To find out what is really going on in our experience, we need to turn off our “personas” and be quiet for a while: no need to please, defend, confirm, get confirmation, seduce, flee, or attack.

Retreats provide an opportunity to relax into deep silence--to rest into the vastness of being, without the need to be somebody.

 

Enter the silence by:

hSpeaking only with teachers (during interviews and teachings), or with managers (if a practical need arises).

 

h Turning off and packing away all cameras and cell phones.

 

h Being especially aware of the sounds we make in and near the meditation hall -- shoes, doors, cushions, water bottles, etc., can be handled with awareness and quietness. 

 

hLetting go of reading and writing.  Rather we can read this moment, and let life write in this heart.

 

hEliminating physical contact with others during the retreat.

 

hExperimenting, if one wishes, with reducing eye contact with others (except during teacher interviews).

 

Enjoying the freshness of moments of relative inner silence.

 

hAppreciating how silence allows us to experience the beauty of simple things, as well as an intimacy with oneself and others that is often inaccessible when we speak.