A sea of vulnerability

First of seven back-blips.

Cloud Mountain Retreat Center is located deep in the rainforest near the Washington/Oregon border. Built in the 1970s, the center is a hilly weave of walking paths around a few simply-designed buildings, and beyond that, mossy paths across stretches of forest. In her introduction to the week’s retreat, Kamala Masters encouraged us to take refuge in the good qualities we have already cultivated. We agreed to be in silence, with no cell phones or electronics, no reading, no radios or newspapers. As is usual on Buddhist retreats, we agreed to avoid killing anything, even an ant or mosquito, for the duration of the retreat. Since the land is crawling with life, that means being very attentive to where we step. 

“We are navigating the sea of our vulnerability as we investigate what arises in our minds. We are searching,” she said, “for what is timeless, beautiful, and sacred: an aspiration, not a goal.” She asked us to think about our aspirations. She suggested we spend more time walking than sitting on our cushions or chairs, attentively watching how our minds work. I took the camera along with me and came home with over 300 photographs and many hours of happy mind.

I’m still fairly new to this part of the world. The vegetation, the snails and slugs, the bugs, the birds--all are new to me--and fascinating. There are spotted slugs, striped slugs, black slugs, and tan slugs, and I find this European red slug stunning, as if it’s coated in hammered copper, gilded and embossed. 


I’m going to post two photos for each of the seven days. Here’s the first pairing, a gorgeous red slug about an inch and a half long, and the retreat center cat in the lap of the Buddha. Here is a website about Oregon slugs and snails, created by someone with a marvelous sense of humor and a flair for writing. If you have the time and interest, the sex life of slugs is astonishing.