(7-96) One of the most impressive social gatherings I have ever attended was a two-day Zen retreat sponsored by a local Buddhist's group almost a year ago.

I was about five minutes late. I rushed through the door, the lobby was empty except for one woman. Before I could open my mouth, she hushed me with her index finger on her lips. She gestured for me to go to the room on the left, and motioned me to take off my shoes. I saw a roomful of people, around thirty, all barefoot, walking behind a monk, going around and around in circles. No one paid attention to me. I joined in at the end of the line and started walking too. First I felt funny, and looked at every signs posted in the room. Then I began walking with a nice waving motion of my arms. It was a nice pace, not so slow that your mind wonders endlessly. It was fum-fum-fum-fum, with a nice regularity. I began to wave my arms and thump my feet, and thinking - hey, I couldn't care less about anything today. Then the monk whacked the floor with a big long wooden stick that can amplify the sound when it hits the floor. All of a sudden everyone tripled their speed, walking with an almost frantic pace around the room. All seemed a bit strange. Then the monk gave the floor another whack. Everyone came to a sudden halt. I felt my blood rushing to the tips of my finger. I never had such a sensation before. It felt good. Everyone then sat down on cushions and began to meditate.

My eyes were half open. I looked at the five or six people who sat in front of me without moving my eyes or my head. They all looked terribly serious. Some had their eyes closed, some half closed looking at their own nose or something. They seemed to slide into the state of nothingness pretty quickly, but I had trouble. I kept studying each motionless face with my half closed eyes, and thinking everything was a bit queer. I tried to stay still, but my legs started to go to sleep. The tingling sensation drove me crazy. So I fidgeted a little, and a little, and a little. Strange enough, at the end of the fifty minute session, I was so bored and pained, that I actually was able to forget about my surroundings for a while.

We had two meditation sessions in the morning. I was much better on the second one. Then it was lunch time. Still no one was allowed to talk. Food was served by volunteers. They made sure you had plenty on your plate. It was a vegetarian meal, of course, and I had never tasted anything as good in my life. After lunch, we started to socialize. I did not experience the inhibition I usually felt in a social setting. I felt more of a participating member of this social group than any other social gathering I have ever attended.