True retreat begins long before you enter a cloistered space in time for any kind of spiritual practice. The spiritual path is a long journey. Your whole life, the sum of all your choices and perceptions, is already a spiritual path. What you bring, or perhaps most importantly, what you do not bring with you into retreat has a strong bearing on the outcome. The life preliminaries for each person are different, but there are common threads, primarily what brings you to a generous trusting openness. Robert and Rachel Olds offer portions of their journeys to encourage recognition and revaluing...

Coming to direct experience of original heart, original nature, outside words and doctrine is crucial for the spiritual path. The luminous awareness abiding naturally in your heart finds clear reflection within the natural world. To go outside concepts and entanglements of the mind that cloud the heart's perception, the most powerful avenue is simply to go outside into the embrace of the natural world. This book is a trail guide for all those who feel an instinctive resonance between spiritual practice and nature, for those who are seeking direct experience of spiritual awakening rather than...