It’s 4:15 in the morning and I‘m moving smoothly down the cloister of the Shasta Abbey toward the Buddha Hall for the first meditation period of the day. The stars are pulsing in the crisp air, a temple bell tolls softly in the distance. My body and mind are thickened and distorted in a jetlag like discomfort. I could be miserable. Instead, I feel like a transparent jewel sinking slowly into some welcoming oceanic depth.

This is Jim speaking about his interior as he makes his way through a retreat. Lots of content. Some insights. Some tears. A bit of pain. All par for the course on a retreat. There is no blue print. No good or bad retreat. No right or wrong insights.