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One Hundred Days of Solitude: Losing Myself and Finding Grace on a Zen Retreat

One Hundred Days of Solitude: Losing Myself and Finding Grace on a Zen Retreat
By Jane Dobisz

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In the middle of winter, Jane Dobisz arrives at a lonely, primitive cabin armed with nothing but modest food supplies and an intensely regimented daily schedule that she thumbtacks to the wall. “3:15 A.M. Wake Up. 3:20 300 Bows. 4:00 Ma. 4:15 Sitting. 4:45 Walking.” And so it goes, for 100 days. Dobisz, inspired by her Korean Zen master’s discipline of long, solitary retreats, has decided to embark on a retreat of her own. The unfolding story of her experience is related here. The suburban-raised Dobisz weaves amusing anecdotes about learning to live a Walden-like existence — water comes from a well, wood needs to be chopped — with Zen teachings and striking insights into the miracles and foibles of the human mind when there’s nothing on hand to distract it. Entertaining and inspiring, the book is a joyous testament to the benefits that solitude and reflection can bring to all.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #134428 in Books
  • Published on: 2007-12-26
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 144 pages

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Customer Reviews

Inspiring5
Zen student, Jane Dobisz decides to deepen her practice by spending one hundred days in solitude in a tiny 150 square foot cabin in the deep woods during a New England winter. She takes along the most basic of items -an ax, barley tea, rice, miso, beans, and one hundred pieces of dried fruit, one piece for each day of her retreat. The cabin is heated with a wood stove and has no plumbing or electricity. She must chop wood for heat each day, as well as drag water from a well a half mile away. She sets before herself a stringent Zen regimen. Up at 3:15 am every morning to spend the rest of the day at meditative practices - bowing, sitting, walking, chanting, work period, on and on until sleep at 9:3opm.

Through her days alone she experiences despair, desire, day dreaming, exhiliration,loneliness and hunger. She experiences the joy of feeding a chickadee from her fingers and experiences wisdom from a tiny mouse who decides to camp out in the excrement in her chamber pot. Practicing mindfulness - fully focused moment by moment awareness brings an aliveness to every moment of life.

Dobisz' book is wise, refreshing and most of all inspiring.

Inspiring, humorous, uplifiting5
If you have ever imagined taking a solitary retreat, this book is an opportunity to live it vicariously. The author is engaging, honest, and inspiring -- she makes you feel as though you are experiencing the retreat directly rather than just reading about it. Be forewarned, however, that this is a reissue of her prior book published under the title "The Wisdom of Solitude." So, if you already own that one, there is no need to purchase this one.

Understanding the inside of a zen retreat5
Why would you wantto spend 100 days by yourself in the woods? I couldn't imagine doing such a thing, but as a spiritual seeker I was curious what someone would get out of it. Jane Dobisz has written a book with such clarity, honesty, humility and humor that I understood not only the challenges of making a retreat but also the benefits. I was (almost) convinced to try it myself. I particularly appreciate the metaphors she uses to explain zen principles. For example, when she compares being on a zen retreat to boiling a pot of water it becomes clear why she is there.

If you want to read a great book that helps you understand what a real 100 day zen retreat would be like to the body, mind and soul of an American - read Jane Dobisz's book.