There were 19 of us of various ages attending. As I expected from the type of people who would attend a Buddhist retreat, all... emm..well almost all... were quite friendly and open.
The schedules were quite full which I found exhausting, but there was always time to have a cuppa tea and a stroll around the lovely grounds. Included in the weekend was meditation instruction and many sessions of meditation, help with finding the right posture for meditation, walking meditation, lectures, discussion sessions with tea and biscuits, working meditation (with various chores), attending services with the monks and novices, spiritual counseling if desired. Meals were fabulous vegetarian fare! Our dinner Friday night was social (talking allowed) and our last meal - Sunday lunch - was also social. The rest of the meals were silent and very mindful. I quite enjoyed bowing....bowing to the food, to each other, to the altars, in the ceremony hall to the cosmic Buddha... Something very centering about stopping to bow....
I was quite pleased that we had our own cupboards for our belongings including one in the bathroom. We all slept in the big ceremony hall with a curtain down the middle dividing the men and women. Not bad except that the fold up 'mattress' we used was a bit narrow and short so that rolling over or spreading out was a challenge. The 6 am rising wasn't as torturous as I expected it to be and both mornings I was up 5 or 10 minutes before 6 to get a bit of a head start (but then so were most of us!)
An unusual thing I noticed was that many of the people there looked 'familiar' to me...like I'd seen them before, which I knew I hadn't. Some of the monks, many of the participants looked like someone I'd seen before. I'm sure there's some deep meaning in there somewhere about us all being interconnected, but I can't explain it.
I benefited from this retreat by receiving confirmation that I'm going in the right direction, by finding the right meditation posture and technique for myself, by finding out that a retreat a couple of times a year is fine...that regular attendance at a sangha or meditation group is helpful but not mandatory in order for me to make progress. I feel more focused now and am determined that nothing will stop me from meditating every single day, even if only for a short time.
6 comments:
How pleasant to read your report on the visit to the Abbey. You sound so much more confident in your path (compared with months ago), and happy with the experience.
Also your recent note on different schools of Zen and whether this podcast or that book is appropriate... I agree that we have to go with what feels right for us at this time in our development. If the books are helpful to you, read them regardless of the labels.
I'm writing from Baghdad, so maybe that's why your note seems so peaceful and happy, relative to the environment here. I am working hard, but in my off hours meditating and searching for evidence of 'mindfulness in the green zone', for a possible article I think I'd like to write once I get outta here!
Best wishes, and please keep writing in your blog!
Bob from Baghdad (instead of Egypt)
I had a similar experience at a Buddhist monastery in Bangladesh.
I met a senior monk there, and he said, "Oh, I remember you. You're that Norwegian guy." It's amazing because we didn't meet before and I don't look very Norwegian, but my grandfather did come from Norway. It left an impression on me.
I often have the feeling that a person in one place is really the same person I met before somewhere else, although the name and appearance has changed.
What is that called? Nearest I can tell, it may be an incomplete view of the notion of interconnectedness, as you said, or the idea that we are all one. It's not the same as reincarnation, because this refers to people alive at the same time.
There's a similar scene in the end of the movie Everything is Illuminated, in which the main character sees the same people working in the airport as he had just seen throughout Ukraine. That scene felt like a familiar life experience. Why is that?
Bob in Baghdad
Hi Bob...sorry to hear you're in Baghdad. My son was in Iraq for nearly a year but thankfully came home safely.
I've been finding labels suffocating...so will try to think in terms of labels, although this is extremely difficult. I'm just doing what feels right for me.
Have you got a blog?
Stay safe. Namaste.
annie in scotland
oops...meant to say 'try NOT to think in terms of labels'..
Hi! I leave in one week, and everything is generally calm inside the green zone. I'm not too worried, just anxious to return to my family in Cairo.
You know, the only reason the label issue comes up is that it's important in society. Labels are the main thing that seems to differentiate different sects of Islam here, and it's enough to make people kill each other. Same in Rwanda, Yugoslavia, Ireland.
When I imagine someone asking me what religion I am, that's when I get nervous about labels. It's easy for people who grow up in one religion and stick with it. Much harder to explain to a regular person that you're Buddhist but sorta Zen and kinda Soto-Rinzai flavored... they will just look at you blankly and then change the subject. And if it's a Buddhist, they also might think you're just dumb to float among established schools, but I don't know for sure about that.
Anyway, I don't worry about it much. But I do find, out of all the sea of books by/for Buddhists there really are some that feel too new-age-y, some are too technical and doctrinal, others are too weird like into repeating Buddha's name over and over, and some aspects of Tibetan vajrayana are too steeped in local culture with all of its wild imagery... so you end up choosing what's comfortable and right for you at this time. I think that makes sense, and we're lucky to have thousands of books to choose from! Imagine 100 years ago, when there might have only been a handful of unreliable translations of various texts... impossible to progress without direct contact with a priest or master.
Glad your son emerged from here safely. Hope he's doing well too.
Best wishes,
Bob in Baghdad
Hi Annie
Yes, I enjoyed reading about your weekend at the Abbey too. I've been going there since it was a draughty old barn. These days I live in Japan and my 'regular' meditation group is the Sunday zazenkai over at Sojiji which manages to feel quite like Throssel in some ways. But actually I think I feel more at home in Allendale!
You might enjoy reading some of my blog sometimes - take a look at http://www.littlehouseinthepaddy.blogspot.com
Also one of the OBC monks, Rev. Mugo, publishes a regular blog. She's based in Canada at the moment. You can find her at http://www.movingmountain.blogspot.com
in gassho
Iain
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