100-Day Solo Retreat: Solitary Confinement

 

The prison warden who invented solitary confinement knew something important about human consciousness.

He (presuming it was a "he") certainly didn't know everything, but he knew that isolation brings up all kinds of nasty stuff.

I discovered this early in my solo retreat, as the retreat house filled almost immediately with a crew of unpleasant creatures, chattering away, demanding attention, and commenting on nearly everything I did.

Really, sometimes I had to elbow them out of the way just to go to the toilet.

In everyday life, these beings - call them demons - follow us like shadows. We just don't notice them. We put our attention elsewhere.

However in the solitary confinement of a solo retreat, with little access to the usual distractions, demons come into sharp focus.

And then we're left along . . . with ourselves.

Comments

[Kusa]

Hello! Thank you for your practice! And the Bodhisattva beard looks fierce!

I look forward to these posts about your 100 day solo retreat. As a young practitioner, it is useful and inspiring to hear about your practice.

I was a little troubled, however, by the comparison of a solo retreat to solitary confinement. You are right that there must be many similarities. And from my own experience with solo retreats, the isolated nature of the retreat can be truly shocking. It made me cry, to be honest.

But solitary confinement is its own hell and nothing like solo retreats. And I would be hesitant to compare our privileged experience in a retreat we can exit at any time with those of the prisoners in solitary. I suggest watching this documentary about a prison not far from where I live: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JInoR0h2nhM (in case that link didn't work, its Solitary Confinement, a National Geographic Documentary). What are your thoughts about the comparison after you watch it?

Please take these comments in the spirit of Dharma and appreciation. Thank you again for all that you do!
-kusa