Take a good look … within

I’ve heard from several readers that they thoroughly enjoyed Jerry Olenyn’s cover story last week, “A monk’s life,” about the Trappist monks of the Abbey of New Clairvaux in Vina. Several said they could see, reading the piece, why someone would become a monk. It’s a path that finds happiness not in external things like money, sex, fame and power, but rather in a kind of peace within, a clarity of mind and openness of heart that can be cultivated only when life is simple and quiet.

You’d be surprised how many monasteries there are in Northern California. I did a quick Internet search and located at least six Catholic monasteries in the region, some for monks, others for nuns. And there are just as many, and perhaps more, Buddhist monasteries, including Shasta Abbey, just outside nearby Mt. Shasta City.

One of the reasons I was happy to publish Jerry’s story was because I know most readers have never been to a monastery and don’t know what goes on there. They may even think monks and nuns are weirdoes who couldn’t make it in “the real world” and opted out. As Father Joseph, abbot of the Mt. Tabor Monastery in Redwood Valley, has written, “Monks are unknown or misunderstood or disdained or simply ignored by just about everyone, though they are appreciated and even loved by those who do understand.”

Not that this matters one way or the other to the monks and nuns. They’ve found their calling, whether it’s to pray for all beings or to save them from suffering, and are focused on that and that alone.

Many years ago I spent a long weekend at Shasta Abbey. I remember it vividly. I got up before dawn to meditate in the great zendo, sitting on my cushion shoulder to shoulder with dark-robed monks and nuns, all of us facing the wall. The sound of the huge bell resounded through the room. Later we took meals in silence, setting down our forks and bowls after every bite, which meant we ate very slowly. I noticed I enjoyed my food more but ate less when I ate slowly.

When you spend several days mostly in silence, everything slows down and your mind starts to clear out all the chatter that’s usually there. You become deeply aware of what’s going on around and within you at that very moment. This is what Buddhists call mindfulness.

In addition to several monasteries, there are dozens of retreat centers in Northern California where people who don’t want to be monks but would like to live like them for a weekend or a week can go to refresh themselves and clear their minds. I go on retreat at least a couple of times each year, and each time I come home feeling recharged and reoriented to what really matters in life: family, friends, community.

My hope is that Jerry’s story will encourage others to become retreatants, whether at New Clairvaux or elsewhere. It’s helpful to stop our busy-ness now and then and take a good look within.

Robert Speer is editor of the CN&R.