The Practice of Fixation – Merigar West, August 10-14, 2018
On the morning of August 14, the sky above Merigar West is a deep gray. A thick blanket of clouds, suddenly cut by stunning streaks of lightning and mighty peals of thunder. It’s windy, pouring with rain, and those entering the Gönpa on the last day of retreat have the dazed expression of people who have just come through a storm. A river of water, but also a river of people. More than three hundred people, 330 to be exact, participated in the five-day retreat that is about to end. Many others did so via webcast.
Photo by E. Casadei
The title of the retreat is simple and clear – learn the practice of contemplation – and refers to the instructions that Chögyal Namkhai Norbu gave in 1980 during a famous retreat in Monte Faito, near Naples. From the first, simple transcription of that retreat, Costantino Albini put together in 2002 ‘An Introduction to the Practice of Contemplation’, an elegant edition that Shang Shung Publications now offers in a lower-priced version.
Costantino Albini, Fabio Andrico, Elio Guarisco, Steven Landsberg, Igor Legati, Fabio Risolo and Stoffelina Verdonk, in turn, lead the morning and afternoon sessions in the Gönpa. They are all students who have acquired experience in this practice and who make it available to newcomers but also to old, somewhat rusty practitioners.
Photo by E.Casadei
All those present train in finding a calm state of mind using fixation on an object and without an object. For the fixation with an object each person has a stick on which the Tibetan letter A is fixed, a simple yet effective tool that everyone can take home at the end of the retreat to continue to practice in everyday life.
Each session is enriched by the participation of highly experienced Yantra Yoga instructors, Fabio Andrico and Laura Evangelisti. This way we learn to breathe naturally and correctly, and the nine purification breathings, the first of the eight movements and the basics of rhythmic breathing are explained in detail.
The instructions and practice related to fixation and breathing are the backbone of the retreat, but activities do not end there. Along with the traditional afternoon appointments with Khaita Joyful Dances and Dance of the Vajra, there are presentations in the library and in the Mandala Room in order to offer the most complete picture of the main activities and practices of the Community.
Photo by A. Moscatelli
Once again Merigar shows its generous hospitality: everyone is offered something to eat at lunchtime and the opportunity to take a trip to the sea. The weather is beautiful and Merigar shines with all the colors of the summer.
Only on the last day a storm reminds us that everything can change suddenly. But there is something joyful in the fierce rain, in the lightning and thunder, like a gigantic laugh. So when we finish the ganapuja we are not surprised that the sun is shining once again.
Annamaria Moscatelli
