Tuesday 19 June 2012

International retreat by Annette Clarke


I was looking forward to going on this International Retreat weekend at Taraloka near Whitchurch Shropshire, having enjoyed the first one I attended on the same site in 2010. I had planned ahead this time, and negotiated the long weekend off during my busiest marking period with both students and employer. Due to demanding work commitments in preceding months, I had been unable to much spend time with Buddhist friends, and I very much wanted to connect again with both local and international Sangha members. I was not disappointed on any level.
From the warm welcome at the reception tent Friday evening ( complete with loan of  midge repellent) to the final puja held on Monday evening, ( with the exuberant ‘distribute your riches’ Buddhist fable aptly  staged by the children on  Jubilee Monday) I felt more connected than I had done for a long time, and my spirits soared . The shrine tent was filled with flapping colourful flags and a tastefully decorated, beautiful 4 sided Buddha shrine (thanks respectively to Shrewsbury Sangha and Kalyacitta). The food provided by Buddhafield was nourishing, healthy and extremely tasty – the system of feeding 400+ Buddhists was admirable in such a short space of time. It was a delight to sit next to  people  from  Europe and India at  each meal sitting, and to learn about  their lives – I heard all about the Lowlands (the  new Buddhist Retreat centre on the border of Belgium and Holland) from Patrick and Kathleen ( Ghent Songhai) and stories of ‘the Death walk’ Patrick  completed twice each August to raise funds for it, and these meal times also  gave me the opportunity  to catch up with old friends and to  make new ones. Washing up tea mugs during the daily work periods enabled me to chat to Buddhists from Suffolk and Berlin. Thanks to Karunabandhu for the prompt delivery of mugs each day for washing up, and for the kind invite to attend the opening of the New Berlin Buddhist Centre on 1st and 2nd Sept – we are coming!
The cold blustery weather made everyone even more determined to enjoy the weekend, so the campfire remained almost permanently lit and the endless stream of steaming hot drinks from the tea tent distracted the mind/Vedana from wet socks and shoes and soggy tents.   
The topic of Ratnaguna's Saturday morning talk was intriguing – he tried to imagine the voice of the Buddha in a most entertaining way. Kamalashila talked about "the mandala of the historical Buddha" on Sunday morning –he linked some of the imagery and symbolism of the five-Buddha mandala back to the historical Buddha and the practices he taught, and Dhammadina talked about Shakyamuni as the "richly endowed" – discussing the generous, abundant, golden, noble, aspect of the Buddha on Monday morning.
11 different 2 hour afternoon workshops were on offer over the weekend , all equally tempting ( A ground hog day replay would have been useful to attend more  ) and it  proved a tough  choice; I settled for Sona and Vidyamala’s charming  double act, continuing the theme from  Kamalashila’s talk  which they called ‘Entering the Mandala  of radiance’ This workshop provided a systematic, entertaining , highly interactive over view of the 5 stages of practice including integration, positive emotion, spiritual death, rebirth and spiritual receptivity. One role play involved Sona  reading out  the Buddha’s lines  from his I Pad and the audience acting as his responsive disciples- this led  to Sona being addressed jokingly as ‘my lord’    for the remainder of the workshops. He took it in good  part. Who wouldn’t?
A wonderful optional afternoon meditation was led in the Big Red tent each day. The 7 posture body scan enabled us to relax into our meditation in a profound way. Blankets, hats, gloves and hot water bottles kept us cosy.
Throughout the weekend, sounds of Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Beatles songs wafted intermittently over the camp site from the music tent. Opening up the evening puja, the backing band supported the children enacting the Buddhist fables and they belted out tunes for the sangha to sing along to (Oh no they didn’t! Oh yes they did! Etc) Olivia Moore played her violin beautifully and Mahasuka’s workshop choir sang mantras in 4 part harmonies to set the scene for the evening ritual. Some hardy souls even rose at 3.45am on Monday morning to celebrate the full moon puja (I didn’t)
Vajragupta’s increasingly optimistic morning weather reports (his face painted in gold leaf to represent the sun’s golden rays) amused the sangha greatly; and his kindly assurances were greeted with affectionate boos and cheers.
The opportunity to circumambulate the shrine each evening in the ritual puja, along with friends from Europe and India, was both touching and meaningful. It was especially moving to hear the tribute to Sitnah added at the final puja. 
 A heartfelt thank you to all the team who worked so hard at constructing the camp, and who ensured it ran so smoothly during the weekend, and thanks to everyone who stayed on until Tuesday to help with the dismantling jobs – I hope to be able to join you for longer at the next international retreat. My thanks also go to Jackie as my intrepid fellow traveller and driver.
The weekend proved a very significant turning point for me spiritually in deciding my priorities over the coming year and I am very grateful for this gift.
I loved the sociability, the kindness, the stimulation, the fun, the warmth and the friendliness of the weekend. The compost loo was good too!  I would highly recommend this mix of experiences to everyone –I would suggest booking early next time, as it sold out before hand this year. 

With metta,

Annette