Five days with the Monks:
A Spiritual Journey
By Manoranjan (Mark) Bordoloi, New Jersey
“Que Sera Sera” (pronounced ‘ke sera sera’, it means ‘what will be, will be’ in Spanish). Our Life is revolving…. so ‘what goes around will certainly come around’. That was a new day, when I was hunting around the internet to find my purpose, my soul search with a coffee cup on my hand juggling through the sites.
Suddenly my scout was over and I encountered this meditational website called bluecliffmonastery.org. That was the onset of a new journey of my life. I dug into the website and plunged into the event section asking for enrollment to the ‘Teachers Retreat’ program which was to be held from August 1st to 5th, 2018. I immediately checked the address and to my delight it was just two and half hours’ drive to the Blue cliff Monastery, Pine Bush, New York.
My mind was excited about the program and I decided to give it a go. I mailed them my interest and waited for their turn to show up.
That Starry night of 5th July, while I was still waiting on the request sent to Blue Cliff, A notification popped up in my inbox “You are eligible to attend”. My excitement soared high when I received this email from Mr. Richard Brady from the Educators Retreat team. This was my dream come true. A Journey about living a Monk’s Life.
Dreaming about a Monk’s life is a symbol of spirituality, devotion, dedication and wisdom. This is certainly not a silver spoon but requires lot of effort. I being a Vegetarian was used to meditation and some other rituals, but this was different. So, I now became a bit skeptical about this. However, I still wanted to go for it and see, how it turns my life.
I still had four weeks to get myself used to some habits of a monk. I started concentrating on long walks, meditation and food habits. But there was more in waiting to my surprise at the Monastery.
Finally, the day had come! I packed my bags and drove towards the Monsatery. It was a sunny day and I was super excited about this new beginning. I had always wished for this. The journey looked so long that day. My mind and heart were racing at its peak. The registrations had started on August 1st. I arrived at around 3:30 PM. It was a warm welcome at the entrance, and I was guided to park my car at the end of the small cottages. It was up to the hill. I parked my car and took a deep breath! What a great feeling!
I registered myself for the retreat. My Heart pounded as this was a big reset of my life. This was a time for me for solidity, joy and happiness. I couldn’t wait for everything, but to my dismay I forgot leaving my shoes outside and was asked to do by a lady monk. “Oh! What a start? I expressed myself about being so stupid. But excitement often does this to us, Isn’t it?
I was sent to a dorm where I had to stay for the next few days. The dorm had no fan, No lock in toilet and doors. That hot season, without any fan I felt miserable. Thought of running away from there. I never had expected this. But instead I just lay down on my bed and tried to relax. While my mind was racing with thoughts about “Is this what I wanted, Really?” “Is this the right place?”
Supper time!!! Sharp at 6 PM. Everything was so organised. All were in queue; they sang the Grace before the dinner. Everything commemorated peacefully. I starting enjoying the experience now. We cleaned our dishes we ate and arranged them in a corner.
There were Teachers and Educators from Mexico; Canada and Guatemala who joined the Retreat too. I got more energy and became more optimistic. The day had ended with a bliss. I was calm and happy. The Noble silence started at 9:30 PM.
Next day and other days also, I kept my enthusiasm be alive and completed the five-day program. I gave myself completely to this retreat.
This experience had taught me few lessons in life:
“Serve and Be United”
“Living in the Present”
“All the answers of your questions are within you”
“Patience is a virtue”
“Happiness is overrated by materialistic goals”
“Joy of Walking”
Few other things I learned during this retreat were:
Our “Food”.
Looking at the Plate of food before eating
Beings all over the earth are struggling to live.
May we practice so that all may have enough to eat.
The Five Contemplations that I learned would remain in my life forever –
This food is a gift of the whole universe, the earth, the sky, numerous living beings
and much hard and loving work.
May we eat with mindfulness and gratitude so as to be worthy to receive it.
May we recognize and transform our unwholesome mental formations
especially our greed and learn to eat with moderation.
May we keep our compassion alive by eating in such a way that we reduce the suffering of living beings,
preserve our planet and reverse the process of global warming.
We accept this food so that we may nurture our brotherhood and sisterhood, strengthen our sangha (community) and nourish our ideal of service all beings.
AND WHEN THE MEAL IS FINISHED
The Meal is finished, and I am satisfied.
The four gratitudes (to parents, teachers, friends and all beings) and deeply in my mind.
The Five Mindfulness Training had made me realized to see the world totally in a different way. The Five Mindfulness Trainings represent the Buddhist vision for global spirituality and ethics. They are a concrete expression of the Buddha’s teachings on the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path, the path of right understanding and true love, leading to healing, transformation and happiness for us and for the world. To practice the Five Mindfulness Trainings is to cultivate the insight of interbeing, or Right View, which can remove all discrimination, intolerance, anger, fear, and despair. If we live according to the Five Mindfulness Trainings, we are already on the path of Bodhisattva (practicing the way of life of a Buddha). The Five Mindfulness Trainings teach the following Five Practices – Reverence for Life, True Happiness, True Love, Loving Speech and Deep Listening, Nourishment and Healing – excerpts from Five Mindfulness Trainings Booklet.
I was asked to stay back for few more days. But I realized now that this isn’t as easy to live an aesthetic life. But Yes! I learnt quite a lot.
I told myself that I will follow whatever principles I can to change my perspective towards my life. In other words, ‘being in the Present Moment’ means we can still live a peaceful and successful life without changing our habits, but mostly our mind. The Five Mindfulness trainings helped me to redesign and reinvent myself.
I was a new ME. An entrepreneur with an aesthetic values. A person with positive thinking. A hand to help others.
While driving back home, I was a new person with a smiling face and remembering the sayings on the walls at the Meditation Hall:
Peace is the breathing
Joy is the Walking
