Let me share my experiences and reflections with you.

Spiritual Practice

People live in spiritual communities for a number of reasons. Some are disappointed with their lives and are basically running away from it all, while others have had enough of modern life and feel more at home in a spiritual setting. There are also determined individuals who are deeply interested in spirituality who choose to live and breathe it. Most seekers aspire to make progress on their spiritual paths by practicing concentration, kindness and present-moment awareness - which all lead to happiness and wellbeing.

Most yoga and meditation retreats last for 7-14 days. There are longer retreats, but they mainly cater for people that do not work. At some retreats you're allowed to speak while others promote silence, as a means to calm the mind. While a retreat is very beneficial to one's spiritual practice, it's yet quite a different experience to living in a spiritual community, long-term.

Many of us go through life with the idea that monks, nuns and other members of spiritual communities are really patient, kind, helpful, loving and advanced spiritual beings. Once you've lived in a spiritual community, you'll see that the vast majority of them are quite normal people. Spiritual communities house personal conflicts and anger just like the real world. So don't expect a paradise on earth!

Non the less, a spiritual community offers a safe setting for the development of your spiritual practice. I highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in spirituality. It's much easier to practice in a community than on your own. The community is a source of inspiration and whenever you're in need of guidance and support - it's right there.

Let's touch upon a few things that many seekers do not know before having lived in a spiritual community. This is what makes living in a spiritual community a different experience from doing short meditation retreats, especially silent retreats. At a silent retreat there is hardly any interaction between the participants. This makes for little conflict and irritation between the retreatants. Silence is very agreeable. This kind of practice is highly beneficial.

Another form of practice is staying long-term in a community. For as long as you're living in the community you will be facing personal conflicts and to maintain present-moment awareness throughout the day, as well as during these disagreements - is a beautiful and liberating form of practice that benefits everyone. I highly recommend the combination of these two forms of practice.

Let's say that someone asks you to clean all the the toilets in a building. You're quite likely to have a negative reaction to that. Your preference may be to do office work or perhaps you could accept kitchen duties. While living in a community you're better off letting go of your preferences, if not you will struggle with unpleasant inner resistance, ''I don't like this place, I'm an intellectual. Do you expect me to clean toilets?" This attitude won't do you any good.

If you want to make progress, you got to let go of your preferences. This kind of practice leads to inner freedom. And until you're able to do just that, try your best to be aware of your negative reactions. With present-moment awareness it's easy to be aware of your feelings and thoughts.  Accepting whatever comes your way makes for mental and emotional ease - while resisting is creating your own unhappiness.

Living in a spiritual community has a lot to do with letting go and accepting things the way they are. In worldly life we resist almost everything we don't like, not unlike crying babies, however in the spiritual community you're encouraged just to be aware of your negative reactions and to let them go. In the beginning it helps to slow down a little while working, this makes it's easier to remain in the present. And don't be hard on yourself for not living up to your expectations -  give yourself ample time and progress will come naturally.

The spiritual community offers wonderful opportunities for spiritual practice and it's a beautiful source of support and inspiration.