The Buddhist teachings often speak about the importance of retreat. It’s a time to slow down, recommit to our meditation practice, and deepen our understanding of the teachings. When I’m on retreat, everything becomes more vivid and alive. I experience sounds I haven’t heard before while the sensations of my body slowly surrender in meditation. My awareness keenly awakens to the clarity and freshness of the present moment. This is the reason that I love retreat.
While being on solo retreat can bring profound depth and strength to my practice, there is a different type of power that comes from group retreat. When we practice alone, it can be easier to get up and walk away from the cushion. Meditating, chanting, and singing with our teachers and sangha friends brings a potent energy, reminding us to stay and continue the practice. Encouraging us to go beyond our conventional minds, the retreat container holds us in a timeless way so that we can truly hear and take in the teachings.
In group retreat, the presence of sangha members is an opportunity to share our common challenges and joys—and a simple daily life. Past grievances or difficulties dissolve as we relate to each other with renewed openness and acceptance. The teachings on kindness and compassion become more than words as we see our friends just as they are, imperfections and all. These ordinary yet powerful experiences penetrate our being with the potential for transformation and show us a pathway to live with more authenticity and love.
In the past few years, we have also learned how to come together as an international sangha and share the retreat experience via online platforms. Although those retreats are not the same as physically being together in the same shrine room, that collective energy is still at play. The power and indestructibility of the wisdom teachings beam through the Zoom screen and into our hearts. Although it is a little more difficult to maintain the container, each individual has the opportunity to generate discipline and commitment from their personal retreat space.
Whether in person or online, with the blessings of the lineage and maybe a bit of magic, even sunlight or the touch of rain feels different when we are together in retreat. Exactly what we need can suddenly appear at the right, auspicious moment. Joy and laughter fill the Zoom gallery or the dining room at Nalanda West, and our exchanges with everyone become lighter and more free. Retreat helps our practice to reach beyond ourselves to bring peace and benefit to others.
Together, we become sangha at its best.
Contemplation
If you find you have resistance to going on retreat, take some time to examine what is stopping you. Perhaps make a list of your obstacles or concerns, and then make another list of possible benefits. When is your next opportunity for a group practice retreat?
Robbie Rettmer entered the Buddhist path in 1985 upon meeting the Vidyadhara Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. In 2002, she became a student of Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche and has served in various volunteer roles with Nalandabodhi since that time. Robbie works with numerous organizations to improve leadership and organizational performance, particularly in the areas of communication and team development.
