Welcome back, Jack here.
I've spent years exploring retreats and monasteries around the world. This newsletter shares my journey to help more people do the same.

A year after my Vipassana retreat in Melbourne (which you can read about here), I found myself in Nepal, embarking on what would become the most profound retreat of my life so far.

I’m going to tell you all about it over the next few newsletters.

ALSO - I am launching my first meditation event!

Details at the bottom of this email.

Five days of hiking meditation in Nepal, alongside a group of Zen monastics. The retreat is called ‘The Path of Happiness’ and it runs every year in collaboration with Plum Village, a school of Buddhism founded by Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh. Instead of sitting still for hours like in my Vipassana retreat, we spent our days hiking the Himalayas!

So what is hiking meditation and why do we practice it?

Most of the time when we walk, we are trying to get somewhere. Walking becomes a means to an end. And when something is just a means to an end, we're never really there for it.

Walking meditation is the practice of walking in a way where we intentionally let go of the destination, so that we can pay close attention to each step.

There is a mantra in the Plum Village tradition that encapsulates this perfectly:

This mantra is not saying to do nothing, it's telling us to enjoy the moment. It also points to the notion that the energy we bring into each action shapes its outcome.

When we act from a place of peace, we bring more peace into the world. When we act from a place of anxiety, we bring more anxiety.

Similar ideas pop up in other cultures too.

For the US Navy Seals, it’s ‘slow is smooth, smooth is fast’.

The ancient Romans also had their own version: ‘festina lente’, which translates to ‘hurry slowly’.

I feel like for most of my life, I have been in a rush. This practice has been a beautiful reminder to slow down and enjoy the journey.

This is something I am still actively working on… which brings me to the launch of my first event!

Hiking meditation is something I want to practice for myself, so why not bring you with me? I will be limiting the group to 8 people, so get in quick!

Anyways, back to the retreat - here is how the first couple of days went…

The first thing to say is that the trail was absolutely stunning.

Flower covered trees, glistening rocks

Bright red sunsets

Ice capped mountains

Each day we stayed in these Nepalese teahouses

The views were beautiful in the morning

Oh, and the food slapped!

The Himalayas just hits different.

For the first few hours of the hike, I was thinking a lot. Mundane and habitual thought patterns soon evolved into a burst of creativity and inspiration.

New ideas came to me for businesses, products, communities, some of which have formed the basis of Modern Monastery. I felt a rush of excitement as I hiked along the path.

As the days went on however, deeper ideas began to emerge. The way they designed the retreat is what allowed for this.

Here is how we spent each day on the trail:

The Dharma talk set the tone for the day, and planted seeds for us to meditate on. And the sharing circles at the end of the day allowed us to integrate what we experienced, closing the loop.

These Sharing Circles are a common practice at the Plum Village retreat centres. Each person takes a turn to share their thoughts and feelings. No one is allowed to comment, question or give advice - we are all just there to listen deeply. The monastics were participants alongside us, not hosts or facilitators.

Initially, these sessions were a great way to learn about everyone. But as the days went on, they became increasingly deep.

As one person opens up, you feel a strong responsibility to meet them with an equal amount of vulnerability. This builds within each session and across each day. Stories were told about family, trauma, war, addiction.

Listening to each other made us feel less like strangers. But the insight I took from this was deeper than the connections I made with the group. It was this feeling that no matter who you are, we’re all going through shit. Or “life is suffering”, as the Buddha would put it.

This shows up for me more and more these days. When someone is getting on my nerves or trying to attack me, the thought arises: ‘What is behind this?’.

There is a saying in business: ‘it’s the people, stupid’.

This couldn’t be more true than on this retreat.

Which brings me to the most unique aspect of The Path of Happiness: hanging out with the monastics.

I’ll cover this in the next newsletter 😉. Stay tuned.

My goal: Host a retreat for at least ONE person.

I’m reaching out to one new teacher per day, eventually I will find the one.

Until then, these numbers likely won’t budge.

I’m going to add one more metric to the scoreboard though!

Events were always part of the plan, and it feels like a good time to launch.

Adding a new section below for all our events and retreats.

Hiking Meditation in Melbourne (31 Jan)

3 Day Silent Retreat (TBC)

If you got this far, I love you.

See you next Monday!

Jack