16/09/2025
Just landed back in Paris after a gorgeous retreat . Suitcase still open on the floor, washing machine humming - but the pause of home is real. The immense privilege of having a home to return to is palpable.
I’m reminded that the work doesn’t end when we hug our goodbyes. In many ways, this is when it truly begins.
The Buddha used the Pali word ehipasiko – meaning “come and see for yourself.”
The practices are invitations, ways of looking that are meant to be questioned, wrestled with and eventually made our own.
What ignites real growth when we gather for retreat, is our willingness to plant new seeds of curiosity, wonder and deep inquiries. But like any seed, these do not take root nor bloom instantly - they ask for time to sink into the soil of our own practice life.
Maturation on the path moves in a rhythm: we reach out to receive teachings and guidance, then we reach in to reflect, digest, and integrate. This rhythm makes practice a living dialogue between the wisdom we encounter and the truths reviled through our own embodiment.
Retreats evolve our practice exponentially, but it is when we come back home that their true depths are revealed.
We are invited to see our time together not as a closed chapter, but as an opening. Notice: What stayed with you? What questions linger? What seeds were planted?
Let them continue to germinate in their own time and in their utterly unique way into your lived experience.
Thank you for being here🤍
📷 .neil.scott
