go on a silent retreat

This retreat has always intrigued me. It’s closer to home and is in one of my favourite areas. The challenge of course is getting 10 days off. http://www.dhamma.org/en/schedules/schsurabhi.shtml

I’ve also heard the food isn’t very good and know of three people who dropped out after a few days…

This seems to be a good option relatively close to my city: http://www.renascimento.com.br/meditacao/kyolche.htm
I’ll look for more information on this

I look forward to a period of time where words are not allowed. I want to see what compensations are made for verbal communication.

I’m becoming Catholic, don’t ask, it’s a long story and a longer process LOL, but the youth group at my church (again, don’t ask) has 2 major retreats throughout the year as well as a few “work” or team ones. In my research for our journals, I found several websites that have ideas for those who don’t have access/time/money to retreat centers:

http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/cmo-retreat.html
http://www.intervarsity.org/studentsoul/item/getting-away

I don’t think retreats are for any particular religion, so don’t feel put off if these seem too oriented Christianity – see if something in the meditation or alone time appeals to you.

There’s a retreat center in Malibu I hope to go to for one weekend, Serra Retreat Center, I’m a little nervous about having my own thoughs for my only company, but I hope I learn something :)

Later this month. I’m making this one happen. :-)

I want to make a quiet clearing for God for a few days. That’s all…my meditation time each day gets badly scrunched by the many items I need to get through. I want to have nothing else to do but be still and listen. I want to be alone with the Sacred for hours at a stretch.

mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

When we used to live out in the middle of nowhere, I enjoyed the days when I was alone out there as I could just sit and enjoy the outside and not have to talk to anyone. It’s very calming just to be quiet and still, and I think it helps in meditation to be wordless for a while before you start.

That said, I can’t find any silent retreats going on that are a) close enough to be do-able b) cheap enough that I could afford and c) are shorter than a month long. So I’ve decided my meditation day is going to also become my silent day, no words or communication from dawn til dusk. I’ll try it for a while and see how it goes. It should be calming.

I think it would be a huge relief to have to keep my mouth shut for a few days—maybe it would quiet my mind a bit, too.

When I came home people remarked that I was so peaceful. I would like to do it again.