Finding the Hermitage on the Road

Silly me.  That last post, the one entitled "Taking the Hermitage on the Road," was all about how I was going to export the spiritual practices of the hermitage out to a 4-day academic conference.  Good thing God knows more than I do!

I took the prayers, but didn't say them.  I looked for silence, but amidst the buzz of presentations and conversations, there wasn't much to be found. Gratitude?  Well, let me tell you what I ended up being genuinely grateful for.

There was a small group of Tibetan Buddhist monks at the conference.  On the morning of the first day they performed the opening ceremony for the creation of a sand mandala, and began to draw the lines that would guide their work.  And on the evening of the last full day, they held the closing ceremony and "dismantled" it, sweeping the vibrant and intricate design into a pile of loose sand in the middle of the table, and then sharing small bits of it with the assembled witnesses.

In between the opening and closing, the younger monks worked on the mandala.  The room was open all day while they worked.  They rarely spoke or even looked up while working.  They took breaks, slipping quietly away for a time, then as easily slipped back in to the work space, knowing by long training and practice exactly what to do next.

This room became my temporary hermitage.  The peace was palpable.  I was able to pray here, to collect my thoughts and quiet them.  To reflect on the intricacy and vibrancy and impermanence of this thing we call "our" life in the world.  And to thank God for providing what I could not take with me.  

The hermitage is not a structure, like an invisible turtle-shell to be carried about.  It is simply the grace of finding what the soul needs when and where it is needed.  My job is just to show up, and be as aware as I can be. Thanks be to God for all the rest.