Home Again

It is Sunday and the most recent retreat ended on Thursday last.  It takes me a few days to rest from cooking which set me thinking....

During retreat energy builds and I for one find the need to sleep diminish.  In all fairness I must admit I am not a long sleeper.  6 hours is usually the limit.  I have always been like this.  But after retreats I do find myself sleeping more, napping more, and wondering why this is?

The obvious reason is the lack of sleep during retreat, but the subtler question is why the energy of retreat can seem to so quickly dwindle upon the return to our 'ordinary lives?' 

For my part, I believe now that the weight of 'things' and the responsibility of family and environment (our houses or apartments) can drain us in ways we may not be aware of on a daily basis but become more apparent when returning to them after a retreat.  This thinking gives rise to the notion of "enlightenment" and enlightened living.  My teacher once said to me: "Enlightenment, Gretchen.  Get it?  Lighten up!"  And so it is as always, our perspective and our willingness to embrace form being emptiness.

As many know, I will soon be relinquishing my home and most of my worldly goods.  I intend, therefore, to test this theory of weight and things and lightening up!

But as this blog is fundamentally a cooking blog and regarding lightening up and retreat cooking, I would like to say that moderate eating during retreat can be profoundly influential in deepening one's meditations.  More on this later though.