |
| 8:00 AM | Talk – What is Jhana for? What is benefit? Is Jhana enough? Is Jhana the endgame? Insight. Individual Path or follow Buddha? What is enlightenment? |
| 9:00 AM | State what the focus of the session is. Total focus on the tingling feeling in the nose. Body relaxation. Mind relaxation. Short meditation session 20 mins. Break. 20 min session. Break. 20 minute session. |
| Q&A | |
| Break, go swim, etc. | |
| Lunch | |
| Break | |
| 4:00 PM | Pre-Dinner Talk: Open Topic and Q/A |
| 6:00 PM | Dinner |
| 7:30 PM | 30 minute talk. |
| 8:00 PM | Body relaxation. Mind relaxation. 20 min meditation. Break. 20 minute meditation. Break. 20 minute medit. |
| Q&A | |
| Sleep | |
| Day 5 | |
| 7:00 AM | Breakfast – coffee, tea ok at 7. |
| 8:00 AM | Talk – Jhanas are inside you, they aren’t something you’re doing. They are a sequence of 8 steps that are within the mind – everyone’s mind. When you reach 100% focus on your meditation object, you can probably reach the jhanas. No pressure. No race. No strong desire for the states. Treat the states with indifference. Walk away. Show them no respect. |
| State what the focus of the session is. Total focus on the tingling feeling in the nose. Body relaxation. Mind relaxation. | |
| 9:00 AM | Short meditation session 20 mins. Break. 20 min session. Break. 20 minute session. |
| Q&A | |
| Lunch |