“We need the advice of teachers who have actually done long retreat, not those who have simply read about the process from texts. We can read the texts ourselves, but we canβt read between the lines: what it is like to do the practice; how we should feel or not feel; how to know when we are pushing too hard or not enough; when to move on to the next step. This information is not in the text. It has always been passed directly from teacher to student. The texts are generalized instructions; our teacher personalizes the instructions for us. We really do need a teacher.”
Christine Skarda, aΒ Buddhist nun who has spent much of the past twenty-five years on retreat.
Buddhadharma Magazine, Winter 2016, p. 50
