The importance of regular retreats.

A retreat forms an integral part of the cycle of a practitioner's life. To retreat means to step out of the deep ruts of our normal daily life and encounter the world anew. Imagine skiing in the mountains after a fresh snowfall, where we are no longer conditioned by the well worn tracks of the inner landscape of our mind. We see the opportunity available to us in new ways and in a new light.

A retreat is not something new but forms part of an old tradition of reconnecting with what is most sacred in life. What we now think of as 'holidays' were holy days, during which we devoted time and energy to the sacred. The modern day idea of vacation means to leave behind or vacate, again the idea of stepping outside of our normal routine and daily habits.

There is something deep in our psyche which longs for renewal and rejuvenation. Many people all over the world embark on pilgrimages to seek out and reconnect with this sacred way of being. That renewal happens when the unseen becomes seen, when that which has gone unrecognized becomes apparent.

The point of that journey isn't to have some great experience, but to rediscover the very ground of our being and to arrive at the center of which that very journey unfolds. Often we find ourselves reminiscing about the good ole days, but what we truly long for is a genuine path that leads to pure presence, in which we can tap into the wellspring of our own renewal and reconnect with the openness, generosity, and kindness that give our life purpose and meaning.

The wasteland.

Charnel grounds are a recurring theme and symbol that appear in many of the stories of meditation masters and great teachers of the past. It is said that great masters like Garab Dorje, Shri Singha and Padmasambhava all spent many years in charnel grounds after the nature of their own mind was revealed to them.

The charnel ground represents the wasteland that is the final result of this human life. The presence of death and loss cannot be overlooked or hidden. No matter how beautiful or meaningful the work that we have done in this life, no matter how much we have cherished our loved ones, all of us must go through this devastation and loss. The charnel ground also directly challenges this notion of the ego, the importance that we place on who we are and what we do.

The best solution to being in the charnel ground seems to be to get out of it. We want to get away and hide the whole thing. If we don't look at it and don't get too close, maybe it's not going to be there to torment us. Yet the actual solution comes from living fully in the charnel ground and using the resourcefulness of our own practice to dance with whatever is coming up in our experience.

You can be sure that when you feel like everything is falling apart and your world is turning into a charnel ground, you are being called to a deeper presence in the world.

Recognize that moment. Rediscover the ground of your renewal and resilience. That is the essential if you are to learn how to find complete resolution while living in the charnel ground. When you learn to skillfully work with the intense appearances of the charnel ground, you will find that it has become a pure land in which you can manifest your activity and accomplish your aims. 

A true renaissance.

A renaissance is a time for renewal and rebirth. It is the kindling of an emergent potential.

If there is to be a true renaissance in our modern world, it must include everyone. The innate potential and value of all people will have to be recognized and called upon. The notion that we all have something to contribute and that we all have the capability of doing so will have to become known.

The grounds for this rediscovery lies in each of us. It appears to be missing, but it is always lying dormant just beyond the fray of our busy and distracted lives. It becomes readily apparent when we can learn to still the mind and embody genuine presence.

Genuine presence is the ground in which we can mine for gifts worth sharing. Each of us, in our own way, has something to contribute to the world. We can each share from a place of kindness and abundance. We can move through the world with unconditional compassion.

A true renaissance unfolds with the embodying of genuine presence in our lives. It is the subtle shift in our posture that has the potential to shape the world and to shift the culture.

This doesn't require that everyone is always fully present, that is not possible. But it does require that we fight to remain present, when it is often much easier to tune out, turn away and shut down. The commitment to being present is the work that must be done. That is the work worth talking about.