The Next Generation:

Attending the Retreat for 18-32 Year-Olds

By Sumi Loundon

Since my teens, I’ve sat a few retreats at IMS. Almost always, I was the youngest by at least thirty years. Age difference didn’t bother me much. These elders were inspiring and delighted in having a young person around.

When I saw that IMS was offering a retreat specifically for 18-32 year-olds, I thought, “Why should age make a difference? But look, it’s being offered on a donation basis. And since I have vacation days in August, what better way to find some peace of mind than stepping back from the rush of my life? Maybe I’ll even taste nirvana.”

As young people piled in for registration, I felt buoyant. My English changed, became less formal. Instead of listening to older yogis talk about parenting and retirement plans, I found myself in conversation about travel to Asia, college stress, relating to parents — things that were going on in my life as a young adult. It was refreshing to discuss big life questions in the context of meditation and Buddhist teachings.

The retreat soon entered into silence. I had a preconception that young people these days were not serious about meditation. My generation is sometimes told how we don’t understand hard work, overcoming adversity and taking responsibility. In the first few sits, though, hardly anyone near me flinched. “Holy!” I thought. “These are no debutantes doing meditation simply because it’s trendy!”

Everyone’s sincere engagement with walking, eating and sitting meditation endured for the retreat. I felt inspired by the teenagers and early twenty-somethings, who had a bright, light energy. The older ones among us, many who’d sat previous retreats, stabilized and held the energy of the group.

This retreat incorporated afternoon Qigong, which we did on the lawn in the warm sun. The exercises loosened us up, revitalizing the body. We also had discussion groups with the teachers, Marvin and Rebecca. They thought the group might be too serious, so during their evening dharma talks they deliberately cracked us up with hilarious stories.

In the closing circle, everyone commented how surprisingly different it was to sit with peers. We respected our elders, many of whom have been dharma mentors, but it also felt supportive to find likeminded, committed spiritual seekers in our own generation. By the end of the retreat, I knew I had to sign up for the next one, and I’m happy to see it’s been extended into a full six days. I hope you’ll come.

Michele McDonald, Rebecca Bradshaw and Marvin Belzer will lead another Vipassana Retreat for Ages 18-32. The course – from August 22-28 – will focus on meeting the challenges of early adulthood with greater love, courage and openness.

Born in 1975, Sumi Loundon spent eight years growing up in a Soto Zen community in rural New Hampshire. She is the editor of the anthology Blue Jean Buddha: Voices of Young Buddhists (Wisdom, 2001). Her second book on young Buddhists will be published later this year (also by Wisdom Publications). For the last thirteen years, she has been a student of the Theravada vipassana lineage at IMS. Today, Sumi is the Assistant Director at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies.