Retreat – Restore – Renew

Retreat: In its simplest form, ‘Retreat’ means ‘to withdraw, to draw back.’
A deliberate act of stepping outside normal routine by withdrawing (not running away) from the noise and pressures, the immediate and insistent claims of our social, domestic and workday responsibilities, in order to be in a quiet place where all our senses are open.

Restore: Bring back or re-establish (a previous right, practice, or situation).
Return (someone or something) to a former condition, place, or position.

Renew: Resume (an activity such as life) after an interruption.

What does ‘to retreat’ mean
The 13th century Zen master Dogen advises: “Take the backward step and turn the light inward.” It’s a good description of the retreat experience, particularly one with a focus on meditation.

Meditation. Is it as inane as watching the grass grow?
Meditation benefits every aspect of our being: Body, mind and soul. We spend most of our lives looking for happiness, peace and fulfilment outside ourselves. During mediation we begin to explore and expand awareness, the essence of who we really are, restoring the memory of wholeness in our lives.   

Meditation is not about forcing our minds to be still or to silence the incessant chatter of our minds; it is, however, a process to rediscover the quietness that is already there, that has always been there – this silence is the thought between thoughts, the silence of pure awareness; this silence is in the now, it is not concerned with thoughts of the past nor of the future.

“My first retreat was undertaken in silence at the Buddhist Retreat Centre in Ixopo, KZN; that was 1986. I was the breadwinner, with an almost three-year-old toddler and a 15-month old baby. My marriage was in a tangle and I was in a fast-paced job way above my business savvy and life experience. Balance? I had none.

The escape from the cacophony of my life and external distractions and embracing solitude and silence for the first time in my life… I thought I would lose my mind! As the fears and the rollercoaster of emotion started to dissipate… I began to connect with my thoughts and emotions on a deeper level, gently gaining equilibrium. This coupled with a ‘Work-Life Balance’ retreat a few months later was the beginning of an entire new way of being.

Twenty years later I experienced ‘Silent Awakenings’ in Monterey, California, with Deepak Chopra and David Simon. This retreat moved me from the pursuit of mindfulness to a deep mindful experience that felt more like a hyperawareness of everything within and around me, as I witnessed the ‘going within’ occur in a fraction of a second.

A silent retreat is an intense, life-changing experience. From a personal perspective, I have received lasting transformation in my life from this the most impactful experience, not being as caught up in my thoughts and feelings as I move throughout my day. Calm has become a ‘super power’.

All love Ed.