Retreat

Madeira, November 2022

I've been away, but there are people who literally put the phone down on callers when there's a blog post so I feel a responsibility to get started straight away.

I was on a two-week retreat that started before Christmas and ended after the New Year was well under way. This has left me slightly out of step with the populace who have endured all that the holiday period has to offer. I had to be reminded that a 'Happy New Year' wish is appropriate for messages sent within the first week of January, or sometimes even later.

There's very little I can say about the retreat except that it was in Wales and the rain was torrential. Someone even described it as 'biblical'. Apparently there was a storm, but without TV, radio, Internet or any other way of connecting with the outside world we all just endured wind and water battering the roof and windows day after day, and wondered if it would ever stop? The retreat centre stood up to the onslaught admirably and remained warm, so all survived except the one woman who tested positive for Covid on the first morning but luckily departed without infecting anyone else.

The retreat was all about the Triratna Buddhist Order, which those present (including me) have requested to join. It was all rather serious - there was meditation, talks, groups, reading material, prostration practice (don't ask), ritual, and a DVD (on the Order rather than anything more entertaining). There were women from Ireland, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, Hungary, Greece, France and Spain as well as the UK. 

I did a couple of long walks during the retreat, partly because I like walks and partly to get away from everyone for a bit. Because of the rain I discovered the particular defects in my old jacket and was soaked down to the underwear on one walk, but luckily my feet and my head stayed warm and dry. For the other walk I was lucky and it only started to rain seriously at the very end.

At the end of the retreat someone asked for a lift to Adhisthana, the retreat centre where I'd volunteered earlier in the year, and it wasn't out of my way so I offered. It was a delightful treat to be welcomed by the people I'd got to know there, and be reminded that it isn't all about deep reflection and personal transformation, it can just be chatting to someone over a chopping board.