After some weeks of calmness it seemed as though a bomb had exploded in Dechen Chöling. On Sunday the 8th of May over a hundred fifty people arrived for the Sangha retreat. Young, old, beginners and advanced students came from all over the world to witness this big event. Before the programme started we had put a lot of effort into making this place ready. And thankfully all our hard work paid off. After asking some participants how they felt about arriving here I couldn’t help but notice that everyone felt happy to be here and very welcome. I reckon handing out those chocolate cookies at arrival is something we should keep in mind. It seems to work their magic on tired people who have traveled all day! Having all those people around had an amazingly uplifting effect on the energy of this place! It seemed as though we have accomplished the impossible. We had to work at least three times as hard to keep everything running smoothly, but looking back I feel we did an outstanding job! I couldn’t be more delighted to be part of this community. Thanks to the entire staff and all the participants whom did a great job on their work assignments we managed to turn this event into a great success.
On my day off I decided to blend in with the retreaters and see what it was like in the big tent. We started at 7 o clock in the morning, and spend the entire morning in silence until after lunch. It was their first period of silence and I could see how some people were struggling. How hard they were trying to sit still, and practice. But they were hanging in there! And they had installed a solid container to keep them uplifted. It was truly humbling to witness this.
As the Sakyong’s arrival was approaching people got more and more excited and we were exploring all avenues to make sure that all the staff members could at least go to one of his talks. I for some reason hit the jackpot and got to go to all of his talks! Like most of the participants I had never met the Sakyong before. That way I got completely absorbed in their excitement and got to share this experience with them.
During the last three days of the retreat the Sakyong gave three talks about basic goodness, and being kind and brave. Instead of talking for hours he did some practices with us, to get in touch with our bodies and our feelings. But most importantly for us to feel we are basically good. By approaching the teachings in this way he managed to reach all students without throwing beginners into the deep, yet, still keeping it interesting for the “older” students. And to be quite fair: you can never hear “you are basically good” enough. (Don’t even try to deny that!)
After receiving a blessing, enjoying a delicious meal and giving the last Sunday evening some serious Saturday Night Fever, people packed their bags and made their way back home. With nothing left but a bundle of experiences worth a trip going down on memory lane.
By Rianne Pelleboer, volunteer from the Netherlands at Dechen Chöling (on the left of the picture above); Photos by ka.
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