Meditation, the Mosquitoes, and Me

In late August of 2012, I was invited to go on a weekend Retreat with some friends who are practicing Raja Yoga. It was up in the mountain area, away from the hustle and bustle of the polluted city in which I was staying. It was overseas in a very crowded country so you can imagine the scenario. So, I decided to go since it was a long weekend as well as the beginning of the “Autumn Moon Festival”. It is common practice for me to try my best to prepare for the “unknown” when it comes to traveling and packing my suitcase. I even bring some of my own snacks because of my dietary preferences, and I found that this is always a good idea, since you never know what you might be offered. OK…. I know what you’re thinking…. But the fact is, there may be reasons while ‘you’ can’t eat certain things, seriously.. I try to be aware and always respectful of customs and cultures of others. Now, the meals that were provided were from freshly grown produce, nicely prepared, and nothing was wasted. So sometimes you ate the same thing for breakfast and lunch. It was wonderful!

The Retreat center was nice and clean in all aspects. There were even fruit trees, berries and walnut trees which I had never seen in my lifetime. I hiked, took quiet walks, read and rested….. OH and during the night of the full-moon, we listened to music on the roof-top, and hummed a few tunes… It was fun. At night, it was quite CHILLLYYYYYYYYY as we were up in the mountains…. Ok…… so it was standard practice at this center to get up at 4:00 a.m. to sit for meditation. So, I’m here and prepared to get up and walk over to the meditation room, located in the next house. Now, you can imagine how cold it was at that time… Just to give you a clearer picture: Due to the location I was in, I wore an extra layer under my cloths and bought a warm wrap to use on my bed. I also travel with an 8 oz thermos that I could use for tea or hot water. It’s a life saver, believe me.
Additionally I was given 2 quilts as there was no heat in the room. It was advisable to wash up during the day when the sun was out. I did not complain at all, but adjusted my thoughts accordingly. I simply went with the flow. As I was experiencing each new moment, I reflected on how blessed I am and how good and comfortable my life circumstances are…really…. It’s not often that I have to experience many hardships in my life as far as material things …Sure, I still have wants and desires, but I truly have everything I need.

The next morning I woke up on my own about 4:00, put on my hat/jacket and strolled over to the other house. I carried my small flashlight so I wouldn’t trip down the stairs in the dark. However, when I got outside, I stopped for a moment to take a deep breath and breathed the wonderful fresh air. I took a look at the clear mid-night blue sky, the beautiful white shining moon, and Heaven’s Constellations. It was breath-taking and so beautiful! I couldn’t remember the last time I saw sky like that. The BIG/Little Dipper etc….Just beautiful….

So I arrived at the meditation room and took a seat on a floor cushion. It was cold and quiet. I remembered the instructions that I learned at a Gnostic retreat about how important it is to FIRST sit comfortably and relax. SO, I do that and soon found stillness in my body, and then begin to slowly calm my mind. Now, in the RAJ YOGA method, there is a large poster of a light ray on the wall that everyone focuses on…. one should slightly open the eyes and concentrate on the light… It’s kinda like a bright orange star with white rays coming from it… now, I am not a seasoned practitioner by far, but I found it difficult to keep my eyes open, squinting or otherwise so I closed them.

After some time, I began to quiet my mind and SUDDENLY there is a mosquito buzzing in my ear. Yes, a Mosquito. Can you Imagine? When you’re not meditating and a mosquito comes your way, the first thing you do, is try to slap it down!..
Ok, so I am going to be truthful and tell you exactly how I reacted. While I remained calm, I acknowledged mentally that there it was, buzzing in my ear and I wondered if anyone else was having this issue… SO, my concentration went straight out the window. I opened my eyes to notice if anyone else was moving around….. which was silly because it wasn’t like I could even see the Mosquito…

Then I thought to myself, “Be calm Be Quiet” and the Mosquito/s will go away… and believe it or not after a while the Buzzing ceased… I felt relieved….
Now at that instance, a minute seemed like an eternity, and suddenly the buzzing sound CAME BACK WITH A VENGANCE!... I could not believe it!…. I had never heard buzzing like that in my life. It was so ANNOYING and the sound was as if it had PENETRATED MY EARDRUM…. I COULD NOT BELIEVE IT… I FELT IT IN MY BRAIN, MY AND IT MADE ME CRINGE!.... I REALLY COULD NOT ENDURE… SO I got up and left. Later that morning I shared my experience with the group and discovered they too had trouble with mosquitos bothering them in the past, but they endured. They really got a kick out of my story because I was quite animated. There was an older yogi about 74 years old who appeared to sit quiet in meditation like a statue. not bothered by a sound. She was quite inspiring. She told me “where your thoughts go the mind will follow” something like that… One guy said he was even bitten in the past and he just endured. It was just too much for me. The next morning, when I went to the meditation hall, I noticed that the room had a different feel. There was incense burning, and a special lamp was on which is used to attract mosquitos so they are not in turn attracted to you. It was clean, peaceful and serene… I had a wonderful practice that morning.

A week later, I was back in the big noisy city, and I my inner ear began to itch. The itch became progressively worst so I went to the doctor to have it checked out. I was wondering if a mosquito had crawled up in my ear and died. It turned out that I developed some type of inner ear infection but it was minor. It was treated w/alcohol and boric acid drops and the itch was gone in about a week. It was the strangest experience. I had never in my life had anything wrong with my ears.

I have so much to learn and so far to go in my practice/studies. I pray that I get the opportunity to attend retreats in the future, so I can get that I can learn from the instructors. I have tried to hold on to at least one or two f the practices that I learned from a previous retreat, but it’s already been a year and I am not 100% sure I’m exercising them correctly. I am also very appreciative to all the knowledge available on the website including the Q&As in the forum from my dear brothers and sisters. I apologize for my long-winded story and any grammatical errors, but I felt inspired to share this with you. I feel blessed to have these experiences in my life as they have provided to me the opportunity to learn and to connect with so many loving, and kind beings.

Peace