Continuing on my series of articles concerning what it means to live as a modern monk I wanted to use this post to emphasize one possibly helpful relationship a modern monk could have to practice, and how that relationship is different—and not so different—from that of the pre-modern monk.
Now, it is true that the battle is not always to the strong, nor the race to the swift, but that’s the way to bet. In other words, those who do lots of practice in daily life, go on more and longer retreats, are more consistently able to concentrate and investigate quickly and precisely, pay attention more often during their daily activities, and have their morality trip more together are, on average, much more likely to make progress. – Daniel Ingram, Mastering the Core Teachings of the Buddha
Living as a modern monk, one of my primary aims is spiritual progress or spiritual growth. Different people will define what that means to them differently, and many will be wrong about their definitions in the end! But at the core of spiritual growth, one generally finds a certain practice that is foundational to growth, both in theory and in actualization. Granted there are some exceptions, for the most part, if our goal is to come to a deeper realization or understanding concerning the ultimate nature of reality, then we’re likely going to have some method or non-method to move in that direction (assuming directionality makes any sense at all, which we will assume so as not complicate things to much). The quote above points out that doing this practice, both in one’s daily life, and in a more concentrated fashion often tends to help. Or as the same teacher more paradoxically puts it, “Grace favors the well-trained mind.”
In terms of daily life this means having a clear commitment to an amount of time I will spend on my spiritual practice, and then actually doing it. There is then the practice of post-meditation, or bringing whatever insights, groundedness, openings, etc. I’ve cultivated during that time of practice into the rest of my day. My personal commitment in this area of “mind training” has been to have a steady daily meditation practice, to extend that awareness throughout the day, and finally to spend a decent amount of time in more intensive practice conditions each year, “on retreat.”
To advance, I retreat – Roger Walsh
The purpose of retreat, or of any extended period of practice, is to generate a kind of spiritual momentum. To point the mind and heart in a specific direction and let them rev up to infinity. My personal commitment, as an aspiring modern monk, has been to devote at least a month each year to intensive retreat practice. I spend that time attending to one (or a couple) specific practices that I have faith will help reveal a deeper and wider truth concerning who I am. I also do these practices in an environment that supports that endeavor completely, and reduces some of the other worldly commitments I usually have, at least temporarily. This time becomes a retreat from the outer world, to a more full engagement with the inner world, and hopefully leads to a deeper understanding of what it means to abide in both. In short, the modern monk takes time to change one’s relationship with the world, and enter into a time of deeper commitment to the spiritual impulse. Going on retreat in solitude, with or without a guide, is often one way that this happens. As one of my meditation teacher’s at Naropa is fond of reminding us, “If this is something you’re really interested in then please put a retreat on the top of your life list.”
So there’s a certain commitment that the modern monk makes to intensive periods of practice, not forsaking the world completely, as some pre-modern monks do, but coming back into the world and trying to find ways to integrate what they’ve discovered while in solitude. And this integration process, assuming one actually has something to integrate, can look differently at different times. It can look like a lot of daily practice, and a continued push forward, or it can look like a backing off of formal practice, or a complete stopping of practice (although if the practioner is advanced enough, the difference between formal and informal practice become a little more ambiguous). The point here is that there’s really no way to know what will be appropriate, practice wise, at any given point, but all the same I tend to emphasize discipline in my conception of what it means to be a modern monk…
