RETREAT RECORD

The 12th gathering of Redthread began under swirling mist and ended in the rain-washed brilliance of a " Pure Land in the West".

Sadly, at the last moment, the two Kims were unable to come, so we were eight - ably led as ever by Ken and fed by George who provided our excellent cuisine - this time with an oriental flavour, enjoyed by Stuart, Bill, Helen, Jean, Jane and her guest, David Hawkins, a young writer staying at Ty'r Gawen and helping out in the garden.

Morning meditation was adorned by the ticking of the clock and the cat's loud purring. Then Helen introduced a thoughtful workshop on the use of "synaesthesia"( the mixing of the senses) in haiku writing. This was followed by Ken's talk on "disjunction"( the gap and the swerve) and its potential for the deepening of spiritual content.

For a wet afternoon a visit to the art gallery in Machynlleth kept us dry and interested while the CAT café and the pub next door offered warmth and nourishment.

In the evening we listened to Stuart's first Haibun and Ken's two hundred and fortieth, while flames flickered and rain beat on the window panes

Sunday morning... and a lengthy discussion over breakfast on what to do with another wet day

Ken suggested we celebrate harvest in Pennal village church, where Buddha, Shiva and the Jewish Minorah share space with the Christian saints. Everyone else opted for inspiration from the great outdoors and it was an auspicious morning - all the clouds suddenly rolled away leaving a glowing landscape under clear blue skies. Most people went to the beach.

A flush of haiku about sea birds, waves, stones and shells were soon appearing on the dining room walls, with a bit of local history and a whiff of scandal from Ken to complement the 'shasei' of the sea shore.

Meanwhile Bill had been wandering lonely as a cloud in various places without any waterproof clothing and taking care of the poultry.

George's fascinating introduction to the structures of traditional Chinese poetry in various translations was accompanied by birdsong and the sound of running water in a sun-drenched garden. We were further inspired by readings from David Hinton's 'Mountain Home - the wilderness poetry of ancient China', and even began to perceive the true meaning of 'tzu-jan'.
 
"The vision of 'tzu-jan' recognizes earth to be a boundless generative organism, and this vision gives rise to a very different experience of the world. Rather than the metaphysics of time and space, it knows the world as an all-encompassing present, a constant burgeoning forth that includes everything we think of as past and future...the awesome sense of the sacred in this generative world:"... yes.
 
As usual, after dinner on Sunday, we reviewed the 'writing on the wall', kindly led by George. Perhaps we were too tired after so much good food and fresh air, but it seemed there were too many words to deal with and useful responses were lacking - maybe a limited space would tighten things up a bit.

Finally, a conversation about recent perceptions of Redthread as a group led to a decision to re-state its aims in 'The Brief', which Ken bravely volunteered to do.

Jane Whittle 2008

All photographs are © copyright Jean Napier to whom we offer thanks for permission to reprint.
 

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