It´s been exactly a week since I emerged from silence. I´m still not sure how to describe my experience of that week, although if you´ve read my previous post, you know that while I may have been silent . . . my world here wasn´t. Truthfully, my own silence was far from perfect, but it was profound and beautiful.
Having had post-retreat conversations with folks who have done Vipassana or other similar silent retreats, it is clearly a very different experience. I didn´t find the going-within, being in my own mental, reflective space part of the silence so challenging. It was a welcome opportunity . . . though I noticed that like many of the other extroverts in the group, we tended to cluster, even in silence, just to share space with each other. It was interesting to see how folks hung out in the grey zone though. The first couple of days in particular, there was a lot of shoulder massage exchanging and note writing by those who were most struggling with the internal journey. . . . and then the days in between that settled into more quiet, and then the last day especially as we all geared up for the final celebration / ritual and the whispered conversations emerged.
It is the last that alludes to the most challenging part for me . . . which is that, unlike Vipassana, where your only purpose and task is to BE in silence, here we had shared tasks, a community built over 3 weeks and logistics to coordinate with each other . . . from sharing a kitchen and daily required medicinal teas, to ensuring everyone had the requisite white outfits on the last night. One lovely woman coordinated white flowers for us all to wear in our hair and as boutonnieres, etc. And, of course, after a month together . . . we needed to coordinate the post-silence celebration .. . . all done through notes left around, pointing, gesturing, smiles and nods. Probably comical to watch from the outside.
Overall, however, it was an amazing time for reflection and inner focus. Our week was loosely structured with specific places we needed to spend time in each day, and specific questions to meditate on in each of those places. It will likely be months before I have fully integrated all that I discovered, uncovered and connected with in those places. For sure I am more connected with my inner light, with the divine and with the light and beauty in all beings.
Showing posts with label las piramides. Show all posts
Showing posts with label las piramides. Show all posts
Friday, February 5, 2010
Monday, January 25, 2010
The sounds of Silence: going in
Well, the day has arrived that we begin our silence. As of 5pm today we descend into the inner sanctum of our minds, hearts and spirits. I am both looking forward to it, and a tad nervous about it. I think I am far more nervous about what will happen when I emerge, as I have not yet set up housing . . . . and I´m not sure what I want to do yet. I trust that will sort itself out when it´s meant to.
Yesterday and today have been busy days of running around coordinating details - getting candles and other things we´ll need while we can still speak, and coordinating the sharing of teas and other things for the next 5 days. The silence will be complete . . . more or less. No active communication with others . . . verbally or written. The purpose is to go within and to connect with ourselves. Doing life as usual, but mute, defeats the purpose.
Of course, the no communication piece means I won´t be online either . . . so no updates and no email responses for the next week, but I promise to update the blog when I get out and my time is my own again.
The surprising exception around the silence, I learned this morning, is that it is considered acceptable to use our ipods when we feel the need for music that is more supportive and less detracting or distracting than the evangalistas. There was a good giggle in temple as we attempted to have a politically correct conversation about trying to be in silence in San Marcos . . . which my last entry clearly indicated, is NOT a silent kind of place. We were strongly encouraged, however, to use our discretion, and not to use the ipod to escape our experience . . . but rather to enhance it.
Suffice it to say, it will be an interesting week.
Yesterday and today have been busy days of running around coordinating details - getting candles and other things we´ll need while we can still speak, and coordinating the sharing of teas and other things for the next 5 days. The silence will be complete . . . more or less. No active communication with others . . . verbally or written. The purpose is to go within and to connect with ourselves. Doing life as usual, but mute, defeats the purpose.
Of course, the no communication piece means I won´t be online either . . . so no updates and no email responses for the next week, but I promise to update the blog when I get out and my time is my own again.
The surprising exception around the silence, I learned this morning, is that it is considered acceptable to use our ipods when we feel the need for music that is more supportive and less detracting or distracting than the evangalistas. There was a good giggle in temple as we attempted to have a politically correct conversation about trying to be in silence in San Marcos . . . which my last entry clearly indicated, is NOT a silent kind of place. We were strongly encouraged, however, to use our discretion, and not to use the ipod to escape our experience . . . but rather to enhance it.
