Realising Retreat
REALISING RETREAT
We all need to experience a ‘Retreat’.
A retreat certainly can be a specific place, a set amount of time; the creating of a situation and occasion for taking a break.
A retreat break could be for a period of months, weeks, days, hours; even just an hour or a number of minutes as provided by a ‘meditation’.
A retreat place and period, a meditation or some mindful moments, needs to be approached and addressed with a healthy mind set, attitude, or what we can call ‘Buddhist Right View’.
This ‘Right View’ or approach helps us to ‘Conceive’ or think rightly, which then helps us to ‘Perceive’ or look rightly, which then helps us to ‘Receive’ or take in rightly the occasion and experience.
Certainly along these lines, how we see and perceive creates or conditions our particular experience.
So with regards to our Retreat; we can ‘Rightly View’ it as a movement away or a stepping back. In stepping back we are consequently moving towards something else.
Here we can be stepping back from the stress, business, ways of the world, while moving towards peace, calm and the ways of wisdom, spiritual values. However as we can appreciate, the ‘Real Retreat’ is within; a psychological movement that occurs within, away from thinking, doing, stressing to knowing, being, feeling.
We could even see that Right View is a shift from the Left View (Left Brain – Mind) to see things rightly, with the Right View (Right Brain – Mind).
A Meditation Retreat makes for an ongoing process of many mindful moments, creating a meditative way of being. This includes formal meditation practice as well as the informal meditative practices of what ever else we are doing; walking, eating, sitting, washing, talking (mindfully) and resting – sleeping.
Life becomes the Meditation and the Meditation becomes Life.
A Meditation Retreat becomes an opportunity to receive teachings and guidance from an experienced practitioner, a Meditation – Wisdom Teacher.
This includes, ‘Explanation’ of ideas and practices.
‘Exhortation’ for motivation and inspiration in our practice.
‘Application’ of the teachings and practices.
‘Participation’ with other practitioners aligned in values and views.
‘Realisation’ of the teachings offered that they become our inner understanding and wisdom appreciations.
As we move from the Retreat into our regular daily life, the ‘Real Retreat’ continues within us as we engage the mundane world with meaning and joy.
This may involve us needing to ‘Translate’ the received ideas and concepts into our own words or language usage; ‘Transpose’ the retreat perspectives and practices into our daily life and routine; this allows us to then ‘Transcend’ the limitations of our life that have been holding us back from feeling free, alive, alert, calm and clear minded.
Just because our lives are busy and full, does not mean that we feel full-filled in our lives. A retreat offers time out to come back to being, seeing, feeling and knowing in a deeper way. The busier our lives are, the more it becomes important even imperative to take time to retreat. In doing so we can relax, review, refresh and renew our way of being in the world.
Make time and take the time for Retreat in your life!
John B.
Date: Sunday 26th August 2018
Time: 9.00am – 12.00noon
Venue: ‘Ratanagiri’ 11 Double View Road Farrants Hill NSW 2484
Cost: Dana – your expression of Generosity for Teachings offered.
Register at: info@wellawareness.com.au
See website: www.wellawareness.com.au
