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Poems from my 10 Day Silent Retreat Experience

Writer's picture: Patrick KozakiewiczPatrick Kozakiewicz

Updated: Aug 3, 2023

I wrote these four poems as a reflection of the 10 days I spent at a Vipasana Retreat Center in Poland in 2023. Feel free to use them for your own practice, reflections and teachings.


I arrive, I depart


I arrive, I sit, time to practice.

The chanting starts, the chanting ends

I start the first body scan from head to toes, from toes to head

I start the second body scan, part by part, piece by piece

By the 3rd body scan I have an inkling, a feeling, an intuition

I decide to scan my skin, just the surface, oh lots of tingling

I enter the next body scan, again from head to toes, this time focusing on the nervous system, lots of vibrations, liveliness

I continue body scan, by body scan

The muscles, warm, soft, some places tighter than others

The respiratory system, expanding contracting, expanding contracting

The cardiovascular, the heart, pulsating pumping beating throughout whole body

The organs, spongy, squishy

The skeletal, rigid and tough

I scan, I scan, a dozen scans later

I stop

I expand my awareness on the body as a whole, in its entirety

System with system, organ by organ, piece by piece, part by part all together, beating, breathing alive.

I feel whole

I feel one, I feel connected, I feel equanimity

Like a flower dancing in the wind

My feet and seat rooting me from floating away

Like a kaleidoscopic seaweed moving in the waves of the deep blue sea

Like a flame flickering brightly on a candle

I feel a dissolution of the body, a never noticed energy before,

I'm in flow and flux, present, moment by moment

It all makes sense here and now the mind the body the space continuum

impermanence

I open my eyes it doesn't change I notice the other beings alive sharing this space and time

I am peaceful, I am aware

I rest here, I remain here, I rest here

The chanting starts again I smile,

The chanting ends I smile

I stand up, I depart, time to practice.


I prefer now.


As I walk in the forest and feel the soft rooted earth, I think I prefer barefoot walking to being in shoes.

As I move through the pines feeling the cool wind and warm sun on my skin, I think I prefer being outside to in.

As I soak in this moment and feel one with this place, I think I prefer now to tomorrow or yesterday.

I prefer here to there.

I prefer this to that.

As I observe sensations in the body, accepting what is, I think I prefer meditating to getting caught up in mental aversions and cravings.

As I scan through the body noticing a landscape of sensations, I think I prefer understanding impermanence then attaching to them.

As I sense the presence of these other human beings sharing this moment, I think I prefer connection to “I” or “mine”

I prefer peace to fighting.

I prefer presence to wandering.

I prefer compassion to passion.

I prefer love to hate.

I prefer now.




Anicca (Pali: “impermanence”)

The one thing we can't escape or hide from.

The river we can’t enter twice.


Anicca, Anicca


Everything we feel, everything we see, everything we touch, taste, smell and think

Every sensation, every breath, every moment, everything around us comes does not last forever


Anicca, Anicca


All temporal things, whether material or mental, are in a continuous change of condition, subject to decline and destruction

Everything in life, all objects, as well as all beings are always coming into being and dissolving


Anicca, Anicca


Accepting this reality helps you cope with hard times better

Accepting this reality helps you value good times more.

Accepting this reality helps you to approach change.


Anicca, Anicca


It opens us up to a world of endless possibilities

It can give us confidence, balance, and joy

It may make more fulfilling relationships, and more peace of mind.


Anicca, Anicca




Each practice is different

No two are alike

Each time you are different

No two “I’s” alike

Sometimes a practice is filled with wonder

While other times it is filled with thunder

So why so much judging?

Why so much drudging and grudging?

Why always trying to recreate?

Trying to reach the a similar state?

Maybe it’s cause we crave only the best

And practice aversion to all of the rest

We only want joy, fun and light

With everything else we will put up a fight

It’s hard for us to accept things as they are

And we often take this way too far.

Yet, each moment is different

No two are alike

What would happen if we just let the attachment go?

If we just went with the flow?

Accepting what’s here and what’s now

Without any why, whose or how?

So, remember this and next time,

Without any reason or rhyme

Whether there is a bell or a chime

That, each practice is different

No two are alike


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