Suffice it to say, it will be an interesting week.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Las Piramides, Moon Course
I am mid-way through the one-month moon course at Las Piramides del Ka, The Pyramids of the Spirit. It is a spiritual retreat centre, led by a most amazing, beautiful, powerful woman, Chatty and her support team. The Pyramids are her centre and her calling, and she is the primary teacher. The office is run by one of her daughters, Paoli, as beautiful as her mother, and a local Mayan woman. Yoga classes and meditation on weekends are offered by Marcus and Kathy, long-ago graduates and followers of the path.
I´m not sure yet how to describe ´the path´although I think that´s really what we´re learning this week. The basic schedule remains constant, (7am yoga, 10 am metaphysics and 5pm meditation), but the focus of the classes changes each week. Whatever the focus, each session begins with about 30 minutes sitting meditation. These periods of stillness and silence have turned out to be my greatest challenge and my greatest teacher . . . though I often wonder if I´m a little bit learning disabled when it comes to understanding the teachings. :-)
The first week was about understanding the symbolism of the pyramids and all the ´stuff´within them. As a long-time Pagan, the first week was hardly new material, but it came from a different perspective with a slightly different intention. Yoga and meditation were unquestionably the most challenging part of that week for me. I reconnected in a deeply uncomfortable and humbling way with how firmly rooted I had become in the computer and the couch during my 2 months in Vancouver, preceding my departure. My months of hooping, swimming and dancing on Cortes prior to that seem to have been forgotten by my body. sigh. Fortunately, in week 3 I am finding far more joy and ease, and far less pain, in both yoga and meditation.
The second week was about astral traveling and lucid dreaming. Based in the chakra system and an understanding (and acceptance) of multiple dimensions, it pushed my personal envelope (my inner mystic at war with my inner skeptic). This week, the third week is about our purpose / mission for this lifetime and is being explored through the Tree of Life and its 7 disciplines, including Tarot, Kabbalah, Astrology and Numerology. If nothing else, my curiosity this week is in full gear, as I have always been fascinated by these tools.
The last phase of the one-month program is 5 days of silence and fasting, starting next Monday. I´m both looking forward to it, and nervous about it. Although my days have been full, in between classes, with visiting healers, exploring the area and scooting across the lake for supplies, it has already been quite an introspective journey. Sitting meditation continues to be challenging for me, although I have now had enough experiences of true inner quiet and peace that I am motivated to continue. It will be interesting to see what just under a week of silence brings.
I´m not sure yet how to describe ´the path´although I think that´s really what we´re learning this week. The basic schedule remains constant, (7am yoga, 10 am metaphysics and 5pm meditation), but the focus of the classes changes each week. Whatever the focus, each session begins with about 30 minutes sitting meditation. These periods of stillness and silence have turned out to be my greatest challenge and my greatest teacher . . . though I often wonder if I´m a little bit learning disabled when it comes to understanding the teachings. :-)
The first week was about understanding the symbolism of the pyramids and all the ´stuff´within them. As a long-time Pagan, the first week was hardly new material, but it came from a different perspective with a slightly different intention. Yoga and meditation were unquestionably the most challenging part of that week for me. I reconnected in a deeply uncomfortable and humbling way with how firmly rooted I had become in the computer and the couch during my 2 months in Vancouver, preceding my departure. My months of hooping, swimming and dancing on Cortes prior to that seem to have been forgotten by my body. sigh. Fortunately, in week 3 I am finding far more joy and ease, and far less pain, in both yoga and meditation.
The second week was about astral traveling and lucid dreaming. Based in the chakra system and an understanding (and acceptance) of multiple dimensions, it pushed my personal envelope (my inner mystic at war with my inner skeptic). This week, the third week is about our purpose / mission for this lifetime and is being explored through the Tree of Life and its 7 disciplines, including Tarot, Kabbalah, Astrology and Numerology. If nothing else, my curiosity this week is in full gear, as I have always been fascinated by these tools.
The last phase of the one-month program is 5 days of silence and fasting, starting next Monday. I´m both looking forward to it, and nervous about it. Although my days have been full, in between classes, with visiting healers, exploring the area and scooting across the lake for supplies, it has already been quite an introspective journey. Sitting meditation continues to be challenging for me, although I have now had enough experiences of true inner quiet and peace that I am motivated to continue. It will be interesting to see what just under a week of silence brings.
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