Sitting Like a Mountain
Reb Anderson Roshi at Felsentor, Switzerland June 2011

I didn’t really know what I was letting myself in for when I booked this retreat. Perhaps that was a good thing. There was just a sense of ‘rightness’ about it all - open to the experience. What I did know was that I wanted to experience sitting with Reb again.
The efforts of sesshin were continually surpassed by the practice and the location. Images on a website cannot do justice to the setting and the views out across Lake Lucerne. The front gardens became the spot where many wandered taking in the views of the snow capped Alp, the water and the ever changing sunsets. We certainly had fine examples of mountains to emulate in our practice – still, silent and upright!
Knowing Chris & Clare were going, I contacted them to ‘join up’ en route – we duly met in Zurich airport and I was happy to follow ‘in their footsteps’ as we made our way via Lucerne to Felsentor. Approaching the location via the lake was wonderful and enabled a brief glimpse of the hotel nestling in the trees high up on the hillside. After a cogwheel train and then a short gentle dander downhill the site is approached in a seemingly mystical way – it just unfolds before your eyes!
Over the next few hours our fellow retreatants from all over Europe arrived, new friendships formed and old acquaintances re-established. The sangha fluctuated over the retreat with late arrivals and early departures. There were probably 28 in all with Wendy, Mark (from Gaia) Chris, Clare and myself making up the 5 strong UK contingent.
It didn’t take me long to settle into my dorm beneath the zendo and anticipate the start of the retreat. I found my seat and waited. I had borrowed sitting robes from Frances and though initially self-conscious, they felt right and became great teachers as I had to learn to live with the folds of cloth – worn with awareness, waiting to ‘trip you up’, literally!
What struck me first was the amount of forms and ceremonies. Initially feeling daunted and noticing the ‘need to get it right mind’ I settled to just watch & learn. I loved the sounds of the bells and the hanh greeting you to practice; loved the rituals and the chants, loved it all – well nearly all; really struggled reciting the Heart Sutra in German! There was a deep sense of commitment and presence from everyone and the stillness of sitting had both energy and an ease that supported the long days of practice.

Kinhin took place either inside the zendo or on the surrounding veranda. The latter provided a cooling break and was particularly delightful when we were given light afternoon showers – watching & listening to the rain drip off the overhanging roof as we walked, sheltered beneath.
As so often on retreat the highlights of the day were often around meals and the staff at Felsentor did not disappoint. Each mealtime the tables were spread with mouth-watering selections with occasional treats like ‘coconut rice pudding cake’ thrown in! A veritable feast!
Reb also did not disappoint and did what I have come to expect of him – the unexpected. His talks, again seemingly pertinent to all, focused around simply finding and cultivating stillness in our daily lives and acting from that point; just being ‘ordinary’. They were of course interspersed with his wonderful stories from both the teachings and his family life and how easily he expressed our lives through them. Reb sat with us frequently and his dokosans had their inherent precision and intensity …. nothing new there then. One of his song - ‘Summertime and the living is easy’ – aptly expressed the tender message of the retreat.
And so the sesshin continued – the sounds heralding the phases of the day, the body becoming used to the routine and the mind settling (at times) to ‘just sit’. Long lunch breaks allowed for a walk – you could go uphill and come down or go downhill and climb back up – each had their delights.
The retreat ended in an ‘extra-ordinary’ way with a breakfast of pastries, fruits and other delights that set everyone up for their journeys across Europe. With seamless Swiss efficiency I was whisked back to the UK through what felt like a time warp. I found I needed days to re-enter everyday life, partly due to a caffeine addiction I’d developed on retreat!
End result – I’d go again …. for a whole host of reasons.
Kath Bennett

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