Immersing yourself in a silent retreat at the home front comes with its challenges. How can a mother say no to a daughter who needs a lending ear, or to a neighbor who wishes to chat. Keep going. Keep focusing. Stay with it. The benefits are many, as you will feel calmer, more grounded and more peaceful in your body, mind and spirit. There is a clairvoyance, a gentle nudge, an awareness that arises, that carries a sense of focus and purpose on your journey forward into 2024.

Three days and fifteen hours of seated meditation as well as walking meditation are structured intermittently throughout the days. This gives you a chance to fully immerse yourself in the practice. Choose a body movement practice like Yoga, Tai chi, or Chi Gong to break up the day. Breath work enhances your practice and steadies and grounds the heart and mind. Be mindful of simple nourishing meals that are already prepared and hydrate yourself with life giving water and teas to support your mind and body.

With 25 years of meditation practice it still takes one full day for the monkey mind to settle and for the meditation periods of 45 minutes to arise naturally and spontaneously without effort as though in a dream. It is good to have a schedule. Follow it. Let it be reasonable. Turn off the internet.

 On the eve of the first full day of sitting I peaked online at Facebook to find a wonderful post by Eric . He is an avid Buddhist teacher and scholar and here he has found a gem of a quote by Father Thomas Keating that says,

 “If one completes the journey to one’s own heart, -one will find oneself in the heart of everyone else.”

I am still unpacking the essence of these words today. What does this mean? What does this mean for you? I am interested to hear other people’s understanding of this simple and yet thought provoking quotation by Father Thomas Keating.  There is more than one approach to your practice of meditation. You can sit, or practice by walking or by contemplating a phrase or a question to discipline the mind. In this instance I chose to contemplate this quotation, and did so over the next two sittings.

As I continued to sit, I understood when one is truly quiet in the heart, the mind becomes free of the bondage of past conditioning, beliefs and thoughts that no longer serve you.  Eventually comes the peace of mind and love. The Buddhist speak of this aspect of heart, mind coherence as “chitta,” where these two qualities are synonymous with one another, they merge at one point into a  timeless awareness.

Sit and focus on your breath or experiences in the moment, or sustain a mantra to settle your thoughts. Sit upright, as the more still your body is, the quieter your mind will become.  When this timeless- spacious- awareness- activates; ( this takes some concerted effort, years sometimes-) this sense you-me, them and us, the EGO or anything else, dissolves into merely cause and conditions and dissolves into one harmonious hologram where the frequency is oneness. The frequency is love! It is here where all the paths meet at 0 Zero point if you choose too, and where the pure land of Sukhavati is born, and where the purity of heart and every given moment gives rise to, and lands you in the heart of everyone else.

Let us practice together. Happy New Year 2024!

May all sentient beings be happy and healthy and free. May all beings recognize their true nature.

Photo compliments of a sister’s good wish on New Year’s Day. OM~