I'm in the midst of an 8-day retreat at Ontario's main Jesuit centre, Loyola House. It is proving to be a fascinating and very uplifting experience. Being in silence for hours at a time has really put me in touch with the amazing energy we are working with in our "Living As If" course. Yes, the Jesuits are a Catholic order following a Catholic ethos (which I'm comfortable with, since I'm a Catholic), but I have to say that their energy and their perspective is far wider than just a Catholic context. Jesuits are among the most open and progressive of spiritually-based orders...they believe that the Divine is found everywhere and in all things and people. They often have a cosmological viewpoint. The great Jesuit thinker, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, was one of the first in the modern age to articulate the idea that the universe and everything within it is connected and alive.
One of things I've learned a lot about is self-care when playing in the new energies of creating new paradigms and finding the ancient roots of many of these insights. People on retreat here are treated well, cared for with comfortable warm beds, delicious food, and a landscape that is exquisitely beautiful. I've had so many walks in the forest, including walking the enormous labyrinth on the land, and following the "Chardin Trail" which takes me to the Stations of the Cosmos, all carved in wood. I've also spent many hours sitting in the dark in the chapel with just one lantern burning. Any of you who know me know that I'm very verbal and love talking. I thought that being in silence would prove difficult, but you'd be surprised how readily I can surrender into silence. Touching the silence, being in the silence, resting in it, has given me an experience of the vast interplay of energies and of the truths we are exploring in the course.
Each day for an hour, each retreatant has the opportunity to speak with a spiritual director who actually doesn't "direct" anything, but instead asks the question, "What is coming up for you in the silence? What does your soul and spirit tell you?" My "director" is a wonderful white-haired Jesuit who reminds me of the figure of Merlin in the King Arthur stories. Since today is All Hallows Eve (Halloween), many of the retreatants agree that he is the resident Wizard. Yesterday he was talking about life as a kind of alchemy that uncovers the gold within us. I like that!
Blessings to all on All Hallows! They say that tonight the veil between the spirit world and the manifest world grows thin, allowing us to communicate with the essences of those who have passed on, people and other beings to whom we are grateful. Tonight I plan to light candles for several people in the chapel, and to sit in vigil. It's almost a full moon, the wind is blowing outside, and there is this sense of the land breathing and preparing itself for the coming of winter.
We're not carving pumpkins or eating candy (although I do think the chef is in the kitchen making pumpkin pies), but we are in the sacredness of all the mysteries of the Cosmos.
Sending blessings and gratitude,
Sharon
Thanks you for sharing this, Sharon. It is an interesting perspective. Enjoy the rest of your time In the Silence.
ReplyDeleteThank you Sharon for your beautiful eexplanation about your retreat. And I am thankful for the hospitality you are receiving. I imagine that you will be connecting with your beloved ones who have passed before you on All Saints Day.
ReplyDeleteI will be interested to hear how you will have managed to invite your mental voices into the silence as well. That would be my challenge.
Blessings,
Sue
Hi Sue, not sure what you mean by "mental voices". Do you mean the intrusion of thoughts? I find that all kinds of thoughts enter the silence, and that "letting them go" can be difficult. My experience thus far here has been that being in the silence gets MORE challenging as the retreat goes on, not less challenging. This is probably because the mind throws up all kinds of issues that will surface. I think that's why they include times of "spiritual direction" because it can get overwhelming. I think there may come a point when a person can just allow the silence to take over. In my view, it would take longer than even eight days. The people here on the 40-day process are likely now at a level place in their silence, but I think that some of them still have their battles with the "mind." How does this apply to the "Living As if" course? Well, I'm reminded of a conversation with Mark in which we talked about the process that the further one goes into the new energies, the more the "old energies" will keep returning in some form. So the key is to keep practicing, one step at a time, and not to get dismayed when some old issue or thought pattern that we thought we'd gotten rid of, rises once again to "cause trouble." Living from an expanded dimension is actually a discipline...it must be chosen in awareness over and over again. It's never a "done deal", not as long as we are in human bodies. But it does slowly implant the new energies into the body system and seeding the energies there allows the energies to grow, so that we look back and see an expanded perspective that we have gained.
ReplyDeleteThanks Sharon. Sounds wonderful and something I would like to do also. Your words describe a truly wonderful and spiritual experience and through them a sense of this special time. You are immersing yourself in the silence and process. Again thanks for sharing. Peace and Love. Patty
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