When I signed up with four other friends to go on a Holiday Retreat at a Buddhist Monastery for New Years, I really didn’t have any idea what to expect nor did I have time to think about it because my time in Meridian was so busy. But when I arrived at the Monastery out in the boondocks in Batesville, MS, I immediately felt like I was home.
Magnolia Grove Monastery is a practice center of the well known Zen Buddhist, Thich Nhat Hanh. We are so honored to have this beautiful place so close by and I will be visiting there very regularly this next semester.
This holiday retreat brought about 100 people from far and wide (people from GA, FL, OH) to gather together for 5 days.
We all stayed in little houses (a separate one for girls and boys) that widely resembled summer camp cabins. In my room (Pink Lotus Cabin) there were 8 beds—bunkstyle. I had a top bunk and when I was snuggled in my sleeping bag at night, I could have sworn I was 10 again reliving camp at Pine Lake.
The Monastery came about because the Vietnamese population around Batesville had no place to come together and be. Several families got together and bought a bunch of land right outside Batesville. Then they donated it to Thich Nhat Hanh. The brothers and sisters (monks and nuns) joined the Monastery in MS about two years ago.
While we were there we got to live and experience life as a monastic. Our schedule was pretty full but I never felt over-whelmed. We woke at 5am for a morning seated meditation at 5:30. Breakfast was at 7:30. Walking Meditation followed along with helping the brothers and sisters do chores around the monastery. It very much reminded me of my time at L’Abri when I was 19. I am no stranger to communal living and fell right in step. I love it.
We ate all our meals together in silence so as to practice complete Mindfulness and be 100% in the moment. The afternoons held guided relaxation, dharma talks, personal time, dinner, another seated meditation and then noble silence began at 9pm and was observed until after breakfast the next day.
My cabin didn’t do so hot with completely observing the noble silence but that’s the beauty of the place—you don’t have to do any of it. You aren’t looked down upon or frowned upon if you didn’t follow the guidelines to a T. The brothers and sisters were the most gracious and beautiful people I’ve ever met.
All the meals were vegan –mostly vegan Vietnamese style food and it was delicious.
Before I go any further let me give you a little insight into what this monastery and thict naht Hahn is all about.
Thich Nhat Hanh is a Vietnamese Buddhist monk whose lifelong efforts to generate peace and reconciliation moved Martin Luther King, Jr. to nominate him for the Noble Peace Prize in 1967. He lives in the southwest France and travels regularly, leading retreats on the art of mindful living. He is the author of many best-selling books. To read more about this amazing man, click here.
The purpose and teachings of the retreats is to cultivate an awareness of mindfulness. "What exactly is mindfulness?" you may be asking. The following excerpt comes from Hahn’s book “Happiness”.
Mindfulness is the energy of being aware and awake to the present. It is the continuous practice of touching life deeply in every moment. Practicing mindfulness does not require that we go anywhere different. We can practice mindfulness in our room or on our way from one place to another. We can do very much the same things we always do—walking, sitting, working, eating, talking—except we do them with an awareness of what we are doing.
We often become so busy that we forget what we’re doing or who we are. I know many people who say they even forget to breathe. We forget to look at the people we love and to appreciate them until they’re gone. Even when we have some leisure time, we don’t know how to get in touch with what is going on inside us. So we turn on the television or pick up the telephone as if we might be able to escape from ourselves.
If we want to fully enjoy life’s gifts, we must practice mindfulness at every turn, whether we’re brushing our teeth, cooking our breakfast, or driving to work. Every step and every breath can be an opportunity for joy and happiness.
Almost instantly I became aware of just how unmindful I am. How I’m never really fully present for almost anything I do. When I talk on the phone, I’m usually on the computer and the television is on as well. When I’m driving I’m so busy thinking of other things that I often forget how I got from one place to the next. When I’m talking to you it is very likely I’ll be playing around on my phone. In class, I’m always on my phone---I rarely ever pay full attention. When I eat, I do so in a hurried manner and usually while on the computer.
I became very aware within the first few days that there is rarely a day that goes by that I’m fully living in the present—I’m usually in the future—not so much in the past but either way, it’s not how I want to go about living my life. We aren’t guaranteed tomorrow. We aren’t guaranteed the next few hours of our life. So why are we always there? Why aren’t we paying attention to where our hands are? or what's in front of us?
When we ate our meals at the monastery, we ate them in silence and very slowly. Savoring each bite. Thinking about what we were eating. Focusing on nothing else but the food that was before us. When we went on our walks, we took each step slowly…aware of how each foot felt beneath the earth. I looked up at the sky. Saw the breeze flow through the trees. I was fully there. And it was like I was seeing it for the first time.
On New Years Eve, the monks and nuns dressed in their traditional festive garb and we had the most amazing ceremony ever. There were chants, songs, instruments, a B-in (which is the equivalent to a talent show—it’s called a “B” because that’s what we were doing—Being. I loved it.
(the ladies in my cabin--loved them all!)
At around 12:45am, there was a huge bonfire outside and we took our written out New Year’s Resolutions and Aspirations to the fire and one by one we threw them in as we offered them up to the universe. It was pretty powerful stuff, folks.
On Sunday morning, there was a ceremony of the transmissions of the 5 Mindfulness Training Vows. Out of 100,only about 8 took the vows. And of course, I was one of them.
So, instead of making resolutions this year, I took vows.
The vows I took were these:
1) First Mindfulness Training: Reverence for Life
2) Second Mindfulness Training: True Happiness
3) Third Mindfulness Training: True Love
4) Fourth Mindfulness Training: Loving Speech and Deep Listening
5) Fifth Mindfulness Training: Nourishment and Healing
To read more about each one in depth (and I highly encourage you to do so) click here.
The ceremony was sweet yet intense and I literally felt like I was getting married. I was nervous as I said, “I do” to each one of the above mentioned vows.
Does this mean I’m a Buddhist now?
Sort of. We all are if you really think about it (and understand Buddhism).
I’m sure by now I’ve lost any conservative Christian reading this blog (not that I probably had many to begin with) but if you are still reading and you’re concerned for my salvation, fret not.
Buddhism is not a religion. There is no deity in Buddhism. Meaning, Buddhists don’t worship Buddha. Or any other god. Please remember this phrase (one of my faves) “What you don’t understand, you can make mean anything”.
I think most people (most people being Christians) who are unfamiliar with eastern principles or religions automatically classify them in their mind as the work of the devil. Or something like that. I don’t know because I don’t think like that. But either way, Buddhism is a beautiful way to live out and deepen your root faith—whether that be Christianity, Catholicism, Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, etc, etc.
The art of mindfulness and living in the present moment is something we should all want to learn and practice more of—regardless of what our faith is.
I also received a Dharma Name:
Gentle Kindness of the Heart.
I certainly have my work cut out for me this year as I face the convictions I felt during the retreat and make some changes to my life for the better. I will write another post on how I’m going to live out the 5 mindfulness vows in my daily life soon. This post has been long enough.
I sincerely hope you will check out Magnolia Grove and maybe one day, go visit. The brothers and sisters are so welcoming and warm.
You can go visit by yourself or take your family! There was a precious little family at our retreat with two little ones that very much reminded me of my dear friends Laura and Taylor Dearman. (Laura, I think you guys would totally dig it).
To check out Magnolia Grove click here.
If you are interested in becoming a part of our local Sangha group, click here.
I hope whatever you did to ring in the New Year was joyful and meaningful.
Blessings to you all in this New Year!
For any and all questions, do not hesitate to ask!
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