Saturday

Retreat at Milk Lake

by Eve Rosenthal and Basia Solarz

Milk Lake Farm is land devoted to cabin retreats in Nova Scotia. The cabins at Milk Lake all have running water from a well, a full kitchen, a bathroom with toilet, sink and shower or bathtub, and a wood stove (electric heat available). Two of the cabins have one spacious room. Mamaki is nearest the magical trail by the lake; Samayatara is the most secluded cabin, nestled near the woods and also quite close to the trail; and Buddhalocana has a separate bedroom with a queen size bed, a twin bed in the main space, and a stunning view of the lake. For further descriptions and pictures of the cabins click here. There are caretakers on site who host and care for the retreatants.

In the barn, there is an office that was recently cleared out, cleaned and decorated as a practice and work space. This room has practice materials, photos, and dharma books, all of which can be borrowed for retreat. There is also a shrine and a desk. Most notably, there is now a very stable and strong wireless internet connection. The office is available to retreatants whenever an internet connection is needed.  It’s an ideal space for a small group retreat that might be organized around an online dharma program.

This winter, we did a retreat at Milk Lake. While we each had done many solitary retreats at Milk Lake, this was the first time we had done one together. We were in Buddhalocana, which now has the same strong wireless internet connection as the newly refurbished office. As a result, we were able to join an online course of dharma study and practice right from the practice space in the cabin. This possibility was not available previously and it was so delightful to be able to participate in this program within a dedicated retreat environment.

Recently, a group of Buddhalocana Milk Lake regulars donated a new, very comfortable queen size mattress, mattress cover,  and some standing lamps.  We slept well!

Each day, no matter what the weather, we took a walk by the lake along the magical hobbit trail enjoying the soft moss of the earth, the scent of the pine forest, the ever changing water, wind, sky and sounds of the natural world. On our walks, we often made offerings at the Mother Lineage shrine.

We left the retreat enriched, rested and inspired.

For more information about Milk Lake and to book a retreat, go to the Milk Lake website.