Tag: rainy season retreat 2017

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 5

As Ratnaguna pointed out, dwelling in such an uncompromisingly bright land tends to invite one’s shadow. Every retreat brings a process for each of us, and today I knew the retreat was reaching something more in me when I found myself weeping in morning meditation. After last night’s talk, I was touching a deep grief for all the imperfection in me-and-my-sangha: the views I bring that make things hard for me; the ways interpersonal dynamics sometimes obscure our shared faith; the ways...

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 3

Another beautiful day in the pure land!  On my way home, I sighed - “oh it’s all so lovely!”.

Today our sutra reading was sections of the text describing the land of Sukhavati, which is the Dharma aspect of the text. (Yesterday focused more on the Buddha - including beautiful descriptions of bodhisattva activity)

I found the description of the river particularly beguiling - the sound of the river is both soothing, and conveys the Dharma. It conveys the Dharma by murmuring the only,...

Great Faith, Great Wisdom Retreat, 2017 - day 2

My day started with double meditation by our very golden shrine. I appreciated the time to just sit with some of the phrases which resonated with me from yesterday’s readings of the shorter Sukhavativuyha sutra. Sitting with “heartfelt desire”, exploring the associated sensations, and ‘objects’ of desire; and with a sense of “embraced by all the Buddhas”; and the connection between the two. It felt rich and fruitful.

Ratnaguna gave a fascinating talk, showing us resonances between the Sukhavativuyha sutras and two late Pali suttas...