Author: Karina Sabot
Published in Communities Magazine Issue #152
Bone deep. Literally. That was the impact on my body after 10 days of personal retreat at Deer Park Monastery.
There were 5 a.m. mornings when I told myself, half asleep, warm and comfortable camping in a pickup truck, βNope, today I will NOT respond to that gong. I will NOT walk up that hill in cold darkness; I will NOT sit in that chilly meditation hall, NO, Nada, it ainβt happeninβ!β
Then my 12-step recovery would kick in, βIf you want what we have, you have to do what we doβ¦this is an action program. You take the action, you get the result.β
UGH!
Quickly out of the warmth, splashing sleepy face with cold water, pulling brush through hair, wrapping a scarf around and around, then βtrudging the road of happy destinyβ up to the meditation hall, with certainty that by now, with all that internal dialogue, I was late.
And behold, every frigginβ day I was early!!! This meant I had to sit LONGER than the shadowy figures quietly arranging themselves on cushions for the next 15 minutes. Karma, karma, karma, karma.
It served me well. Diligence, not discipline, βProgress not perfection.β
What actually happened there?
I lived with Zen Buddhist nuns who all seemed bilingual in English and Vietnamese. I ate warm (important adjective), nourishing, healthy vegan food. I walked when they walked, worked when they worked, sat when they sat, bowed when they bowed, and would sing when they were singing, even when their preferred language was foreign to my ear consciousness.
What did not happen?
I did not drive any vehicle or machinery for 10 days. I did not speak on the phone, although I did text a few times while being mindful of doing so, and took a few photos as well. I did not read novels, or watch dramatic films, read newspapers, use a computer, listen to music, dance, or write except to journal at night occasionally. Always striving to be mindful, always watching what was arising within my mind.
βPractice, practice, practice,β a sister said to the small group of lay women visitors. βUse all your time here, everything you do, as an opportunity for mindfulness practice.β
Observing what arose in my mind and emotions, while living and practicing in a monastic community committed to transforming suffering into loving kindness, was profoundly beneficial.
The TMJ, jaw pain that the dentist said could not be cured, disappeared. Gone. Outta here friends, vamos!
I relaxed to my bones. This was a unique sensation. Something deep within had slipped away and something equally profound had grown in its place. All very subtly, while I was resisting, acquiescing, working, resenting, feeling confused, etc. I kept practicing mindful breathing, mindful walking, mindful eating, mindful thinking, mindful resting, etc. Even mindful turtle-raft-building, for the two cold reptiles seeking sun refuge in the nunsβ pool.
It wasnβt the philosophically induced, intellectual realization of dharma teachings. It was the application of the teachings, the actual gardening to get vegetables, βwatering the seedsβ of loving kindness to manifest loving kindness, that produced the result. The ripening of conditions manifested in myriad ways.
Prior to 12-step recovery, before exposure to Thich Nhat Hanhsβs books and monasteries, I visited many intentional communities in North America. This included hippie communes, land trusts, organic farms, Radical Faeries, Michigan Wimmins Festival, tribal reservations, et. al. You name it, I was probably there searching for a βtrue home,β where people lived and worked cooperatively.
In lieu of finding Utopia, exhausted and road weary, I slithered into a stone and mud underground hole in the sizzling Sonora Desert. I also designed my suicide by freezing to death in the Northern Territories of Canada, which was six months away, and in the meantime tearfully entered a 12-step recovery program. That was 2002, Amerikana time.
Working the 12-steps of spiritual recovery for nine years, in areas of my life prone to clinging kleishas, mental obscurations, and attachments to all dualistic formations possible, put a pause into my untidy life of action/reaction. βWe pause when agitated or doubtful and ask for the next right thought or action,β says the Big Book of Alcoholics Anonymous. Hmmm? Ommmm. Ahhhhhhh!
Years ago I discovered Green Mountain Monastery and stayed there unexpectedly while visiting Vermont for a lesbian wedding. I recall crying a lot over the deaths of my two closest friends, cleaning the nunsβ house with obsessive zeal, and being told by a Sister that it would be best if I didnβt fly back to Tucson so soon.
βBut I have a job interview,β I whined.
βYou wonβt do well in the interview,β she stated honestly.
I called a friend with long-time 12-step recovery.
βDorothy, the nuns think I should stay. What do you think?β I asked tearfully.
βI left a place once after being advised to stay. I drove around lost for eight hours. It wasnβt fun,β she replied.
The Sisters got on their computer and re-arranged my flights, I returned the rental car, and allowed myself to be held in the fine golden threads of compassion.
THANK YOU SISTERS!!!! Many blessings to you all, even though you told me I was too OLD to be a nunβ¦
In Arizona I continued visiting the Garchen Buddhist Institute, sitting with Singing Bird Sangha, led by an OI member in Tucson, listening to the Dalai Lama whenever, and reading dharma texts.
I was able to attend Thayβs teaching in Deer Park, and later βOne Buddha is Not Enoughβ in Estes Park, where I posted a sign for a 12-step meeting, and had a great time sharing with other folks in recovery from around the globe!
My latest visit to Deer Park held a small wish that I might be able to escape from being a weary RN and unfulfilled writer/filmmaker, and from a bunch of muddled aspirations to do βthe next right thing,β with skillful means.
What happened was miraculous. The Buddha said there are 84,000 paths available, just hop on one and get going. I have so much gratitude to Thich Nhat Hanh, and Sister Chan Khong, for designing places where monastics and lay folks can live and grow together in their dharma practice! It is vitally important for me to be able to read and practice the dharma in the footsteps of Thay.
Thank you again Sisters and Brothers, and lay friends. May all beings benefit.
Deer Park Monastery is a community in Escondido, California, in the tradition of Thich Nhat Hanh. For more information, visit plumvillage.org.
caryhuggins
Hi Karina,
I enjoyed the article very much and chuckled at our commonalities of nursing, 12 step work and “”invitation by a nun to stay””. These are all special parts of my journey and today we are again drawn to look at finding a community that might be a good match for us between now and the Spring.
We live in a “”cooperative setting”” based on caring for the homeless and low income in New England. We see too much enabling and decision making by one that does not fit with our values of consensus decision making, cooperation and empowerment, a strong priority of caring for the earth and the importance of providing education around health and wellness for people in need. So……we are looking at options as we buckle down for a snow filled Maine winter and hope to send positive and open energy out to the universe around our search. Thanks again for your touching, entertaining and inspiring story. I would love to hear from you. The email I sent you was returned.
Peace,
Cary