Silent Retreat Experience
This past weekend I visited my first silent retreat experience. I am told it wasn’t as silent as it could be; like at vipassana. For example we weren’t forced to give up our phones or told not to write or take notes. We had a lot of group discussion post meditations and that, to me, was the most important part of this beautiful weekend! I learned so much and hope to carry the Qui Gong, the Chanting Kirtan, and the idea that faith is not a linear path, and that God resides within me and around me at ALL times.
I wrote this poem in summation of my experience. It was one of the dearest moments of pure joy in my lifetime.
Joy Full
Blessed be the father, the son, and the holy spirit.
Breathe. Smile.
An unexpected holy trinity. Who knew?
My body entered this retreat detached.
My mind, in body – but not embodied.
Curious and hungry.
A desire to become a Realized being
With no clear path how to arrive.
And then a surprising wellspring opened.
Hidden gems in unexpected places
Where all becomes Holy.
In time, in this space,
A wealth of knowing begins to flow from me.
Faith is not a linear path or a One Size Fits All
And human love may be- in many cases – conditional
But there are places on this sweet planet where
The fixing mind
The comparing mind
The judging mind
Are invited to be left at the door.
There are places where the teachings of all lineages meet in peace and harmony.
And each of our personal Angels and Saints, Deity’s, and Rishi’s arrive in homage to support
This Union of beings.
Their presence awakens the Holiness in
Spaciousness around us
In nature
In ourselves.
Assuming the posture
We greenlight the emotions that have hooked us,
Feel the contraction it’s causing in the body,
And sit back and allow clear light to penetrate the feeling
And reveal warmth and spaciousness within.
Arriving at a depth of meditation that alone,
Hasn’t seemed achievable before this.
Vulnerability in the room allows the softness of one to soften something within us all.
We are given the power to say “I don’t have the ambition within me for that right now”
And know that someone is holding the space for that too.
Practices
Where movement releases tired, withered energy
And nature replenishes what we are lacking.
Chanting- in bliss – a communion of voices and instruments.
Silence in order to truly hear.
Meditation, we go within
To empty and be filled again.
A moment ago, just strangers passing,
And through the power of shared meditations
We leave as one.
Tears – A soul purified and baptized
Laughter – erupting like a bubbling spring freed to flow
The view driving home is wider knowing what pure awareness is.
And stepping back into to life
There is a reservoir of energy awaiting Realization that all of life is Holy.
Joy Full
The cup of Holy Communion over flows.
This image was taken May 5, 2024 at a silent retreat at the sacred ground of St Mary Sewanee, in Sewanee Tennessee of my three teachers; Gordon Peerman, Ryan Black, and Kenneth Robinson we jokingly called the holy trinity. It encapsulates a moment of pure joy, warmth, and spaciousness while gently holding the hand of humanities collective past, present, and future sufferings and was the ultimate summation of events at this retreat.
You can find all of my upcoming retreats and events here. Learn more about St Mary Sewanee here.
