Retreat Reports: Silent Illumination Retreat

We publish selections from retreat reports written after Western Chan Fellowship retreats, to illustrate the range of experiences people go through as they investigate themselves in silent meditation. These reports are printed anonymously and may be lightly edited.

…Day two. Koan day. I eventually plumped for one that, rather arrogantly, I believed I could answer. Hah! Silliness. We sat, the Koan playing in my…

The first day was just awful really. Sitting there, facing myself. It was like torture. No distraction, no ‘phone a friend’, no reading, no internet,…