2024 April 27 One-Day Retreat - Personal Recount by Zac

On April 27, 2024, I had the opportunity to attend my first one-day retreat in Taipei at the Dharma Drum Mountain Degui Academy. Prior to the retreat I had for over a year been a solo practitioner, practicing Shamatha "mindfulness" meditation for about 15 minutes every day. After coming to Taipei, I began to take an interest in the Chan meditation method and some of the online teachings from the Dharma Drum Mountain's webpage. After three months in Taiwan, I finally mustered up the courage to start attending the weekly IMG English language group practice. These sessions were a wonderful prerequisite for sitting for longer periods of time than I was used to, as well as an introduction to walking meditation practice. Both qualities helped me gain the most out of my time at the one-day retreat.


Before the Practice:

I think one of the challenges I faced even before the retreat was the setting of expectations. Was I prepared for the longer sessions? Was I experienced enough? Would I gain more benefits than the usual weekly three-hour meetings I had attended? If I sneeze will that disrupt the quiet of the other practitioners? Would all the other people in the room distract me?
Safe to say, all these "concerns," or expectations, I had turned out to be easily and enjoyably overcome. In fact, the comfort of knowing other people were in the same room as me possibly going through similar obstacles was reassuring.


During the Practice:

The environment of the Degui Academy was very comfortable with a large open space, and clear postings of the day's schedule that would include sitting meditation, yoga meditation, walking meditation, and a silent lunch period for eating meditation. Once the retreat began, I found that my expectations about this as any different practice from what I had been doing were misplaced. The long sitting periods, of what felt like around one hour, were no different than what I had been doing for weeks. Of course, this longer period meant my mind had more chances to wander at times, but this provided me more space to practice different methods to attentively watch, listen, and calm my mind.

One of the key takeaways I came to realize over the course of the retreat was that for me, meditation practice was as much, if not more, a physical obstacle than a mental one. At late points in the sessions maybe my leg would begin to fall asleep or feel a pain in my back or shoulder from my posture. I would stick to my method and for a time just observe the sensation or feelings arising and make those my temporary object of meditation. And they seemingly like thoughts and anything else would fade away. Part of what helped me through this part of the retreat was the earlier emphasis made at the start of the retreat that Chan Buddhism can be used in every facet of our daily lives. Whether walking, exercising, eating, sitting in a park, sitting at a desk. All have equal opportunity to practice and observe the current state of your mind.


After the Practice:

I was very grateful for the experience of the retreat and the space and time it afforded me to apply different practice methods. I came to realize that any meditation session, 5 minutes, one hour, one day, or three days are all the same. My expectations that this was innately different than what I had been doing were corrected, and now I understand to approach every meditation period not as thinking it will be good or bad, but to just simply practice as is and pay attention to my mind in that state. I have found my meditation sessions since the retreat to be more focused and I personally find myself much easier, and at times seamlessly, transitioning into a mindful headspace for sessions. Even from the eating meditation of the retreat I have found being mindful while drinking morning cups of tea or coffee has provided a very enriching experience and joyous start to my days.
I want to thank Ven. Guochii and all the organizers of Dharma Drum Mountain who made the retreat a possibility. I look forward to the possibility of attending other retreats in the future.


 
By Zac Clark