Silence.
24/7. For five days.
Sitting meditation | walking meditation. Repeat.
We did it here:
Continuous mindfulness practice. Even in between the walking and sitting. Being mindful of transitions. Eating. More stillness often seems to allow clearer seeing. Thus the term insight meditation. Seeing patterns. Conditioning. Seeing the hindrances. Aversion. Clinging. Dullness. Restlessness. Doubt. Opening to the foundations of mindfulness to rest with stability in the midst of these challenges. The four foundations of mindfulness are mindfulness of the body, of feeling tones (a super fast / instantaneous flash of like or don’t like | pleasant or unpleasant. Or neutral, of the mind, of the dharma.
I know.
What a party…
First day total sloth and torpor: dullness, tiredness. But a recognition. Here is dullness. Not a personal characteristic. Then for a full day vivid awareness. No thoughts. No emotions. Soft feeling tones. Beauty. An unexpected shift to what Thich Nhat Hanh called Old Habit Energy. Fear. Conditioning.
This week spent among other retreat participants. Avoiding eye contact (retreat etiquette). Not talking to each other. When the retreat ended and silence was broken. We offered into the circle. We spoke of our newly formed community. Sangha. Our connection. The loving kindness we shared. We all hugged one another and returned.