Ahhhhh, I’ve been in retreat all weekend.
Beautiful people (some I’ve known for years, some brand new friends) have been in and out of little Goldilocks Cottage, where I live and work, for three days.
A dear friend, mentor, teacher, companion along the road of life has been staying with me (or I should say “us”) all weekend.
He’s been the “leader” of the retreat.
I’ve been the “host”.
Isn’t it funny how I’m writing quotations marks around all these roles being played?
But it is a wonderful thing to realize how the mind distinguishes people, who they are, why they’re there, and what they’re doing by defining their positions.
Really…..everyone who attended and gathered together was both teacher and student and host.
Everyone who came contributed, connected, felt the sweetness of being there. Some asked questions, some expressed their difficulties with silence or life, some shared their joys with silence or life.
Dialogues happened, conversations about death and love.
What I notice this morning, as life lives itself forward in this beautiful, strange and heart-breaking world….
….is that within this room where I sit, there is thought….
….and no thought.
That’s what we get to do as we feel the pain our thinking produces, and we turn toward Inquiry instead of assuming what we’re thinking is true.
We get to notice. Everything.
We get to notice more than thought!
Finding peace is not so very difficult.
Not anywhere near as difficult as the mind makes it.
The mind says “it is not here”.
Hard things happen by being a human being including loss, grief, death, disappointment, worry, loneliness, terror.
When I’ve focused on these experiences, without inquiry, they sit and repeat themselves like broken records.
When I wonder if what I’m believing is really true….
….the pain doesn’t necessarily vanish, but there is more here than only pain.
What could be possible without your story?
What story are you swimming in, if you feel sad, despair, anger, or disgust?
I love the four questions.
They are a meditation.
They have led me to sit silently, and contentedly, with people all weekend in my home, without feeling invasion, stress, a need to escape.
The questions have led me like breadcrumbs down a path of peace with life that was here all along.
I just couldn’t see it before.
If you don’t know what to do with your thoughts and it’s very difficult to sit still….
….start taking them through The Work.
No, you don’t have to analyze every single thought, or improve, fix, change or adjust your situation with the perfect solution.
You can be your own teacher and advisor and student and leader as you go back and forth asking and answering the questions.
Or even just the first one: “Is it true?”
Much love,
Grace
if you have thoughts and ideas about LOVE and couple-ness and romance you find irritating, disturbing, sad or difficult….join the online Friday afternoon retreat to question your love stories. We’ll meet for three hours (you can come in and drop off any time) and it’s all audio. You can be anonymous or speak up. Click HERE to register ($37).
