The Wisdom of Solitude: A Zen Retreat in the Woods

by Dobisz, Jane

• ISBN13: 9780060085957
• ISBN10: 0060085959
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-12-04
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

The whole idea of being alone had always intrigued me, yet at the same time scared me half to death. Being alone would mean no human contact, no talking, no going to work, paying bills, running errands, or doing any of the usual things I spent so much energy on. What would that be like? Who would I find there, underneath all the layers of social conditioning, obligations, rules, and cultural filters? Would I even like this person? It seemed the best way to find out would be to follow the traditional monastic schedule of sitting, walking, chanting, bowing, and cutting wood for one hundred days. -- from the Introduction Inspired by her Korean Zen master's discipline of long, solitary retreats, Jane Dobisz strikes out to a lone cabin in the countryside of New England, armed with nothing but determination, modest food supplies, and an intensely regimented daily practice schedule. The unfolding story of her experience is threaded through with Zen teachings and striking insights into the miracles and foibles of the human mind when left to its own devices, with little distraction at hand. Both entertaining and inspiring, The Wisdom of Solitude offers a poignant testament to the benefits that reflection and retreat of any duration bring to our lives.

Author Biography

Jane Dobisz (Zen Master Bon Yeon) is the guiding teacher of the Cambridge Zen Center in Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Introduction	1	(11)
Arriving
Where Are You Going?	11	(5)
The Alarm	16	(3)
Up and Down	19	(3)
Three Pounds of Flax	22	(4)
The Great Way Has No Gate	26	(2)
Wooden Fish	28	(4)
Go Wash Your Bowls	32	(3)
Grace	35	(4)
Evening Practice	39	(2)
A Diamond Sword	41	(6)
Rolling Up Sleeves
A Seamless Monument	47	(2)
A Finger Pointing to the Moon	49	(3)
Venturing into the Unknown	52	(2)
Splitting Logs	54	(3)
The Chickadee Sermon	57	(3)
Great Question, Great Faith, Great Courage	60	(4)
Go Ask a Tree	64	(4)
Ten Dumb Years	68	(3)
Cognition Is Not the Path	71	(2)
Bath Day	73	(6)
Hard Training
Sun-Face Buddha, Moon-Face Buddha	79	(3)
Waiting for a Sweet One	82	(2)
You Decide	84	(3)
Un Mun's ``Cake''	87	(3)
Who's There?	90	(3)
A Water Buffalo Passing Through a Window	93	(2)
Fake Dream Craziness	95	(3)
Un Mun's Utmost Master	98	(3)
The Willow Is Green, the Flowers Are Red	101	(2)
A Lotus Grows in the Mud	103	(6)
Spring Comes
For You	109	(3)
Sangha	112	(2)
Nature's Genius	114	(2)
Peace Isn't Luck	116	(1)
Wild Fox Spirit	117	(3)
Rapture	120	(2)
Sink into This World	122	(3)
Very Soft Is True Strength	125	(3)
Everything Just Like This Is Buddha	128	(2)
Returning Home	130	(3)
Epilogue	133	(2)
Appendix: The Great Dharani	135	(4)
Acknowledgments	139	(2)
Bibliography	141	(2)
About the Author	143

Excerpts

The Wisdom of Solitude
A Zen Retreat in the Woods

Chaper One

Where Are You Going?

Buddha is your mind
And the Way goes nowhere.
Don't look for anything but this.
If you point your cart north
When you want to go south,
How will you arrive?

-Zen Master Ryokan

The tiny cabin is in a small clearing in the middle of the woods. The ground is covered in a foot of snow. It's the middle of January. Two friends help me unload enough provisions to last the winter, see to it that I get somewhat settled in, then drive away just at twilight. "Bye! See you in May! Have a great retreat!"

The rock song on the car radio recedes into the distance as they drive away down the three-mile dirt road that leads toward "civilization." It's getting darker. The wind is picking up. My stomach feels empty. To make a cup of tea I have to first boil water. To boil water I have to build a fire from scratch. What was I thinking, doing this?

