Spiritual Retreat: For what?

This is an important question to ask ourselves when embarking on the journey of making a spiritual Retreat. Regardless of the current spiritual religion in question, the retreats must have the ultimate goal of transforming something in us, they can be our destructive habits, our lack of discipline and most importantly the opportunity to identify and reduce our attachments.

not oriented abroad

For example, if it is a retreat in which it is required to be silent, the great challenge is to be able to go inside, minimizing our tendencies to be constantly looking outwards, to our possessions, our personal identity, our friends and beings nearby. It is a great opportunity to discover that deep down we are alone with ourselves, with our interior, even projecting it at the time of our death we leave this world with no one but our mind and heart. So it is difficult but very transformative to discover that since birth, growth and death you have only had yourself, everything could have moved around you but you have been consciously or unconsciously with you .

In the retreats that are planned to transform our habits and non-edifying tendencies we find that they place you in rooms in which there are more than three people, to practice tolerance and respect for the habits of others, in things as simple as if they snore or no, or if they fall asleep late and do not turn off the light ... and if that were not enough you can not sleep with the light on, strict schedules for bathing, waking up early to activities, without radio, cell phone and without television ... It is subsequently a very effective transformation option.

Attentive and collaborative attitude

In the first retreat the experience is quite intense, the desire to return to your normal life may be present, so to speak, but at the same time it is something enriching that you do not perceive at the moment, but when you return you observe that with the indications of teachers Qualified and attentive and collaborative attitude you get huge transformations, so the way to face ourselves with this tool is intense but quite effective.

In some retreats only vegetarian food is served, which for people who do not have this type of food is complicated, but it is a great opportunity to detoxify our body for a few days.

introspection and no action

Finally, the activities must include the one that the participant achieved a great introspection and observe the state of his mind, normally he is agitated, thinking about a huge amount of things, worried, distracted and with great resistance to the tranquility to the no action. It is interesting that some practitioners usually feel that their mind has been in control for a while, and when they are there they realize that it has not been such an accurate assessment.

Finally, the schedules of the activities do not allow you to deviate from the essential purpose of “observing and being with you” and that makes the experience more enriching because you discover a huge amount of thoughts, images and memories that you did not even know were there.

inner growth tool

When you return from retirement, it is when you realize that appreciations and ways of observing your life have changed, so that it is not a waste of time at all, it is a valuable tool for inner growth and personal development. So if you are going to undertake the adventure of making a retreat make sure that it is organized by qualified institutions and teachers, the planning and objectives of well planned activities so that it becomes a constructive activity and not one that solidifies your negative habits and personality, finally that the change is oriented to the development of a more attentive and self-conscious mentality.

Thus, if you have the opportunity to be in a retreat do not forget that the ultimate goal is personal growth and that investing in our inner development is never too much.

AUTHOR: Pilar Vázquez, collaborator of the great family of the White Brotherhood