This blog thing started after I went to a three day/four night silent retreat at San Damiano Retreat house.  It is a Franciscan retreat house on a beautiful hillside just fifteen minutes from my home.  I was truly looking forward to the silence part.  Except for a 45 minute presentation in the morning and afternoon by Sr. Ishpraya http://www.upanishad.org/ishpriya/index.htm the rest of the time is spent in silence, thinking about nothing, thinking about questions Sr. Ishpraya posed, thinking about everything, reading, writing, hiking, meditating and of course sleeping.  As mentioned in a previous blog, I actually riled myself out of bed at 6 a.m. and hiked for an hour in the hills before breakfast.  My favorite part of silent retreats is that dinner is eaten in silence.  It is my worst nightmare to have to sit and talk small talk to strangers – a major downside of staying at bed and breakfast inns.  To be able to get my meal from the food line, sit at a table and not speak was heaven on earth to me.

The next few days I am going to review my notes from the retreat, both what Sr. Ishpraya spoke of and what my thoughts were.  I hope you enjoy it.