Process of arrival

I wanted to take some time to post to this blog as I think it is truly a wonderful forum to share what is now happening and also what is yet to come. I thank Pema for all her hard work in setting this up and teaching others how to use it. I also thank those that have taken the time to share their thoughts up to this point and also encourage others to participate.

That being said...I wanted to share a saying that another practitioner shared with me this evening. I feel that it is very appropriate in light of the discussions occurring about not getting too excited before we even arrive in India. The saying that I would like to share with you all is: Hasten Slowly, you will soon arrive (Milarepa).

I am sure that one could be led on many trains of thought in reading or hearing this particular saying. Personally, when I heard this I was, once again, back sitting at the start of another retreat, this past summer actually, listening to an opening session about the different levels of arrival to a retreat. In reflecting on that teaching, I recall that there were multiple levels of arrival that were discussed, beginning with preparation.

Even now while we are preparing for pilgrimage, as we have been doing fairly strongly for several weeks now, we are in a process of arriving that will progress to include a physical arrival to the retreat location as well as an energetic arrival to the present moment. In that way I look at arrival as a process in addition to simply an outcome. Since arrival is a process it seems like it should be approached as a marathon rather than a sprint. That being said, running a marathon requires a different strategy than running a sprint to achieve a successful outcome...sustained rather than one short burst...therefore, prepare but maintain that frame of mind that this is like a marathon rather than like a sprint.

I hope that sharing this was helfpul...it was for me. May your preparations go smoothly, practice well and see you all soon...