Creating a Personal Retreat

This post is by Paige, a passage meditator living in Davis, California. Paige shares how she creates a "personal retreat" to help her focus and strengthen her practice of the eight points from her own home.

I am very fortunate to live only a couple of hours from the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation (BMCM) and have been able to attend three retreats in Tomales since beginning my practice in earnest in early 2014. It’s such a gift to be able to take a break from my busy life, really focus on Easwaran’s teachings with no distractions, learn from people more experienced than I am—especially those who learned from Easwaran himself, and have a good solid dose of spiritual companionship in a beautiful setting!

Alas, it’s not practical to go to Tomales every week—my goal is to get there twice a year! But what I can do is have my own “personal retreat”—a day where I choose to put the chaos of everyday life aside and refocus my attention on the eight-point program.

Even though I live alone, my weeks are busy with work, household chores, and other activities, and though I do get my daily mediation in, I often struggle to weave the other seven points consistently into my life. I come back from a BMCM retreat energized and with lots of ideas for improvement, but daily life takes over again and I find myself needing a spiritual break!

(Left) Taking a mantram walk with my dog, Smitti! (Right) My meditation corner.

This month, I did a one-day personal retreat, and I thought I would share how I planned it and how it went.

My first step was to set an intention for the day, and to create a schedule from there to support it. It can be tempting for me to try and fit too much in, so I was careful to keep a narrow focus. This time, I chose one-pointed attention as my theme—an area that I continue to struggle with at home and at work. I looked over my one-pointed attention worksheet and goals from my weeklong retreat last fall, and made up a schedule that would allow me to put one-pointed attention on one-pointed attention! Of course most of the other points were included as well—meditation, mantram, slowing down, and training the senses.

“If we are to free ourselves from this tyrannical, many-pointed mind, we must develop some voluntary control over our attention. We must know how to put it where we want.” 
(Eknath Easwaran, Passage Meditation, p. 123)

I included many activities familiar from BMCM retreats—two meditation sessions (morning and evening), spiritual reading, and a mantram walk. But although this was a “retreat,” I wanted to practice one-pointed attention with the things I want or need to get done on a normal weekend. I also chose a small (but important) project that I have been putting off—making a bracelet for my sister.

This was my schedule for the day:

• 5:00   Coffee and reading--Chapter 4 from Passage Meditation
• 6:00   Meditation
• 7:15   Mantram walk with my dog
• 8:00   Breakfast and cleanup
• 9:00   Household chores—start laundry
• 9:30   Yoga and back strengthening exercises
• 10:00   Work on bracelet (after putting laundry in the dryer)
• 11:30   Fold laundry
• 12:00   Lunch and cleanup
• 1:00   Passage memorization work
• 1:30   Yard work (with mantram) and throw ball for the dog
• 3:00   Banjo practice
• 3:30   Prepare dinner and extra food for the work week
• 5:00   Dinner and cleanup
• 6:00   Meditation
• 6:30   Play with dog, shower
• 7:00   Reading from The Bhagavad Gita for Daily Living
• 8:00   Lights out

Throughout the day I focused on doing everything one-pointedly—preparing food, doing laundry, playing with my dog, doing dishes, etc. At the same time I could not help but slow down, which helped me with the training the senses. And my meditation was deeper as well!

(Left) Making some potato salad as part of my weekly meal prep. (Right) Mantram art.

As Easwaran says…

“Developing a one-pointed mind as suggested here will enrich your life moment by moment. You will find that your senses are keener, your emotions more stable, your intellect more lucid, your sensitivity to the needs of others heightened. Whatever you do, you will be there more fully.” (Passage Meditation, p. 138)

My retreat day really helped me to get the feel of putting my full attention on everything I do. It didn’t magically make me perfect, but I think working these mini-retreats in periodically will be beneficial to my spiritual practice. Next time I think it would be nice to get away, slow down, and have a camping retreat!

Eknath Easwaran: The Transformation of Anger

Facing anger – your own or others’ – is one of life’s best opportunities for training. 
– Eknath Easwaran

In this talk from 1980, Easwaran describes how anger can be transformed from a harmful to a healing force. Using examples from his own life, from Gandhi, and the great scriptures of the world, Easwaran gives us practical tips and inspiration we can use in our daily lives. 

We would love to hear what tips and strategies stood out to you. Share your thoughts in the comments below!

Magic and the Eight-Point Program

This week we have a post from Dick, a meditator living in Reno, Nevada. Dick shares how he sees his long practice of the eight points come alive in his new hobby of magic. 

I was introduced to the eight-point program in 1992. I was in an unusually high stress job. I had been using TM after work for ten years and that was some help. One day I returned to my office and found a paperback book, entitled “Meditation,” on my desk. I asked my secretary where it came from and she said “the new doctor.” We had just hired a new civilian doctor. It was a while before I learned that he had a famous meditator as a patient, Eknath Easwaran!

