The long history of silent meditation retreats and the individuals who helped shape them

"Silent meditation and silent prayer have shaped spiritual lives within a variety of religious traditions for thousands of years. Today, however, those practices are often being offered in secular settings. One particular form of meditative silence, the 10-day mindfulness retreat, has had an outsized impact."

"Ba Khin was one of a small number of prominent Buddhist lay meditation teachers in late colonial and early postcolonial Burma. His silent, 10-day retreat became a model for a wide range of intensive meditation traditions. Three of Ba Khin's students were instrumental in bringing his teaching to the United States."

"Mindfulness meditation practices can be traced to ancient India. The clearest historical evidence of such practices comes from the teachings of the historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, and his contemporaries. Most of these practitioners were monastics or ascetics."

Silent meditation retreats have gained significant popularity in the United States, with participants temporarily abandoning phones and communication to practice self-awareness and calm their nervous systems. While silent meditation and prayer have been central to spiritual traditions for millennia, these practices increasingly appear in secular contexts. The 10-day mindfulness retreat format, developed by Burmese meditation master Sayagyi U Ba Khin, has had particularly substantial influence. Three of Ba Khin's students brought his teachings to America, establishing a model replicated across various intensive meditation traditions. Mindfulness meditation traces its origins to ancient India and the historical Buddha's teachings, though historical debate continues regarding whether such practices were originally reserved for monastics or accessible to laypeople.

Read at The Conversation