Sometimes we are tempted to extend our usual practice times, yes? Extending our morning sit by doubling our usual time. Or from weekend retreat, to a weeklong. Having tasted a ten-day, contemplating a month. And there looms the possibility of the three-month with which IMS so often brings the year to a close.
Contemplating such possibilities, we can watch elation turn to uncertainty, then to dread and back again . . . before we even our seat. And as we often learn by actually making such a commitment, however our emotions shift and turn, the net result is almost always greater depth. And a desire to come back. A little longer next time.
Lorilee guided our reflections this Sunday.
Then, next weekend (Sunday the 14th), there will be, for those interested, an opportunity to double our morning sitting time into the afternoon.
We explored the implications of extending sitting in our conversation this Sunday, and Lorilee brought some reflections by Donald Rothberg on a recent four-week retreat, along with practice possibilities by Anya Sayacitta.
Here are links to those talks:
Donald Rothberg : Reflections after Returning from Four Weeks on Retreat
Ayya Santacitta : The SOS (Sound of Silence) as a Doorway into the Web of Life
