I've been hard on Buddhism over the years (see for example my critique of the recent bestseller Why Buddhism Is True). But I like to think I'm open-minded. So I recently put my skepticism to the test by going on a weeklong silent Buddhist retreat, which my pro-Buddhism friends Lisa and Bob argued was my moral obligation.
The retreat rocked me. I'm still trying to make sense of it, but I'm going to take a stab at describing it, if only for my own sake. As I told Julie, a teacher who advised me not to write during the retreat, I'm not sure what happens to me until I write about it.
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