Day 1
Image: Alexander Grey
Embodied Wisdom, Year 2
Nalanda Institute’s Contemplative Psychology Course
28th September 2024
DAY ONE OF OUR ONLINE RETREAT
When fulfilling requirements for a program in the USA’s Eastern Standard Time Zone, you must get up early—2 a.m. Australian Eastern Standard Time. I set the alarm twice. Once for 1.40 am followed by 1.45 am. As it goes, BBA is awake and reminds me that it is 1.35 am. So, I pull myself out of bed, careful not to tread on one of the dogs lying nearby, open the door and exit. I had set up for an early morning start the night before so I wouldn’t disturb the sleepers…. The toothbrush, face soap, lipstick, and moisture cream were placed carefully on the second shelf in the smaller bathroom off BBA’s study. I wrap my head with a bright blue headband to tame my unruly hair, (overdue for a haircut). I turn on the kitchen light, boil the jug for a hot cup of tea, spoon Formosa Tea into the mesh tea strainer, pour the steaming water through the sieve, and wait—milk, cup, and saucer on the tray. Allow the tea to brew. I move over to the desk on the other side of the house, arrange the cushions, awaken the computer, press start meeting in the Zoom link, and wait.
I am excited about this new academic year. Last year, I studied the year-long Meditation program at Nalanda, and that is how our morning meditation sessions came about. This year, I will focus on embodied practices and contemplative living and am still in the unknown as to how it will impact the way I work and live.
We start late. Because of technical issues, we must work ‘old school’ alongside Spanish speakers, which I enjoy immensely. The facilitators need to translate every conversation, consequently it teaches me to listen and slows things down.
We begin with a gentle meditation, focusing on our intentions. Buddhist teacher Sylvia Boorstein writes about intention, suggesting that it is the key to living the life we wish to lead while walking Buddha’s Eightfold Path.
…wise intention is what keeps our lives heading in the right direction…Traditional lists of the eightfold path are numbered from one through eight…wise understanding and wise intention often top the list…wise action, speech and livelihood, wise effort, mindfulness, and concentration…(Sylvia Boorstein, One Simple Practice that Changes Everything, Lion’s Roar, July 2021)
As I sit in our Zoom Room, it is evident, just by looking at the diversity of faces, that we are different and similar at the same time: We gather, smile, hope, and seek. We sit quietly ready to change not only ourselves but our world. These changes could be small and hardly noticeable to the outside eye, but they will develop our focus, our intention and our sense of community.
While I open to new ways of being, rain falls outside, and the wind blows and lets itself be known, rattling windows and doors.
It's time to say goodbye to the cohort and close my computer. I return to the warmth of my bed to sleep and prepare for the next 8 hours of online retreat, beginning at 11 p.m. AEST tonight.