April Retreat at Manohara - For Ross

For my friend Ross.

Thinking about you on day two of the thirty day vipassana retreat at Manohara Meditation centre.
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http://www.dhammasukha.org.au/

It hardly seems like a year has passed since we were doing our first long retreat at Manohara.
I wish you well in your spiritual adventure and congratulate you for your intense effort.

Thirty days of silence is both delicious and arduous.
I remember how hard it was on my aging body to sit in meditation for eight hours and to walk the same path up-and down for five hours a day.
Uncomfortable nights sleeping in a small bunk bed with no privacy, dressing and undressing in the dark, not eating after mid-day....ahhh, I remember well.

There is a sense of  missing the experience this time. Missing the amazing opportunity the long retreat offers to renounce the distractions of the usual life as it is lived. It allows time to focus, concentrate, increase mindfulness and to literally 'wake up', one mind moment to the next.

This time I couldn't make it. No space or opportunity. No money...no leave...no energy.
So Ross, I send you Metta.

I bow to you and your practice.