Sunrise on the toilet

back from retreat with 2 painful memories

1. No NOBT last week because I was watching sunrise on the toilet, with no Internet or electricity. Half of the pieces below were handwritten on retreat and transcribed when I got home.

2. The 6-night retreat was a transformative experience in a wonderful setting.

3. I crossed paths with Rob Burbea, again.

4. Are meditation retreats relaxing?. I’d say notable states fall on either side of relaxation; from deep rest to inescapable irritation.

5. Practices I was exploring: interrupting the narrative, shi-ne (“remaining uninvolved”) and some metta.

6. I realised that rather than fabricating kindness for others, metta is sanity.

7. My end-of-retreat reflections on mind-wandering, claims of attainment and the two things I got wrong.

8. I wrote 2 pieces on the purity of coaching (vs mentoring) and how coaching is a way of revving up clarity, focus & momentum. This is how I describe it to people without any coaching experience.

9. This piece on burnout came from a story that bubbled up during my story log practice. It’s an uncomfortable but revealing memory.

10. I shared another flashback that turned out to be a turning point in how I think about acceptance.

11. Yesterday, I booked my first ultra in 5 years—a 50k race around the South Downs 🏃‍♂️

What I’m enjoying

• I read Pema Chodron’s Living Beautifully on retreat. I don’t think it’s a great title, but it is a fantastic book. One of those books that would be as interesting to someone 1 week into meditation as someone a decade in.

• I also read Adyashanti’s Way of Liberation for the 2nd or 3rd time. It’s quite a change in tempo from his normal style of teaching, and I love it. The PDF is freely available.

The Hermitage

See you next week,
—Dan