A retreat is not a pulling back but a journey into the future

By TOM KANE

There comes a time when life becomes too complex, when actions pile up one upon another and you are forced to call a time-out.

When that has happened in my life, I have been fortunate enough to have retreats to escape to, places of serenity and silence where I can get lost in meditation and find myself again.

Those places are called retreat centers or meditation centers where, if you’re lucky, you can hole up in a little, lonely cabin in the woods that gets pitch black at night and you never hear the slightest ring of a telephone or the hint of an offensive television set.

Within the past year, I was able to escape to two different retreat centers, one on the top of the Allegheny Mountain Range next to the Appalachian Trail in the woods of Pennsylvania and the other in the northern reaches of New York State near the end of the Taconic Parkway.

I called my good friend Ed who knows a lot about retreat centers and he directed me to the Kirkridge Retreat Center near Bangor, PA. The center has played a vital role in inspiring people in the anti-war movement; people like Dan and Philip Berrigan, antiwar activists, who camped there regularly.

They assigned me a small house snuggly set against the mountain where I could cook my own meals, read, meditate for long periods and not be bothered by anybody. Walking along the many trails on the property, I chanced upon a labyrinth hidden among a cove of trees.

I had read about labyrinths, had briefly walked in one that stands in the plaza in front of the cathedral in Santa Fe, but didn’t spend much time in it. This time, I was ready for it and let myself contemplate it.

Labyrinths, not to be confused with mazes that can trap one in paths that go nowhere, have developed over many centuries as either the culmination of a long pilgrimage or a substitute for one. They have been called archetypes of the inner spiritual journey, a mysterious path to awareness. People have experienced amazing things as they follow the circular paths in a winding rhythm to the center and then back out again. Experts say that the circular journey releases the distinction between the right and left hemispheres of the brain, opening up new paths of creativity and insight.

I found myself drawn to the place as I began to experience several moments of awareness and strong emotion as I walked. Each time in the ensuing weekend, I discovered an answer to a problem and found a spiritual solution. For me, it opened up new ways of doing spiritual work.

I had a similar reaction at the retreat upstate, which also had a labyrinth that affected me in a similar fashion. There too, I received a sudden insight that came out of nowhere that has made a difference in my daily practice.

The spiritual journey is not a path led by the noisy intellect, but a course dominated by the heart, the emotions and the experience of awareness. These reactions that can come during retreats can give you insights into yourself and forge new ways to achieve union with the Spirit, with the Force, with the Source or Field or whatever name you wish to give the Divine.

It’s unfortunate that these experiences seem to come largely when you isolate yourself from the noise of your world. The trick is to hold on to them anyway you can when you return to the busy whirl of life.