The Gift of Retreat

Jon Aaron (Certified MBSR Teacher and MBSR Teacher Trainer, also one of the founding members of Mindfulness Meditation Live), shares his thoughts on what is unique about in-person silent retreats.

This article has also been featured on Shambala Mountain Center’s blog, where you can watch a short video of Jon and his colleague Janet Solyntjes sharing their thoughts about their upcoming residential retreat.

The silence amidst the noise
the gem at the core
of every experience
is polished by simple attention
into shining magnificence
- Nirmala in Words Do Not Come

I remember my very first experience on an 8-day retreat. I had no idea what to expect.  I had been meditating for a year or so and decided it was time to try a retreat. The challenges in the first few days felt insurmountable. I wanted to jump out of my skin. By the end, I never wanted to leave! Each time I was ready to give up, something was said by one of the teachers which gave such encouragement and confidence that my thoughts of leaving vanished. This was helped by the support of everyone else as we practiced together in community. It’s hard to describe what happened. Suffice to say it changed my life forever.

Retreat practice is such a unique opportunity, and these days in-person retreats are even more special. With vaccines, ease of testing and a communal commitment to keeping each other safe, we can finally consider residential retreats again.

Over the past 18 months, there have of course been many on-line offerings for retreat practice from your own home. Perhaps you have been able to benefit from that. I certainly did. While these have been so valuable within the period of pandemic quarantine and allowed many of us to deepen our ability to “retreat in the midst of life,” there is still a big difference with leaving your normal environment and literally “going” on retreat.  And while many of us have found Zoom to be surprisingly conducive to creating community, nothing quite lives up to being in the presence with others in the same space. There is something about the collective momentum and embodied container of residential retreats that make them ideal.

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I personally consider the periodic sitting of relatively long (at least 7 – 10 days and occasionally much longer) teacher-led [silent] retreats to be an absolute necessity in the developing of one’s own meditation practice. . .

-       Jon Kabat-Zinn

My first retreat was before the introduction of “smart phones,” countless apps, and other distractions of modern living. These days, there is much more to renounce. Beyond simply not speaking, the silence on retreat allows us to explore what it’s like to live with less input and fragmentation. We will ask you to turn off your digital device. Some will choose to relinquish it all together. Are you up for it? Many shirk at this, others jump at the opportunity. I would urge anyone to experience their nervous system freed up from the demands of our devices for an extended amount of time. There are treasures to be discovered in the silence. A kind of rest well beyond a good night’s sleep or even a “vacation.”

 The daily schedule on retreat includes pre-breakfast meditation and some movement.  The day will follow with some guidance and then alternating between sitting meditation practices and walking meditation. There will be time allotted for informal practice which, beyond the meals, will include enjoying the outdoors or practicing other forms of unguided mindful movement. That natural environment can become our teacher. There will also be daily talks offering insights on practice, and group meetings with the teachers to discuss how it’s going, with time for any questions.

Retreat practice may seem “selfish,” in that you are taking this time “for yourself.” You might have the view that you are not contributing to the betterment of the world or being “productive.” In fact, retreat practice is radical! You are expanding your capacity to be with the continual uncertainties and challenges of the world. Your heart and mind open in ways which allow for creative response and true presence.  And as important as anything, while on retreat, you are bringing silence and stillness, a different way of being, to the world that so desperately needs it. We retreat from the world to wholeheartedly re-enter the world, with greater equanimity and ease. And don’t worry, most of us bring the world with us anyway, right there on the meditation cushion!

More information about Jon Aaron’s upcoming in-person silent retreats: “The Heart of Mindfulness: A Silent Meditation Retreat”, June 24th - July 1st, can be found here, and “External, Internal, and Eternal: Being Nature, Together“, July 12th - 17th, can be found here.

© MML Editorial Team, 2022