我在靈鷲山找到內心的平靜

我是Karen，是來自冰島的二十歲女孩。我在七月二號來到台灣，在八月十八號返回。在台灣的大部份時間我都待在東北角一座神奇的山，和一群地球上最美妙的人們在一起。 

在那裏我參加了兩期斷食和禁語的禪修課程。首先我參與了三日禪，接著我決定參加禪七。七天的禪修實在是絕妙的體驗。一開始斷食和禁語真的非常難，但兩天後我開始問自己「為何我們需要吃下食物？」。過了一開始的頭兩天，我不再感到飢餓，而且心智與身體都感到輕盈。 

學習在當下只專注一件事是很重要的，覺察自己不倚賴他人或外在環境。我了解到在此生中最重要的事就是找到內心的平衡，然後快樂會隨之而來。這是一個奇妙的體悟。我對這段期間內教導、啟發我的人們感到由衷的感激。我也推薦每個人到靈鷲山參加禪修。三天或許太短，七天或十天是最剛好的！ 

I found peace on a mountain 

My name is Karen and I am a twenty year old girl from Iceland. I came to Taiwan on the 2nd of July and went back home on the 18th of August. During this period I spent most of my time living on a magical mountain on the North-East cost of Taiwan with the most wonderful people on Earth. 

There I took part in two retreats where you don’t speak or eat for a few days and learn meditation. First I took a 3 day retreat and then decided to take a 7 day retreat in the end of my trip. The 7 day retreat was absolutely wonderful. At first it is hard to fast and not speak but after 2 days you start asking yourself “Why do we eat food?”. After the first 2 days you stop feeling hungry and your mind and body begin to feel lighter. 

It is very important to learn to do just one thing at a time, know yourself and not be dependent on other people or your invironment. I learned that the most important thing in this life is to have inner balance, and then happiness will follow. That was an amazing discovery. I am very grateful for everything these wonderful people taught me and I would recommend for everyone to do retreats on Ling Jiou Mountain! 3 days is a bit too short so I would recommend 7 or 10 days for everyone!