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# RETREAT
- URL: https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/retraite-2/
- Published: 2026-09-04T16:38:57.000Z
- Updated: 2026-09-04T16:38:57.000Z
- Description: hoofdstuk 33. WITHDRAWAL
- Author: ACHTismeerdanDUIZEND
- Tags: The Sketchbook of Changes, #lightbox, 33

✏️

****retreat(n.)**  
c. 1300, **retrete*, “a step backward;” late 14c., “act of retiring or withdrawing; military signal for retiring from action or exercise,” from Old French **retret, retrait*, noun use of past participle of **retrere* “draw back,” from Latin **retrahere* “draw back, withdraw, call back,” from **re-* “back” (see ****re-**) + **trahere* “to draw” (see ****tract** (n.1)).  
Meaning “place of seclusion” is from early 15c.; sense of “establishment for mentally ill persons” is from 1797\. Meaning “period of retirement for religious self-examination” is from 1756.

datsja  
cottage  
volkstuin  
buitenhuisje  
sommarstuga  
retraite  
casinha de campo  
boshuis  
nyarilak  
kesämökk  
refugio  
A place to retreat to. They come in all shapes and sizes.

It was the silver lining to a major setback. Our stroke of luck during the pandemic. When it struck and life in the city became unbearable, the green forest cottage became our permanent refuge. A small wooden house in a woodland on the banks of the Vecht in Overijssel. An ‘off-grid’ tiny home, as they’re called these days, which we’d been able to buy a few years earlier.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/fornuis.jpg)

In the middle, we built a wood-burning stove. For cooking and for baking bread and cakes. And to keep the house, our backs and our hands warm in winter. Right next to the cottage was a well a hundred meters deep. On the roof were a couple of solar panels. These provided just enough electricity for the water pump, a charger, and a single lamp in the evening.

A diary with appointments crossed out, the complete absence of city distractions, and the simplicity of the forest cottage made for an ideal combination for ‘empty’ time. For ‘vacant’ time.

However, emptiness invites us to fill it. Extremes do not cope well with the absence of their opposite. A deep hole soon fills with water. A spacious, as yet empty house gradually, yet inexorably, fills up with stuff. The empty heart of the holiday gets easily packed with all sorts of fun activities and entertainment.

The emptiness and tranquillity of the country retreat must therefore be protected. In particular, from the scourge of clutter. And from excessive visitors. Feel free to invite your closest friends and share the joys of the retreat with them. But don’t go trumpeting far and wide just how lovely, unspoiled, and restorative this place is. Before you know it, the tranquillity will be gone. *Retreat* and the social media mentality of sharing are a poor match.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/6-2.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/cave--2--2.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/7-2.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/cave--3--2.jpg)

*Heaven over Mountain,* the image of *Withdrawal*. The interplay of lines in the hexagram at the top left is reminiscent of a solid black structure with an open space at its center. A cave in a mountain.

The image of the single *Mountain* trigram in the bottom left suggests something similar. An ‘upside-down’ bowl, a cave, a shelter, a refuge.

Or is there an even more relevant interpretation of the hexagram? ‘*Heaven* above’ represents open space, the proximity of a starry sky, the absence of the usual daily grind, and the absence of the clock. ‘*The* *Mountain below’* represents a place far from the hustle and bustle of the city, not all that easy to reach, resulting in few visitors. You’ll find only the bare essentials there. The *Mountain* signifies simplicity.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/1-5.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/4-2.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/5-4.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/7-3.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/8-1.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/9-1.jpg)

Six versions of the Chinese character ‘shan’, ‘mountain’. Top right: ‘oracle bone script’. Top centre: ‘bronze script’. Top right: ‘Chu slip and silk script’. Bottom left: ‘small seal script’. Bottom centre: an archaic version of the ‘mountain’ character reconstructed in later periods. Bottom right: the modern version of the character ‘shan’.

At the bottom right you can see the current Chinese character for a mountain or mountains, *shan* 山. This has evolved from a series of older versions, starting with that from ‘oracle bone script,' *jiǎ gǔ wén* 甲骨文 (top left). There can be no misunderstanding as to its meaning; it is a simple little drawing of three mountains. Here, the character is still a pure pictogram. The version from ‘bronze script,' *jin wen* 金文 (top center), is slightly more stylized. A further degree of abstraction can be seen in the script version used during the Warring States period, written on bamboo slips and silk (top right). The ‘small seal script’ version from the Han dynasty (bottom left) and an archaic version of *shan* reconstructed during the Ming dynasty (bottom center) give an impression of the rich Chinese etymology. These last two versions are strongly reminiscent of the cave icons depicted above.

The hermits and recluses of yesteryear had a fondness for the mountains and the desert. And whenever possible, they would take up residence in a cave there. It offered protection from the elements, just enough to ensure they were not cut off from them. Thus they lived close to the cold, the wind, the snow, and the heat, and at night they gazed upon a mirror of infinite depth: a pitch-black, starry sky.

