Back at Tenovice ... Nomad Dreaming.

Dear Friends…

I decided to start my "working weekend retreat" with a family email… and it quickly became an epic “catch up”. Perhaps it was overdue considering some of the content, but I'd been happily busy or otherwise tired and distracted from writing much for a while. As the words pored out I thought I’d recycle them for my on-line diary. So here they are, in case you’re wondering where I’m at.

Where am I? I'm in a house on a hill, above a village called Tenovice. The property is owned by the Czech Diamond Way Buddhist groups and it's basically a "retreat place".

In Buddhism to go on 'retreat' means to take some time out from one's work-a-day life with it's busyness & distractions and usually to go somewhere peaceful or otherwise inspiring to focus on meditation practice, and maybe also the study of Buddhist teachings (Dharma). However there are degrees of this! It depends what you would like to get out of it, etc. A totally closed, solo retreat for a period of many years would be one extreme and a so-called retreat-course weekend with a number of friends, listening to lectures, asking questions, having parties at night would be the other, and more common.

This place caters to most possibilities throughout the year. There is a big summer course every year in August with Lama Ole. I came here last year the night before I left Europe to fly back to Australia, the course was on then, but I was only here for 15 hours, as I had spent most of my short time in the Czech Republic with a new friend.

This weekend I've come here with 2 mates from Prague. One of them even lived in Perth for 4 years. They aim to focus more on meditation but I've also come to do a few other things that I want to 'work on'; such as writing emails, revising my Czech...

There are some other people here as well, evidently with their different priorities. A few people from around the republic have come for the weekend, and 2 or 3 others are living here for a short or longer time. The caretaker character seems more interested in his on-line war games than Buddhist activities, but maybe his meditation is so good he's actually working on removing obstacles to the freedom of beings through the medium of the game! ... As meditation is not the goal in itself but simply the methods for stabilising one's mind, gaining insight and developing our innate powers for the benefit of all; then perhaps he already has a high level of realisation and can apply his (Buddhist) 'View' whilst engaged in a mundane activity. I don't know, it's difficult to say, but I just mention it to illustrate the point that Buddhists work with their mind in meditation & on retreats, in order to better perceive the reality of their surroundings, be unconditionally happy and able to be ultimately useful for others.

So, as much as I have the ideal of focusing on meditation practice, for the clarity & joy that it steadily brings forth, it's not easy to simply do that. The best way is to keep it in balance with other activities, which support it and flow better as a result of it (Like a bird with two wings on its way to realisation). This is my true idealism speaking and of course it is a work in progress!

My Hungarian friend, a 'traveling teacher', recently said the difference between a dreamer and an idealist is hard work, and I like this definition a lot. So I'm no longer a dreamer but I'm still not used to hard work! haha.

Actually my aim has been the same for many years, I just couldn't express it or live it as well as I have found myself able to more recently. It took the painful challenge of separation from so many familiar things to catalyse the process; and no doubt the relative ease now is the result of the last 10 years of existential and physical struggle. I'm not saying that life is easy, far from it. I mean that I am now up for challenges in a really conscious and physical way. I'm taking them on rather than being confronted by them.

Well, I didn't expect to write all that, of course. I just sat down with my breakfast and a cup of tea. I often find that by writing I discover where I am, otherwise distracted or happily busy with what’s in front of my nose, so no worries if you can't follow me, my stream of consciousness prose, just know that I am well and happy.

…..


In other news: I have been busy every weekend for a month. After a hibernatory winter I have the spring in my step.

It started with a quiet introverted Saturday followed a busy extroverted Sunday: I caught up with several friends in one afternoon, and resolved to be more outgoing; geographically speaking. So one weekend after, I finally got out of Prague for the first time in months, and back to Vyhlidky (near Ceske Budejovice), another Diamond Way retreat centre. It is closer to a city and has permanent residents. Their focus is on preserving the artistic traditions of our Buddhist lineage, which aim to support human development. So they hosted a "statue filling" weekend. This is a complex process to say the least, and was really enjoyable work to participate in, with Czech Buddhists from all over the country.

I had been staying put in Prague, mostly keeping to myself, work commitments and seeing non-buddhist friends, so it was nice to go there for so many reasons. I'd been there for a special course just after New Year, and then to Austria the weekend after, but otherwise it had been a routine 2.5 months only in Prague! My longest stay anywhere for a long time! [Ooops not true, I went to Hradec Kralove for a weekend & Nymburk for a day trip!]

The shock to my system & the crazy weather (I got caught in sleet, 2 days after sunshine) made me ill for the first time in months so I wasn't pushing ahead with my idea for the next weekend until last minute when my health improved. Luckily I got a lift to the Europe Centre, with notice just hours before departure. It's the new Diamond Way HQ, sort of, it's in the Bavarian Alps and it's amazing. Many people were working there, Buddhists from all over the globe, getting the place ready for the inaugural summer course in August. You will hear more about it no doubt. I was very glad to go there, again for a multitude of reasons but primarily I was happy to see Lama Ole again, he is there this month on "book (writing) retreat", but also takes time out to help with ... the gardening. haha.

Last Friday after my early class, I boarded a train for Warsaw! 10 hours later I was there for a weekend course with Lama Ole and 1,000+ plus Buddhists, mostly Polish of course but also from everywhere. The Poles are solid but relaxed people and I really like their style ... and beautiful women. I caught the bus back to Prague with the Czech contingent. We left at dusk and arrived at dawn. Needless to say, my students' teacher was not the most awake ... that week, but I was surprisingly sharp on Monday!

Where am I now? See above :)


That is all for now...
Best wishes from the rural and mantra mumbling peace of Tenovice