Bare necessities, learning to breathe as one body

The Touching the Earth Sangha Retreat August 2012

Having just got back from a retreat with my local Touching The Earth Sangha, (based in Glastonbury & Mid Somerset) I felt I had to write about the experience because it was a powerful time for everyone there, and helped to deepen our practice, and commitment to each other.

This was our second organised retreat as a Sangha, and was based, once again, at the excellent East Down Centre situated on the northeast fringes of beautiful Dartmoor. It is a perfect place for a retreat, possessed with first class facilities, plus exceptional views across the wooded valleys, and a lovely walk down to a nearby lake.

Our Sangha is very strong and growing well. We currently meet on the second and last Monday in the month, and hold Days of Mindfulness every six weeks or so in a wonderful barn a few miles from Glastonbury. We have been in existence for over three years now, and look forward to a positive future.

There were seventeen participants on the retreat, including three year old, Tashi, a key member of the Sangha, who is much-loved by all. He is particularly skilful at stimulating our chuckle chakras! He also teaches us how to really be in the present moment, and to get in touch with our playful side. He particularly enjoyed being serenaded by the mass Sangha choir with a spirited rendition of ‘Bear Necessities’, a tune which I am now having trouble dispatching from my brain!

The rest of the schedule consisted of the customary practices of sitting & guided meditations, kinh hanh and outdoor walking meditation, deep relaxation, touching the earth, qi gong, and working meditation. We held Noble Silence from the end of the evening schedule until the following day’s lunchtime. We all relished this opportunity to dwell within, yet focusing mindfully on the task or activity at hand.

In the afternoon we had the chance to check in with each other for our afternoon Dharma discussions, and this became fertile ground for sharing deeply our inner worlds and opening ourselves up within a safe space. We all felt secure enough within the Sangha to really be genuine about how we were feeling, dealing with the stresses and strains of our life stories, and this resulted in an often profound sharing between people, and many commented that they had not felt safe enough in other groups to express how they truly felt. We all felt this was testament to the strength of our brotherhood and sisterhood in the Dharma. It was very moving at times, and I, personally, felt touched by people’s emotional honesty and willingness to trust the process, and to feel safe in the telling.

On the Saturday, in the evening we held a New Moon Celebration where poems were recited (either by Thay or self-penned), songs were sung, games were played and we also were taught how to make lotuses out of crepe paper, into which were placed candles and these were then slowly paraded outside in procession while we chanted ‘Namo ‘Valokiteshvara’ across the grass to a waiting fire. The lit lotuses, of various colours, were placed beautifully in a circle around the fire and we then deposited slips of paper into the fire representing anything we wished to let go off or cultivate within ourselves. It was a lovely way to end the day.

On the final morning we gathered together in the Dharma Hall for our final sharings, before finishing with another sumptuous meal lovingly prepared by our ‘Super Tenzo’  Rose. Then, reluctantly, we had to admit that the retreat was indeed rapidly drawing to a close, and we began to pack our bags accompanied by much hugging and determination to return again the following year. We all knew we had been part of a special event, and it only served to draw us even closer together as a Sangha. Roll on next year!

by Ark Redwood