At the recent Board retreat the topic of Silver Dragon practice came up. This refers to an option that is particularly suitable for aged people, who could use an easier schedule at retreats in order to be able to attend at all. It’s important to be aware that part of the method of sesshin encourages an intensity of practice. Most of us feel up against it when we give ourselves over to such a strict sesshin schedule. It shines a bright light on our habits of following our own comfort first and foremost. We encounter a concentrated dose of our own mental habits of picking-and-choosing, judging and complaining. In other words, the thinking mind that holds itself apart from whatever is happening and refuses certain aspects of our experience.
Sesshin certainly confronts us all with this challenge. And we grow wisdom from these encounters. As long as we maintain the habits of refusing certain conditions in our body and mind, we are not able to find the liberation that compete letting go offers. This is why sesshin is essential as we walk the path of the bodhisattva. But as we age, even though sesshin continues to help us open more and more, some bodies need a little more tending to stay the course and penetrate the present moment. So we came up with the Silver Dragon approach, which allows people over the age of 65 to choose to retire an hour earlier in the evening. When you see “Silver Dragon option available” on the posting for an upcoming sesshins, this is what it refers to.