When I picked up the book, I noted that the first chapter was called “Meditation.” Hey, I already was an expert, so I moved to the second, “The Mantram.” I was skeptical, but I read it and promptly forgot about it. A few days later, we had a particularly difficult situation to deal with. My mind was racing. I decided to try a mantram walk. On the way out the door, I selected my mantram, “Jesus,” and walked repeating it for 30 minutes or so. The problem did not go away but it was a lot easier to consider options with a clearer, stiller mind.

I was hooked and never did TM again! Hello Passage Meditation!

About two years ago, I saw an ad advertising a magic lesson and decided to consider becoming a magician. As I learn more and more about magic, I see more and more of the eight point program.

Mantrams are very common in magic and are magical. Abracadabra and “the magic words” come to mind. Amazing things happen when the magic words (and mantram) are uttered!  At my age, falling asleep and waking in the middle of the night are often challenges.  I’ve tried abracadabra to no avail, but the mantram is truly magical in these situations.

The best magic is slow magic. It takes more skill to do an illusion slowly and slow increases the credibility of your audience. If you do something too quickly, most will wonder what you are trying to hide.

My favorite 8PP memory of slowing down was someone telling me about a doctor in an ER. That environment seems impossible for slowing down in a crisis, but no matter how fast the hands are moving, a slow mind is an effective ally.

Putting the audience first. Most magicians talk about their tricks. Early on I read an article about appreciating your audience and not looking down on them by calling what you did 'tricking' them. I have since tried to call what I do illusions. It is hard not to slip, but I rarely do.

Putting others first was a big challenge! The word “doormat” kept coming up in my mind. Now I work hard to change the wording a little - “putting the welfare of others first.” A lot of help for me!  Teaching online is a challenge. My students are all working adults with families and all the time challenges of our society. It is often tempting to allow extra time for work based on easily avoidable crises. I’ve found that there is a good lesson in holding to deadlines, which I consider putting their welfare first rather than the easier road of unenforced due dates.

Stop buying stuff, train the senses. The world of magic is full of temptations! Ads, videos and other magicians are always showing you the next great thing! It is a wonderful fantasy to imagine performing it. I’ve adopted “will this work for and enhance my act?” as a test.

Training the senses, outside of magic, is probably my biggest challenge. I am a fan of contemporary food and entertainment. First step in this direction was becoming a vegetarian. That is the foundation for training my taste buds - no meat and hardly any sugar or alcohol. Entertainment is a bit more of a challenge, especially violence in movies. When socializing takes a priority over avoidance, I follow EE’s advice and close my eyes when necessary.

Total focus. A magician cannot let his or her mind wander. Personal safety, the safety of others and the ability to execute an illusion well depend on total focus. You want to let your eyes guide the audience to what you want them to be watching, not some sleight of hand happening elsewhere.

One-pointed attention. Where do I start in this world of multi-tasking? Like most, I have a smartphone but I NEVER let it distract my attention. When I use it, it has my full attention, whether talking or texting. When I am doing something else, I ignore it until I can give it my one-pointed attention.

Magical Companionship. One of the unexpected benefits of magic! New friends: Justin Impossible, The Great Merlinski, Dr. D.V. Us, and Bizarro to name a few. Also two clubs: High Sierra Magic Circle and Washoe Wizards. Like meditators, magicians are very helpful by sharing their experiences and gimmicks. Unlike meditators, all magicians have a secret or two they will never share.

Spiritual Companionship has always been a major part of my 8PP. I did some work with the eSatsang for over a decade. I was one of the original members of the NYC Satsang. When we moved to South Florida and did not find a satsang, I helped get one started. I was delighted to find one in place when we moved to Reno. It started up two months before our arrival. There has to be some magic in that - thank you Mary and Dan! There is nothing like spending time with fellow meditators!

Magic reading. My magic teacher says magic is 10-20% technique and the rest presentation. While the contexts and tools of magic have evolved significantly over the years, the foundation of presentation is relatively the same. These tools are best learned from the writings about the past masters, Houdini, Harry Blackstone, Dai Vernon and Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, to name a few. Timeless wisdom is a valuable asset for any magician.

Spiritual reading provides tools for how we present ourselves during the rest of the day. The great mystics faced most of the same challenges that we do and we can learn from their successes and failures in the wonderful world of the literature of the mystics!

Wait, that is only seven…something is missing…

Yes, Meditation is Magic!

My first career was 34 years in the U.S. Coast Guard. One of the highlights was commanding the training center located just off the road between Ramagiri and Petaluma. My second career is as a university professor. As the latter winds down, I have started a new career in magic. My audiences are family, friends and a special group of seniors at a daycare center in Reno. My magic is a gift, I will never accept payment for performing.

Ever since I welcomed the eight-point program in my life, it has become a part of almost everything I do and made everything I do better. Thank you, Eknath Easwaran!