Retreat Murmurations

by Rome Doherty

Voices from the Space2Meditate Community

One of the goals I brought to the retreat was to see in person some of the many faces I had seen on Zoom for the last three years.

Meeting them was pleasant and gratifying, and somewhat surprising, as some were taller, some were shorter than I had pictured. We took one evening meal together while talking and it was too short a time to get to know people before going into silence.

I noticed immediately after silence began that the quality of my sits was different. I don’t have the language to describe that difference, but I can report that it was easier to maintain awareness, and easier to maintain some continuity.

Before the retreat I had been contemplating a thought I garnered from The Immense World, by Ed Yong, that the boundaries of our bodies may not be our skin. He pointed to schools of fish that turn all at once, with some sort of connection that makes each fish incorporated into the school. Starlings do the same thing when they murmurate.

One evening on the retreat I saw a flock of swallows doing that stunt, turning as one unit. I think a similar thing happens when people sit in meditation in live groups. Our connection with the others in our flock or sangha is strengthened, and perhaps our boundaries don’t end at our skin.

Read another blog post by Rome here.