SPIRITUAL MATTERS

My first formal teaching of Buddhism was a retreat

I was suffering at the time from what is commonly called a broken heart, or stated another way, from attachment to getting something that I wasn't getting.

And it hurt. Quite badly.

The only thing that gave me relief was Tibetan Heart Yoga, which Brandy Davis and David Fishman were teaching at their yoga studio in South Lake Tahoe, California. After a heart-opening yoga class my suffering was gone for maybe four hours before it returned. Four hours may not seem like a long time, but when you are in seemingly constant pain, four hours of relief is gigantic.

When Brandy and David announced that a visiting teacher named Lama Brian (as Ven. Marut was formerly known) would be leading a weekend silent retreat at their house, I was open to the idea. I recognized that such a retreat was an extreme step given my minimal spiritual practices and self-reflection up to that point in my life.

And I embraced the idea. My suffering felt extreme, so why not take extreme measures to combat it?

Here in retreat he had no distractions at all, and so his holy mind became even more crystal clear than ever before. He began to sing a great many songs about his personal spiritual experiences, some of which he set down in writing.

- Tsechok Ling, Yogndzin Yeshe Gyeltsen, speaking about His Holiness the First Panchen Lama, Lobsang Chukyi Gyeltsen

And yes, retreat worked for me too.

What are some of the benefits of retreat?

Time- We all have important things, meaningful things, that we want and need to think about to be happy. What is the purpose of our life? Are we fulfilling it? Why are we suffering? What are the real causes of happiness? Are we creating them? What, if anything, would we like to do better? Who would we like to apologize to or forgive before it's too late?

In retreat you finally have the time to consider these questions because you aren't doing anything else. You just sleep, eat, contemplate the truly important things in life, meditate, move your body in some physical exercise, and rest. If you keep to this strictly and don't junk up your retreat with too many things to do, then you will find the space and mental clarity to examine serious questions, thus allowing you to make some real upward progress!

If you are learning spiritual practices that you haven't had time to follow, then retreat is an awesome opportunity to try these out.

Practice dying to the world - Sooner or later we will die. And we don't know when. Going into solitary retreat, even for a day or a weekend, can be a practice of getting used to dying to the world. You are no longer accessible to others. You are no longer performing physical activities in the world. It's like you are no longer there.

And guess what you find out? The world goes on without you!

Detach from responsibilities - We think the world will crash to a grinding halt if we stop engaging with it for even a day. We don't think we can stop for even one day to think about the meaning of life. When we do take a day off, we remain in constant contact via cell phone or email. Practice detaching from the illusion that we can't take even one day off for our spiritual quest for happiness and meaning. Of course, if you are responsible for the care of others be sure to find someone to take over while you are on retreat. Don't enter retreat without making sure your obligations are covered.

Face Fears - Franklin D. Roosevelt famously stated "the only thing we have to fear is fear itself." When we contemplate secluding ourselves in a cabin for a weekend, a week or a month, it can be scary. Losing the connection or stimulation of family, TV, email, friends, the internet, movies, or our cell phone for even a day or two can seem pointless, uncomfortable, even terrifying. Fears can come up during retreat itself. Ask yourself this question: "Who or what are we afraid of if we don't want to be alone?" Are you afraid of being alone with your own mind?

Better meditation- Your mind has a chance to quiet down and go deeper because you remove the external distractions of your life, if only temporarily. If you practice well and stay in retreat long enough, your mind can stop its constant chattering. In the words of Lama Marut, you can "stop narrating your life and start living it." You can finally have a moment of peace and quiet from your own incessant and often unhappy internal dialogue. It's like the peace and enjoyment that come when an annoying buzzing sound finally stops.

Allow your hard work to come to fruition - Many of us are giving of ourselves tremendously in our daily lives: giving to our family, giving at work, serving the sick, serving elders, serving children, serving the emotionally upset, serving our spiritual community. When motivated by love and compassion, all of these actions are what we call "good deeds" or "good karma." And these deeds will have positive results for us. Retreat is a forum where our good karma can ripen into understandings, positive and lasting emotional shifts, and realizations that will make us happier beings and more able to help and love those around us.

source and copyright owner: Tibetan Museum Society. Used under Creative Commons License

Attain realizations - All of the lasting, transformative, realizations of the spiritual path occur while the mind is in a state of meditation. That is when you can access the deeper levels of your mind and so make changes to even your habits and tendencies. And because you have the opportunity to have deeper meditations in retreat, you are more likely to have realizations, including the ultimate realizations of the permanent end to all of your own unhappiness and your realization of your deepest desires - your ability to help and serve others and save the world.

Take a vacation, have some real recreation!
 

Often we must do things that are uncomfortable for us, such as jobs or tasks that we find unpleasant or tiring. We may have personal interactions that are stressful. And at the root, we have to deal with our own mind's constant dissatisfaction and disturbing emotions.

So what do we need? We need a vacation!

A vacation is "an extended period of recreation." When we go on a standard vacation-a sight-seeing holiday to exotic locales-we might return feeling more or equally tired than when we left!  We end up needing a vacation from our vacation. But real vacations are supposed to be extended recreation. And what is recreation? "Activity done for enjoyment when one is not working." But if we look at the word, we see its original meaning as well, "re-creation", or "create again, renew."

So, in our constant search for recreation, we are looking to refresh, create again or renew ourselves. We are looking for new selves! And this points to real recreation, and why retreat is real re-creation - we can come out of retreat different, better, refreshed, renewed, more able to love and care for others, and with a greater sense of satisfaction with and enjoyment of life. Not tired and needing another vacation.

The process of re-creating ourselves in retreat through increasingly deeper meditations can lead to the understanding of ultimate truth for students of Mahayana Buddhist philosophy: emptiness, or shunyata. It is a lack, an openness, a spaciousness, a potential, a freedom, which characterizes ourselves and our reality. If and when we understand emptiness, we will be able to use and access that freedom for our own and others' benefit! 

So, go on a nice vacation filled with re-creation by treating yourself to a solitary retreat and you may just realize your true freedom and potential!

Love,

Jesse

P.S.  It is advisable to receive instruction from a qualified teacher prior to entering into a solitary retreat.  Ask around if you are interested.