Our First Successful Mid-Summer Noble Silence Meditation Retreat

“Fire, smoke she is a rising… Fire, oh Smoke Stack Llightning, Smoke Stack Lightning… I say, send down Fire to Me…”

Wow. Wow. WOW. I know not how, to better express my exultation, my appreciation, and definitely admiration to the small crew who just completed our first Noble Silence Meditation Retreat at The Higher Haven, the Mid-Summer NSR to be exact. Which had us quickly deciding, with one and done, and clearly feeling giddy about it, to make it a quarterly gig, the Fall Noble Silence Weekend Retreat in play for October 2-4 right after Yon Kippur. What’s to say about Noble Silence, other than its made me a poet, now that you know it? To quote John Cabot Zinn, author of the book Wherever You Go There You Are and creator of Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction Training (MBSR) “…it’s helpful to bring to the sitting posture itself a sense of dignity.. then we stay open and awake in the present moment… right here right now… in a continual process of seeing and letting be.. “ Thus the Noble nature of our endeavor, working hard to remain in stillness while the wind of the Spirit blew through and through, in the form of body sensations, mental images and verbal self-talk, or SEE HEAR FEEL, realizing the Spirit-energy nature of our own makeup

Does that resonate with you? Like the three dings of a Meditation Bell? It would if you had spent the weekend here, as Morgan, Lauren, and Branden did — three beginners’ minds who took collective and individual quantum leaps in practice and understanding over this past weekend’s three-day retreat. For more on the virtues of making a heroic go at sitting in stillness for an extended period of time, check out This Huffington Post article on the scientific skinny Regarding the benefits of cultivating inner stillness. By developing our ability to cultivate high states of concentration, along with a sensory clarity and equanimity, we also develop an unconditional love ability, and gain inner resources in the face of death.

That’s the very, very special angle at which we come at Spiritual Practice here, Spiritual Purification to be more precise. Rather than a fundamentalist, more religious approach with a creed or set of principles — which are cool, which we love, which we’ve studied and will continue to, but points to some imagined time of spiritual bliss when one won’t suffer — we take a more balanced, dynamic approach, merging a combination of meditative techniques and Ceremonial purification, creating the place of spiritual bliss here and now. When the pandemic hit we felt the pain of wanting to jump online and Zoom… something… out of a sense of service and offeingr our solution to the suddenly worsening human condition. But you can’t Zoom what we offer here. So please keep an eye on the two constantly moving parts on our website — this Blog and our Retreats + Calendar page to find the time to come here and experience our approach, that of a direct experience of your own Spiritual Source, the Spiritual Source of all that is and will ever be.

I’m thinking now of my Teacher Shinzen’s recording titled: In Praise of Confusion, as there’s been an awful lot in the world these days, and the path as we walk it is one of an undoing as much as a doing, a negation as well as affirmation, a connection to life and death. Check the Noble Silence Meditation Retreat schedule and you’ll see a Fire Circle Saturday night. This powerful intention setting Healing Ceremony, based on the inipi or Make Your Life Ceremony, with an intravenous dose of Heyokaism, provides attendees a taste of purification. And coupled with extended sitting practice through the weekend, provides a solid foundation for a regular practice, a wonderful skill to acquire in this currently Weitgo (Crazy) world. Above is the Ceremony’s ashy aftermath, live action pictures doing it a disservice, as it’s to be Experienced to be Believed.

Regarding word play, and as you may know, I always get by with a little help from my friends, loving a good alley-oop when telling these stories, with thanks to Branden for the perfect pass below.  If you read this and you’re more confused then ever, Great, and should consider turning things around from bad to good at an upcoming event like the next Ceremonial Weekend Overnight - The Way of The Contrary Weekend, or our Bolt from the Blue Moon Dance this Saturday night, with a whole four months of additional Fall Happenings up for Registration on the aforementioned Retreats page during the first week in August. Toksha

"Attending the Noble Silence Meditation Retreat at Higher Haven was the best investment I could have possibly made in my life. Despite being one of the most challenging things I have ever accomplished; I left feeling thoroughly rejuvenated, immensely empowered, and with a deep profound sense of inner peace and control. Paul was a conduit who gave me the tools to fix my problems internally by utilizing meditation and techniques from a myriad of ancient traditions and cultures. The decision to seek guidance at Higher Haven was truly the best gift I could have given myself. I now have the keys to the universe and the possibilities are endless and exciting. Throughout the retreat Paul kept me nourished with delicious organic foods amidst an astounding environment that has to be seen to be believed. My heart is filled with gratitude and boundless love thanks to Higher Haven. Pilamaye!"  - Dr. Branden Welch

A Collectively Mellow Experience of the Universe Through Our Forest Wilderness

The dark red sticky caps, red pores, and network-like pattern of Boletus frostii aka Frost's bolete or the Apple bolete.

