Can't afford complete seclusion retreat please help

[iloveds]

Hi I would love to do a DS retreat, or mediation, but cannot afford the time away from commitments like children, the mortgage, car repayments.

Is there something we can do that gets the benefits like a retreat but still keep our busy lifestyles?

Anyone?

[harrynephew]

Back when I was studying, I did a retreat on Lama Tsongkhapa focusing on Migtsema counts. I had no problems with time as I took the entire week off my study to focus on this. But it'll be different for your case.

I have heard of very highly acclaimed masters who are abbots of monasteries holding several portfolios being able to complete their 3year 3 month 3 days retreat coupled with their busy schedules of teaching, attending debates and pujas. I dunno how they do it but I think there's a definite way to accomplishing such a magnificient achievement.

Having said thus, I do know that it is possible for us to engage in any kind of retreat if we wish to do so with our modern and busy lifestyle. My Lama teaches for me to setup the altar as per His instructions for a retreat with representations of Body Speech and Mind together with the necessary offerings. Instead of doing all four sessions in a day, we can opt to do either one or more complete sessions of the retreat daily until our mantra count goal is achieved.

I personally think it is the Lama's compassion and encouragement to enable us to engage in spiritual practice by doing so.

I hope my little sharing helps.

cheers,
H1N1

[DharmaDefender]

I think the beauty of a retreat, especially in modern days, is that it 'forces' us to physically and mentally get away from all of that stuff in samsara that drags us down (e.g. mortgage, car repayments). Putting aside the spiritual benefits for a moment, I think there are instant psychological benefits - by focusing away from mundane aspects of life, stuff which brings us a lot of stress, we get to recharge our spiritual batteries. It's a time out, so to speak. So I like HN's suggestion about the one session a day. I think doing at least one session a day will very definitely bring you benefits, and is something you should try to aim for.

[a friend]

And putting both advices together, about doing one session a day and also the beauty of truly physically and mentally getting away, you might have the possibility, at least from time to time, to set aside one full day of your weekend and to stay in your room or the attic or the dog's house , you yourself alone with your Lama and your own mind. This will help you instantly but it will be also preparing the ground for the moment when you are going to have more time at your disposal.

[DSFriend]

It can be daunting to think of engaging in preliminary practices for example...to complete 100 000 prostrations. However, one can set the motivation to accumulate the counts by breaking it into multiple sessions as long as the MINIMUM is fulfilled on a daily basis.

Example:
Let's say you plan to take a 2 weeks vacation. Set your motivation to complete x-number within 2 weeks. However this x-number is to be accumulated towards the total of 100 000. After the 2 weeks is up, you need to get back to your samsaric responsibilities...as long as you keep to a daily minimum of 3 prostrations, the x-number you have completed can be counted towards fulfilling the 100 000 prostration retreat.

If you break it down this way, then it is achievable. Spiritual practice can be achieved if we truly know the benefits...cos all it takes is for us to prioritize what's important and we will make time for it.

best wishes always
DSFriend