Whoa…..! Three nights or more in a cabin, having to be by myself, without a phone or computer, nobody to talk to. No TV, no going out to restaurants, bars or movies. Who needs this?
You do.
Even with a regular or occasional meditation practice at home, life (read: struggle) can go on virtually undisturbed. There’s more calm with a daily practice, for sure, and yet we don’t have to confront what causes us suffering or go through any real changes (read: real freedom). Even when we know in our depth that there’s no way around getting to those core issues except with retreat time, we can put it off indefinitely. Instead, we stick to the comfort of our patterns of wilful ignoring.
Samsara
Does this sound familiar? Do things keep coming back over and over and over? And has it stopped being fun yet?
Perhaps we tell ourselves that it’s what we might lose. We want it all and we’re not going to risk giving up what we know for some nebulous flight into who knows what. I’ll keep my pain, thank you, ‘cause there’s good stuff there too, it’s known and I can count on it.
Yet, isn’t the real danger that we’ll take our particular patterns of suffering into the future and never address them?
Fear is a funny thing. It can be huge, overwhelming, or it can be very subtle and undermining. It’s still fear. It’s still gnawing away at your innards, poisoning your belly, choking off your air supply.
So wouldn’t you want to do something about it? Finally?
What’s missing, exactly?
Picture this: a personal meditation retreat in a supportive womb-like cabin. Ambient nature surrounding you; lush green, trees and fields, birdsong, crickets and nighthawks in the evening, wildflowers, clouds and rain, sun cycles, moon cycles. Stars & galaxies invoking wonder and dissolving ego positioning. Delicious food appearing miraculously three times a day. Sweet air. What’s missing, exactly?
Yes, it can feel like a big step to do a retreat. It can take years before we finally get tired of ignoring the fact that things just don’t satisfy. One more relationship, one more career move, one more change of residence. Are you pissed off enough, yet, are you mad as hell and not going to take it anymore?
I get that it might seem scary. Yet, all you have to do is watch. Give up any sense of control. Give up the need to hang on to anything holding you back from embracing the power which is your birthright. Surrender to your higher purpose, until now obscured by needless clinging to that which no longer serves and whose time has passed.
If this is you, you know what there is to do. You always have choices, and maybe this time you’ll take the precious opportunity to meet your stuff head-on without evading. Spend some time with yourself without all your everyday distractions. And open your being up to insight, peace, and joy , there all along for the having.
What’s stopping you?
We’ve hosted dozens of people in retreat here at Clear Sky. Time and again we’ve seen the struggle drop away from their faces, even after a few days in a cabin. Come join us. Drop the fear, drop the struggle, and step into a new sense of freedom.
Edited by Andrew Rogers