Kiranada's Solitary Retreat

For the Benefit of All Beings

“How is this possible?  A 1000 day retreat alone in a small hermitage with only the silence of the forest. Some ask, why? Others say, of course! Some are moved to tears with yearning to do something similar. Others are just plain shocked that someone would take this on, again. So here I am trying to explain what I have planned and why.

As you may know, I have done solitary retreats for the past twelve years (Thailand, Wales, Mexico, Java, and Bali), often two weeks to one month long. These are not silent retreats with 20 or 30 others, but solitary retreats, alone!  Four years ago I returned from a full year in silence. It was profound. My research into such retreats showed me that this was not unusual, that historically solitary retreats are found in many religions and practiced by both religious leaders and secular thinkers — from Buddha to Christ to Henry David Thoreau of Walden Pond, Concord MA. I learned that many have been drawn to the hills, at some time in their lives, to live away from society, to listen, to meditate, to reflect.

Who could guess that such seclusion would be one of my paths, however, since I was a teenager, the idea of such a retreat has captured me. While I live alone in a small cottage in the New Hampshire woods, I am still involved daily in teaching art and meditation, organizing workshops, helping friends and my community, assisting at the Center and keeping that old house in repair. It was almost five years ago that I took stock and wondered what would happen if all this stopped and I was alone for a year with my meditation cushion? Would there be benefits? Would it be hard?

That year away was immensely beneficial. I learned much. It has always been my desire to be of service to others in some way. With that intent, I shared. Upon return in 2015, I spoke of my experience at libraries, universities, bookstores, prisons, churches and Buddhist and art centers in CA, WA, MI, TN, NH, AZ, Australia, Mexico and in the UK. I labored hard, with much help, to get a book, A Year of Silence: Solitary Retreat in the New Zealand Wilderness published so others could share what I learned. And with the gift and support of dear Bunny Bowen, I am doing this website, to share the past and a bit of the coming journey with you. May you be well.

Please join me on Facebook to hear more about this ongoing journey.


Kiranada: A Year of Silence (with Q & A)
A Talk by Kiranada (2019)

Kiranada is an ordained Buddhist, a traveler, a renowned artist in (cruelty-free) silk, a teacher, an author and a Mom. Here she is at the Portsmouth Public Library in June 2019, reading from her book 'A Year Of Silence', an account of her year-long silent, solitary retreat in the New Zealand bush.

As one of her last engagements before heading off to Kentucky and Missouri to begin a further 3-year solitary, silent retreat, this is a wonderful opportunity to hear what it takes to disconnect from physical contact with family and society and take in the great silence of true solitude.

In the tradition of Thoreau and Milarepa, Kiranada's reflective wit is apparent as she shares excerpts from her retreat journals, and subsequent writing about the experience of meditation and Buddhist practice lived out more fully, free from obligation and all distraction. An essential perspective on space, love, and the opening out of time in an increasingly over-stimulated world!

In this extended edition, Kiranada also answers questions about her past retreat and the one she is about to enter, reflecting further on why she considers this kind of experience as potentially an essential part of anyone's life.

—Recorded at the Portsmouth Public Library, New Hampshire, USA.

1 Introducing Kiranada and 'A Year of Silence' 01:12
2 Kiranada's introduction 05:24
3 First reading: Foreward to the book 08:16
4 Question: on talking and silence 03:10
5 Reading: space for reflection and forgiveness 05:11
6 Reading: supported retreat and falling in love with a leaf 05:37
7 Question: chanting and singing 00:53
8 Question: silence and making art 02:34
9 Question: power use and practical necessities 00:53
10 Reading: meditation experience and practice on the retreat 03:41
11 Question: how did disconnecting from family change you and your relationships after the retreat? 01:40
12 Question: were you troubled by worries about your family while away? 01:11
13 Reading: the nature of silence 01:56
14 Reading: ending and coming back 03:47
15 Questions: dealing with fear and loneliness; connectedness 02:13
16 Question: being properly prepared for this kind of practice; hopes for her 3-year retreat - hitting water; experience of time 03:16
17 Other records of long periods in solitude 01:28
18 Questionv: were you excited to come home after the year was up? Where are you going for the three years? 02:37
19 Question: coping with serious illness; going in without goals 03:04

 

Year of Silence

Purchase on Amazon.com

or from the artist
$18.95
Plus $4.85 shipping to USA



A Year of Silence: Solitary Retreat in the New Zealand Wilderness is a new, soft-cover 384 page book with glossary/ references, 14 black and white photographs and a map, available by US Check or PayPal transfer at $18.95. Inner reflections on loneliness, isolation, fear, patience, confidence,joy, and positivity fill the pages of the daily journal Kiranada kept. She dealt with limited food, cold, elemental storms bubbling up from Antarctica, night visits by local possums and an infestation of lice, all while in silence. Following the Tibetan retreat dictum “If you’re sick, you’re sick. If you die, you die” KIranada promised herself to not come out, and, in the end, discovered a blossoming of deep open-heartedness that she shares with grateful audiences.


Words from the Wise on Solitary Retreat is a new 2022 soft cover book that shares the quotations, poems, reflections and advice of more than 58 different authors — from the 8th c Tibetan Buddhist Milarepa to the well-known 20th c Trappist monk Thomas Merton.

All the joys, fears, inspiration, benefits and wisdom of solitary retreat are celebrated in this 89 page volume. Available by US check mailed to Kiranada Sterling Benjamin
24 Second Street
Kingston, NH 03848-3704
or through Paypal.
Please allow 3–4 weeks for delivery.


2014-15 Solitary Retreat in New Zealand

Kiranada — ‘she who radiates
the light of the Bodhi moon’
is ordained in the
Triratna Buddhist Order.
www.aryaloka.org


KiranadaArticle by Kiranada
Exploring the Connection
Between Art and Meditation
Published in Vajra Bell
Spring Issue 2016
View as pdf


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Kiranada Sterling Benjamin | Retreat Home | Kentucky | New Zealand | Photo permissions received.