A Most Precious Gift

For those of us aspiring to cultivate the mind towards liberation, we know all too well that our worldly environment is not conducive for our practice. Thus the need, every now and then, to breakaway and attend a retreat away from it all. 

A retreat offers an ideal setting for observing the mind. We're less distracted and have more personal time to learn about our minds. Moreover, living among like-minded friends also encourages better habits which are more supportive towards wholesome cultivation of the mind. 

Despite such a nurturing relationship with our minds, we still need to return to the grind of the worldly life. Soon enough, we notice the mind struggling to practice amidst such an environment until we get to go for a retreat again.

Wouldn't it be great if we have a second home, a retreat centre, which we can go to intermittently? Undoubtedly, it's not about the external but the internal – our very mind. But for me, I have come to notice very distinctly, despite being very earnest in my practice, cultivating in a worldly environment is far different from being in a retreat centre. As much as I look forward to attending a retreat, most times the hassle of making arrangements to attend a retreat can be quite challenging. 

Since the opportunity to attend a retreat is rare, I value it all the more as the taste of freedom when the mind is graced with understanding is truly rewarding. 

I often times envision that one day I'll have a mind so well-trained that I need not have to choose over such dualistic lifestyles – worldly versus spiritual. That a day will come, when wisdom can lead the mind to freedom beyond the influences of the environment. Hence, the Sri Langkasuka Retreat Village will be a most precious gift indeed which can provide us the rare opportunity of mind training. 

Join us – be a part of the community – to make this endeavour a reality by pledging to contribute towards it. It's a most profound gift we can offer ourselves and others – the offer of transcendental freedom.

In service of Truth, 
Nancy Cheah