What Is The Meaning of the Term and How Do We Practice?
by Joe McCormack
Many of us have had the experience of being on a weekend or a week-long retreat, and in that setting finding that the mind becomes quite peaceful and still. Then after the end of the retreat, the peacefulness of the mind wears away and our mind’s reactivity comes back, sometimes with as much suffering as we had before the retreat. This can happen in as short a time as a couple of hours, or perhaps after several days. What would it be like to learn to mindfully meet the challenges of living our everyday lives with as much mindful presence as we cultivate on residential retreats?
Many of us have had the experience of being on a weekend or a week-long retreat, and in that setting finding that the mind becomes quite peaceful and still. Then after the end of the retreat, the peacefulness of the mind wears away and our mind’s reactivity comes back, sometimes with as much suffering as we had before the retreat. This can happen in as short a time as a couple of hours, or perhaps after several days. What would it be like to learn to mindfully meet the challenges of living our everyday lives with as much mindful presence as we cultivate on residential retreats?
Robert Brumet and I will be offering what is called a householder retreat, online, August 5 to 13. What I would like to describe to you is how a householder retreat is conducted, and some of the reasons why this format might be a powerful way to deepen your practice. But first, some historical perspective.
In previous centuries, in Asian Buddhist societies, the practice of meditation had been largely limited to the monastic community. Those who were not monks or nuns were termed householders because their lives were spent living in households and working and raising their families. Householders typically practiced the Dhamma through providing for the monastic community materially (through alms and robes) and through following the moral code (the precepts) within Buddhism. An important shift happened during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. A monastic named Ledi Sayadaw in Burma began the practice of teaching the Dhamma and the practice of Insight Meditation to lay people—to householders. He began to establish meditation centers for lay people in urban areas where they could learn the practice of Insight Meditation and the principles of the Dhamma, applying the insights therein to their lives working, interacting with others, and raising families.
That spirit in part has inspired some of us in the West to offer householder retreats.
In a householder retreat, extended practice in sitting and walking meditation periods is balanced with days in between where participants are back in their roles as workers and parents, family members and friends, while maintaining deepened mindfulness of our reactions to the vicissitudes of life.
The householder retreat that Robert and I will offer will have a beginning weekend retreat on Saturday, August 5th and Sunday, August 6th, two brief evening sessions on the Tuesday and Thursday during that in-between week from 7:00-9:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time, and ending with another weekend retreat on August 12th and 13th.
The weekend retreats will consist of alternating periods of sitting and walking meditation, practice conferences, and dharma talks. During the time in between, participants are invited to become more deeply present with and mindful of the mind’s reactions when faced with the joys and difficulties of daily life. This is accomplished by homework assignments designed to bring mindful focus to life off the cushion in daily living.
When we begin to see our mind’s reactions in real time, we begin to change our relationship to those reactions. We become mindful of those reactions rather than being caught in them. And in that process, often those reactions transform into more wise, kind, and compassionate thoughts and feelings. We invite you to join in this process.
Registration will open on May 5, 2023.
Joe McCormack has practiced Insight Meditation since 1995. He has been a member of the Show Me Dharma Teachers Council since 2002. Robert Brumet has practiced Insight Meditation since 1988. He has been leading a local sangha and conducting meditation retreats throughout North America since 1995. Joe and Robert will be leading an online Householder Retreat in August, 2023.