I have fifty pounds of rice, ten pounds of red adzuki beans, five pounds of soybeans, ten pounds of sunflower seeds, four containers of miso, one lunch bag of dried fruit, two large bags of roasted barley tea, and a medium-sized jar of Skippy peanut butter. This is my food supply for the next one hundred days. I won't be going out of the woods to town until the spring. No one will be visiting me.

What if something happens and I need help? What if some lunatic finds out I'm alone up here with no lock on the door?

In my desire to emulate the ancients, I foolishly decided not to bring coffee either, let alone cream or sugar.

This is not what you'd call cozy.

The wooden cabin is L-shaped, about 150 square feet total. There's nothing in it but a cast-iron wood-burning stove, a twin bed, a built-in set of shelves, one green wooden chair, and an old end table. Pine floors and pine walls. The sink isn't hooked up to any plumbing, which seems kind of odd. I wonder why it's there at all, and then realize it's really just a big ceramic basin with a hole in it. A white plastic bucket sits underneath the drain. Outside on the porch there's some stacked wood, an enamel chamber pot, a five-gallon red plastic jug, a few tools, and an ax. For water, there's a well down the path, about a quarter mile away.

I post the schedule on the wall with a thumbtack:

3:15 a.m.Wake Up
3:20300 Bows
4:00Tea
4:15Sitting
4:45Walking
4:55Sitting
5:30Walking
5:40Sitting
6:10Walking
6:20Sitting
6:50Chanting
7:40Breakfast
8:00Work Period
9:30Break
10:00300 Bows
10:30Tea
10:40Sitting
11:10Walking
11:20Sitting
11:50Walking
12:00 p.m.Lunch
12:20Break
1:00200 Bows
1:30Sitting
2:00Walking
2:20Sitting
2:50Walking
3:00Sitting
3:30Walking
3:40Sitting
4:10Long Walk
5:15Tea Break
6:00200 Bows
6:30Chanting
7:30Sitting
8:00Walking
8:10Sitting
8:40Walking
8:50Sitting
9:20Last Two Chants
9:30Sleep

The retreat schedule is the core framework of the Zen experience. There's time for sitting, walking, chanting, work, eating, and rest, all in balance. I officially begin following it tomorrow morning at 3:15. My eyes linger for a moment on its military-like format. Will I be able to adhere to the ridiculously early wake-up and all the hours of sitting and bowing with no one here to check up on me?

I finish unpacking. There aren't many clothes to put away, just some long underwear, sweatpants, work clothes, and boots. I stack them neatly on the shelf by the bed and place a wooden Buddha on the table with two candles, an incense burner, and a water bowl. I double-check the batteries in the flashlight and in the alarm clock, and take a few deep breaths as the full weight of the silence and my utter aloneness settles over me. I am happy and scared, both sure and unsure at the same time.

As I crawled into the sleeping bag that first night, my last thought was, "One down, ninety-nine to go." I hoped the fire's sparks wouldn't fly out and ignite a blaze that would turn the whole cabin into a ball of flames, killing me before I even got started. I lay there wondering whether, as a preventive measure, I should get up and put the fire out with a bucket of water.

How would I get it started the next morning if the ashes were all wet?

What did the Native Americans do in their teepees before the days of electric heat? How did they keep the children warm at night if the fires were put out? On the other hand, if they left fires burning, wouldn't sparks fly out, land on their blankets, and burn them all to death?

These were the deep thoughts I had my first night in the woods. I was raised in the suburbs and don't know much about the details of chopping wood and building fires. I guess I'm going to learn. It's lonely the first night.

Very lonely.

Thank God I'm too young to know any better. I'm too resilient and curious and excited. One should do all these things in one's youth. As you get older, it's easy to find reasons to stay comfortable.

The Wisdom of Solitude
A Zen Retreat in the Woods. Copyright © by Jane Dobisz. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.

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Excerpted from The Wisdom of Solitude: A Zen Retreat in the Woods by Jane Dobisz
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