Weekend Retreat at the Centre
Weekend Retreat at the Centre Living as Meditative Inquiry August 21 – 23, 2015 This weekend retreat was led by Ashwani Kumar, Professor of Education at the Mt. Vincent University in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In the opening session on Friday night, Ashwani jumped right in to serious inquiry by asking the group if they experience that the mind is in a constant struggle to become something or achieve something. What is the mind seeking, and is it strengthening itself through all this busyness and activity? It was clear from the start that Ashwani has a great clarity and passion when it comes to investigating the nature of thought and feeling, and that he wanted to stick only to questions that are real and relevant for the participants. This was very welcome and refreshing for most of us most of the time. The evening session, attended by ten people, was concluded with a guided relaxation and awareness exercise which was effective in relaxing the body and making self observation more easy and available. Eleven people were able to attend the Saturday sessions. We began with a review of what had been done the previous evening and reports from everyone on their experiences. We then entered into further exploration of struggle and self observation in which there were a number of viewpoints and understandings communicated by different people, with Ashwani always emphasizing that the most important thing is to look for ourselves and see what we find. The morning ended with some movement and relaxation. In the afternoon we started with an exercise writing down whatever came to mind for ten minutes without any editing. The results were not shared but the participants reported various “interesting” experiences. Then for half an hour we were to follow every thought that arose and stay with it until it was felt to have completed itself entirely. This is something recommended by Krishnamurti and was found to be powerful in penetrating into the thought process and seeing its nature more deeply. After discussion of the exercises we were asked to take quiet time until lunch in order to be with ourselves and allow space for reflection and insight. Saturday evening was time for open dialogue during which some deep questions and issues were looked at. Ashwani brought in the idea of an “existential insecurity”, which is not a psychological issue but, rather, a force of cleansing and transformation in all human beings if they are in touch with it. There was much debate about this and it was questioned if there might be a better name for it, like “the flow of life”, which would have no negative connotation. This writer later wondered if Krishnamurti’s term “the flame of discontent’ might be pointing to the same reality. Whatever it is to be called, I found the exploration of this possibility fascinating and most relevant as it is something I’ve been aware of my whole life. The night session was completed with a “gibberish” meditation which was new for most but was found very effective in releasing energy and bringing about a quiet mind. Sunday began with a discussion of what had happened the previous night, followed by a powerful Krishnamurti video on “The Beginning of Meditation” from a 1978 Brockwood talk. There was quiet time until lunch and a chance to enjoy the lovely property. After lunch Ashwani led another relaxation exercise, followed by group dialogue until the end of the retreat. The whole weekend was one of focused investigation into the self and experiential learning about the “practice” of ongoing meditative inquiry. An excellent and valuable weekend!
