this too
Tuesday, August 16, 2005
  Re-entry


Back from the retreat. Or perhaps not quite. Spinning a little without the structure, the repeated triangles, eight hours a day, of 83 other sitting buddhas.





Still feeling mostly the deep, silent pool inside.



Not enough edges against which to sharpen words.



 
Comments:
Good to see you.
 
Wonderful photos! Water lilies are my favorites.
 
It looks so beautiful. Glad you're back with us, Jean.

You know, for me a retreat would be talking with people. Most days I don't speak with anyone.
 
Boy do I envy you!
 
Natalie, it's not the same, not the same at all, at all, not silence for the sake of silence, but in order to make space for something else, and in order to be together with others in a different way... I often don't speak with anyone all day, either, when I'm not at work. Sometimes I welcome this and sometimes I can't bear it. But it's never anything at all like being on retreat.

Jude, gosh I'm touched that you mentioned me in your blog while I was away.
 
Kurt, couldn't you go on retreat, even for a weekend? This was a particularly amazing one, though, with a very challenging teacher and a form I feel I will want to pursue. I do feel privileged.
 
Welcome back, Jean. I do hope you can stay connected with that deep, silent pool amidst all the cacophony around.
 
Welcome back, and thanks for the tranquil images.
 
"Not enough edges against which to sharpen words." Lovely insight Jean :)
 
I understand, Jean. It's not the same kind of silence at all. In fact the one I was talking about can be very noisy, much too noisy.
 
I love the way the pictures and the words work together in this post to communicate a feeling, a sense, almost a sensation, that's hard to communicate. I don't think it could be done with words alone.
 
Thanks everyone.

Gemma, I'm happy to see you here. Thank you for blogrolling me. I just had a quick look at your blog and will be back to read more,as you definitely look like a kindred spirit.
 
Welcome back, with or without words.
 
Welcome back, Jean! I hope you bring that peace and stillness with you for awhile anyway!
 
Jean, the monastery where I have occasionally retreated in the past is the Abbey of Gethsemani, in Kentucky--the Trappist monastery where Thomas Merton lived. As I was raised a Catholic, I have enjoyed chanting the psalms and the liturgy of the hours observed there. But I would dearly love to do a retreat at a Zen monastery. A harder thing to find in Tennessee. It will require travel when I do get to do it.
 
Très belles photos !
J'aime beaucoup celle de la fleur rose !L'image est fraiche , pure .
Cette fleur modeste peut être comparée à une méditation .

Very beautiful photographs!
I like much that of the pink flower!
L' image is fraiche, pure. Modest this flower can be compared with a meditation.
 
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