August 1-12 I check in to my first ever meditation retreat, which teaches the Vipassana technique of meditation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassana; www.dhamma.org). Don't worry if you've never heard of it; I had no idea it existed until I went to Dharamsala, and there it seemed like everybody had either tried it or knew about it. It sounded interesting for several reasons. First, everybody had favorable things to say about it. Second, it seemed to appeal to very different types of people; Tiff, probably the most free-spirited person I know; Moreno, a very fastiduous painter; and Brian, a cocaine addict for more than 20 years, all enjoyed it immensely. Brian, who has made enough money to retire, is even travelling to every Vipassana center around the world (there are approximately 100 in more than 30 countries). Third, the entire
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