Well, the Mushroom Mogul did not disappoint, leading our Mid-Summer Hunt and Nature Walk on a beautiful, tepid July evening. We started with a prayerful song and the Wendell Berry poem mentioned below, rolled into the front then out to the back woods and ended up in the retreat house kitchen. A post-text from Anthony alerted me to the fact that Hen of The Woods Jerky was in the house, which I unfortunately missed. But the pickled Chanterelles and ramps, Black Trumpet/Shiitake Goat Cheese and Candy Cap Mushroom Cookies with pecans and dried cranberries were delectable. And several interesting forage finds made for a collectively mellow experience of the Universe through The Higher Haven’s forest wilderness.

We started with collecting Indian Ghost Pipe, which always excites me but isn’t anything incredibly new, having written previously of my first encounter with the parasitic plant two summer herb walks back. Looking fungus like, this plant feeds on mushrooms, holding an interestingly parasitic symbiotic relationship with only two species — Lactarius and Russula. Ghost Pipe needs a very specific environment to grow and thrive and can be made into a tincture that’s an amazing nerve disrupting pain medicine, effectively used in treating severe mental and emotional pain due to PTSD and other traumatic injury, as well as the severe nerve pain of Lyme disease. Purple Tooth was found nearby, a mushrooms that, like the inky cap, oyster and shiitake, have a voracious appetite for wood. We also learned of the mushroom-tree connection, as mushrooms don’t have roots but rather mycelium for an under system, the mushroom being the flower. Cool. Mycelium strands link up with tree roots and communicate, trading information, and, accoring to Anthony, “exchange gifts, like borrowing from a neighbor”, all done underground, with some mushrooms even sending trees growth hormones. If only we could be so connected.

We found common old edible, delicious mushrooms that grow on hard and soft wood like Platterfulls (Megacollybia Rodmanii) and learned of mushroom’s spore-based reproduction system. You can do an actual spore print by putting a mushroom down on a piece of paper with a cup on top, the spore print being like the perfect and unique thumb print of the mushroom, with each mushroom having its beautiful, interesting mark, not unlike like us. Mushrooms are made of Chitin, which is what crustaceans and insect exoskeletons are made of, thus wild species should always be cleaned and cooked for better health and digestion, as they are overly hard on the gut, “unless you come from a long line of bug eaters,” per Anthony.

Now the people may point to the highlight being when we bridged the river and first saw the blood-red eyes of Boletus frostii, inspiring a group gasp. With its dark red sticky caps and bluing reaction to tissue injury, our specimen even offered up a golden rose comb mutation, along with its lemony, citrus taste that lends itself to being candied. But for me, a major highlight was when Anthony segued from discussing bruising and actually being able to write in mushroom flesh to declaring them “a sensorial experience.” “Give them a smell… taste, touch, feel… identifying mushrooms is all about the senses. Feel them break them apart, taste them - that’s how you get to know them.” Spiritual practice, too, is a sensorial experience. And actually everything is, but it’s attuning oneself to the senses in a very special way.

Consider learning more about that at our Summer Noble Silence Meditation Retreat, but since we begin in twelve hours, come out for the Fall Noble Silence Meditation Retreat the weekend of October 3rd, soon available for registration at the start of August. Or join us for a daylong workshop with Anthony on Saturday September 19th. Many thanks to the unassuming dude who puts the fun back in fungus and all the folks who made it out. Hope you make it out soon, too. Until then, Peace, like a River.

On Queen Ann's Lovely Lace and Today's Mushroom Hunt

We’re nature walking tonight with the Mushroom Mogul Anthony Blowers of Facebook’s I Love Wild Mushrooms. I’m excited because Anthony is a very knowledgable, humble dude who I’m honored to have in the house, and has also indicated a desire to offer a more extensive foraging workshop this Fall, most likely Saturday, September 20th. We’ll have our full Fall schedule up the first week in August so look for other offerings as well. Speaking of looking, I’ve been pounding the property and found a nice caché of Indian Ghost Pipe. Anthony’s response: “Awesome! Ghost Pipe is a parasitic plant that feeds on the decaying remains of mushrooms such as Russula and Lactarius. Definitely worth talking about on my walk.” I love it.

I also came across little fields of the Queen Anne’s lace plant, also known as wild carrot, a wildflower herb naturalized in the States but native from Europe. Queen Anne’s lace is said to have been named after Queen Anne of England, who was an expert lace maker. Legend has it that when pricked with a needle, a single drop of blood fell from her finger onto the lace, leaving the dark purple floret found in the flower’s center. The name wild carrot derived from the plant’s past history of use as a substitute for carrots. The fruit of this plant is spiky and curls inward, reminiscent of a bird’s nest, which is another of its common names. It’s also a wonderful cure for Gout, as you can simply freeze bag it as I’ve done above, pour hot water over the a flattened cluster of tiny white flowers for instant Gout Away.

If you’re not joining us tonight, hopefully we’ll see you in September, and look for a post here on our findings. I also wanted to open tonight with a prayer as well as a poem, and thought the following by Scottish poet, environmentalist and farmer Wendell Berry was apropos. Hope to see you soon, and until then may you rest in the grace of this world.

The Peace of Wild Things

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am Free.