This guideline could be used for a one day retreat, weekend retreat, or longer. The guidelines and principles of retreat practice remain the same regardless of the length of retreat. During your retreat you will want to be alone. It’s best not to see or talk with anyone, or engage in distractions — using the internet, listening to the radio, etc. Try to maintain silence during the retreat. If possible, do the retreat in a place where you won’t hear people talking.
The day is spent meditating, with a little time allotted for reading and contemplation. You could take a book for study and contemplation, or perhaps, a book to inspire you, such as a life story of a great meditator from the past. In general, your reading should support and inspire your practice. Reading and study are not meant to be the focus of a meditation retreat.
On the first morning, take a few minutes to reflect on your aspiration for the retreat. You might contemplate the qualities that you would like to emphasize, or what you would like to learn from the retreat. You could open each day with an aspiration and close the day with a dedication.
During the breaks you could spend time reading and contemplating. You could also choose to do something physical to stay fresh, such as stretching, yoga, or Tai Chi. If you’re in an isolated place, you could practice walking meditation.
Start your first session with whatever opening liturgies are appropriate to the practice that you are doing. This could include, among others, the lines for taking Refuge and arousing Bodhichitta, the Four Immeasurables, and a lineage supplication. You can add whatever other liturgies that you choose, such as the Heart Sutra.
End each session with a Dedication of Merit. You could also add whatever else you choose, such as long life supplications, aspirations, etc.
It’s always best to decide on the schedule that you want to maintain at the beginning of the retreat and try to stay with it.
Quote
“In a remote place, where the thought of death pierces the heart,
The retreatant, who has profoundly turned away from attachment
Draws the boundary, giving up all concerns for this life,
Hence, his mind is not involved with the eight worldly dharmas”
— The words of Karak Gomchung, quoted often by Mingyur Rinpoche’s father, Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche.