A 24 hour retreat

It began with a promise from my partner, June. She had been on many retreats. I had only been to one weekend meditation retreat 12 years earlier. She wanted me to do a retreat with Lama Lhakpa Yeshe. I asked him if he would help. He offered a 24 hour retreat one-to-one.

It took place in April this year. I was on a short break of a fortnight between jobs. The ideal time to regroup, recharge and realign. I had no idea what to expect. I had been going to meditation sessions with Lama for a while. He lives in the Wirral and runs 2 hour classes with a mixture of meditation and teachings.

The 24-hour retreat was a revelation. It began with 10 minutes of meditation. That sounds easy, but it is incredibly difficult to hold the attention for that long. Meditation is all about training the mind. I am distractable at the best of times, so even short spells can be challenging. Over the 24 hour period we gradually built up the time devoted to meditations until we were meditating for 40 minutes. In between we looked at Shantideva’s “The Way of the Bodhisattva”. This is an essential text, written in 700 AD, it contains marvellous insight. Here’s a verse:

All the joy the world contains
Has come through wishing happiness for others.
All the misery the world contains
Has come through wanting pleasure for oneself.

We have another retreat planned for the beginning of August. The retreat in April showed me how vital the need for inner space is in this chaotic world.