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| 1987 |
"It was a very good retreat, partly because it wasn't part of the ordination process like the last two I've attended. Ordination retreats are hard work for me, and I've had to think about why this is, because on the surface they contain nearly the same elements - meditation, ritual, time for reflection - and the additional element of group discussion is something I welcome. This was an introductory retreat (so participants didn't even have to know about or practise Buddhism) which means that the common foundation of knowledge and practice is missing and retreatants can be quite challenging. It also included more of the outdoors and quite a lot of poetry, and I had a role as organiser so I had to do a bit of extra work to make sure the week ran smoothly.
"But despite the organising and poetry I found it much more nourishing and relaxing than the previous two retreats, and maybe it's because I was camping, but there's also something about not having to achieve a standard. I did a lot of thinking about why I'm dissatisfied about a few things, and came up with a few answers, and I have even put together a tentative plan. We'll see.
"My journey to the retreat was in stages - first a visit to mum and dad, then on to a friend in Dartford, then to Mr MXF and BL2 (their daughter was there too), and finally to the retreat centre in East Sussex. On the way back I stopped for lunch with a friend near Tunbridge Wells before the long drive home.
"The best part of coming home from a retreat is my own shower. Retreat centres are perfectly warm and comfortable but the showers are definitely only just good enough. The worst part of coming home from a retreat is all the routine stuff that awaits - shopping, cooking, cleaning, admin and tidying up."
It turns out that wasn't the worst part of coming home from this retreat. On Saturday morning mum phoned to say she'd had to call the paramedics because dad was unwell. On Sunday morning, holding my hand, he died, and we buried him on Wednesday.
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| 2009 |
L - ❤️
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely photographs of Walter. So different from his looks at the later date. Even those taken last year when he celebrated his 90th birthday were happy ones. Thank you for including them in your blog.
ReplyDeletemum