Daily Meditation: Saturday, September 27, 2008

You decide to do a retreat… For a fortnight, three weeks or …

09/27/2008

You decide to do a retreat… For a fortnight, three weeks or a month, you’re immersed in a spiritual atmosphere that helps you find yourself: you feel balanced and peaceful, your life’s direction seems clearer to you, and so on. But this period inevitably comes to an end, and there you are back in your mundane reality, and the intensely luminous quality of what you have lived fades. This is inevitable, especially if you don’t already have a spiritual practice. But you must make efforts to preserve the benefits of such a spiritual retreat for a little longer each time. So, say to yourself, ‘I know I’ll never be able to avoid returning to mundane life, but I must keep the luminous experiences I’ve had safe inside; they are what will protect me when difficulties arise and I feel discouraged. Whatever happens, I won’t give up, I will not get downhearted and I will not lose my flame, my enthusiasm and my hope.’