Practical Spirituality and the Hafiz Retreat

I went to a small motel, rented a room there, and did the personal retreat described by the mystic Hafiz. Hafiz said that you could learn more about yourself and the world than anyone could ever teach you by just sitting in a chair alone in your room for three days and nights.
He said no reading, no writing, no listening to music--just sit there. You don't have to sit with you legs crossed. You don't have to breath a certain way or focus on your breath. All of these things, though we learn that they will help liberate us, can also serve as distractions. Just sit in whatever position you would like and think whatever you would like or do whatever you like, and then, sooner than later, it all starts to come.
"What comes? What will happen?" You may ask. It will come: The one thing that you have been trying to prevent yourself from hearing. You have worked hard, studied, built a career, formed relationships, gone to churches, studied spirituality, and kept the activities constantly going to prevent from hearing it. The thing that you channel surfed and listened the radio, or developed hobbies that you don't care that much about to stop from hearing will come out loud and clear and you will have to face the underlying idea of the self that has been projected onto you and that you have been fighting to defeat since soon after you were born. You will come face to face with negative part of the the world that has been driving you to success or failure all of your life.
Krishnamorti, the Sage and Teacher once said, "You are the world." I didn't agree with him at the time, of course. I was a pentecostal then and didn't agree with anything. Since that time, however, I have realized that he was teaching a very deep truth that many people do not want to hear, mainly because much of the world is not so attractive. All of those not so attractive parts are right there in our minds. All of those bad images, slights, names, and horrid treatment that happened to us is still there in the subconscious. When we sit silently it all is released and we see clearly the negative story or self image that we have been fighting against. Only then can we deal with the through use of the cognitive mind.
We can meditate, we can talk to ourselves, we can look at all of this negativity and the false accusations and take power over them in order to correct them. This is what happens when one sits in silence with no distractions--not even the distraction of trying to still one's mind or concentrate on one's breath. One learns a lot, but it is the path of the warrior and can be very, very painful but healing beyond all expectation.
It is amazing how the mind and body can heal itself when given the opportunity. It is by going into the darkness and bringing out the treasures that we heal ourselves. This is one very effective method. If you would like to go on a retreat yourself, sometimes, I would suggest this for you. I did a slight variation--going out for dinners and lunch and doing some chanting, but the affect was powerful. All that you need for such a retreat is the price of a motel for two or three days and meals. Try it. You will like it very much and notice that the effects are amazing. Your legs also don't get cramped or fall asleep:).