Let's Begin at the End

The next few posts will be about the Radiant Mind retreat that I just completed with Peter Fenner.

Peter's events are unconventional. There is inquiry in the spirit of Zen, and there is meditation and silence that spontaneously arises. There are occasional exercises. Mostly, though, there is a lack of structure that can be disconcerting for some people. It is difficult to say what is going to happen next.

When we are in a new place, we want to figure things out. Where are we? What is happening? What am I supposed to do?

These are the same kinds of questions that we can ask when we are on a spiritual path. Peter quickly cuts through the notion that there is a path. "Where would we be if we had already arrived at our destination? Let's start there. Let's start where there is no place left to go."

We think we are doing things to get somewhere, but in the end, we are right here. We really can't be anywhere else.

Jeff