ED,
I'm not sure. I find such retreats are a good way of recharging the batteries,
but there are many ways of doing this if you're particulary mindfull. I guess
there could even be a negative effect of repeating such retreats if the person
is only trying to recapture the blissfull experiences without processing
what these experinces really mean. 35 years is a long time! Do you still
participate in long retreats/sesshins or do you feel you've learnt all they
have
to offer?
Mike
________________________________
From: ED <seacrofter...@yahoo.com>
To: Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Sat, 16 October, 2010 1:27:04
Subject: Re: [Zen] New member.
Mike,
Some 35 years ago I had been to one *similar* such ten-day retreat with Joseph
Goldstein, Jack Kornfeld and Susan Salzberg.
What's known about the long-term beneficial effects on a practitioner from
a large number of such retreats?
--ED
--- In Zen_Forum@yahoogroups.com, mike brown <uerusub...@...> wrote:
>
Mayka,
A big smile to you, too. Actually, I was the only westerner there but given
that
we couldn't communicate with each other I guess it didn't matter much. The
thing
with the sitting arrangements - it doesn't matter how you sit. After an hour of
sitting in *any* position (without moving) the pain becomes unbearable. In the
end you give up trying to get comfortable and just accept the fact that the
pain
is going to come eventually no matter what you do.
Ah yes, I know exactly what you mean about listening to the sounds of the night
on a long retreat. I remember seeing some fire-flies (the retreat in Kyoto is
deep into a forest) and watching them dance around for what seemed like hours.
Even a breeze on the skin feels like a drink of ice-cold beer on a hot summers
night. The senses are tuned-in in a way that can't be experienced ordinarily.
If
everyone would go on a retreat, I'm sure that many of the world's problems
would
be sorted out overnight.
Mike