The hermit’s ‘cell’ refers to the small, secluded space into which he has withdrawn and the restrictions he has imposed upon himself. Both refer to *The Mountain.*

✏️

****recluse(n.)**  
c. 1200, “person shut up or withdrawn from the world and secular living for purposes of religious meditation,” originally and especially as a member of a religious community, from Old French **reclus* (fem. **recluse*) “hermit, recluse,” also “confinement, prison; convent, monastery,” noun use of **reclus* (adj.) “shut up,” from Late Latin **reclusus*, past participle of **recludere* “to shut up, enclose” (but in classical Latin “to throw open”), from Latin **re-*, here perhaps an intensive prefix (see ****re-**), + **claudere* “to shut”.

The hermit, on the other hand, takes his name from the desolation and solitude of the area where he lives. Qualities associated with *The Heaven.*

✏️

****hermit(n.)**  
early 12c., “religious recluse, one who dwells apart in a solitary place for religious meditation,” from Old French **hermit*, **ermit* “hermit, recluse,” from Late Latin **eremita*, from Greek **eremites*, literally “person of the desert,” from **eremia* “a solitude, an uninhabited region, a waste,” from **erēmos* “uninhabited, empty, desolate, bereft,” from PIE **\*erem-* “to rest, be quiet” (source also of Sanskrit **ramate* “to rest;” Lithuanian **rimti* “to be quiet,” Gothic **rimis* “rest,” Old Irish **fo-rimim* “to set, lay”). The unetymological **h-* first appeared in Medieval Latin **heremite*.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/majishan-5-6.jpg)

Majishan

In the province of Gansu, in northwestern China, stands a solitary mountain, Majishan, the ‘Wheatstack Mountain’ 麥積山石窟. Over 1,500 years ago, Buddhist monks began carving caves here. The mountain would go on to become an important center for silence and reflection.

📗

**… Sometime between 420 and 422 CE, a monk by the name of Tanhung arrived at Maijishan and proceeded to build a small monastic community. One of the legends is that he had previously been living in Chang’an but had fled to Maijishan when the city was invaded by the Sung army. Within a few years he was joined by another senior monk, Xuangao, who brought 100 followers to the mountain. Both are recorded in a book entitled* Memoirs of Eminent Monks**; eventually their community grew to 300 members*… Wikipedia

This seemingly large number of monks does not seem to have been consistent with their monastic vocation to withdraw from society and live in seclusion. But there is no doubt that, at the time, their presence was completely absorbed by the silence and desolation of the area.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/majishan-8.jpg)

Majishan

Something has gone wrong in recent history. The centuries-long silence broke. The magic of the retreat was dispelled. Majishan ended up on people’s bucket lists.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/majishan-4-1.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/majishan-2-1.jpg)

The Wheatstack Mountain is part of a chain of Buddhist cave complexes along the ancient Silk Roads. Among the best known are those at Mogao near Dunhuang, also in Gansu province. Dunhuang was an oasis in the fearsome Taklamakan Desert (the ‘*Enter and Never Return Desert*’), close to a major crossroads of the Silk Roads—a location of great military-strategic and economic importance. Soldiers, traders—from the heartlands of China, but also from distant and unknown regions in the west—caravan drivers, horsemen from the wild north, fortune-seekers, and monks of many kinds all gathered here.

Buddhist monks who had completed the long journey on foot from the Indian regions to this place found water, food, and temporary shelter in these caves. Some stayed there for a longer period, and over the centuries the walls of the caves became covered with frescoes they had painted. These depicted the life of the Buddha, as well as scenes from daily life in the Chinese, Indian, and Hellenistic worlds. In the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, one could see side by side depictions of elephants, Buddhas with straight Greek noses, flying angels, and figures dressed in the latest Chinese fashions. The Dunhuang oasis, surrounded and sheltered by the parched desert, became a repository of knowledge; texts and sutras were collected, translated, and preserved there. Despite the passing soldiers, caravans, and travellers, the silence there must have been deafening. A place of retreat for humanity.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/dun-huang-3.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/dun-huang-6.jpg)

Fresco's in the Magao-caves and the Crescent Lake, Yueyaquan 月牙泉, oasis nearby Dunhuang.

In the year 2026, the whole of the known world still converges on Dunhuang. Modern-day pilgrims experience a mini-caravan ride on the back of a camel, sit on the sand dunes around the oasis watching the next sunset, share selfies with fellow TikTok users, and tick items off their bucket lists.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/dun-huang-1.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/dun-huang-5.jpg)

Whilst the wilderness around Maijishan and the desert around Dunhuang were meant to keep curious onlookers at bay, the sea seemed to offer a different means of protection around a sanctuary. A retreat on an island. Like the island-mountain of Michael, the dragon-slayer.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/48bc0941-5dc9-4216-ac18-179917f90af6_1000x580-3.gif)

Le Mont-Saint-Michel towards the end of the 10th century. Engraving by P. Gout, 1910.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/mont-saint-michel-5-1.jpg)

The sea, the tides, the marshy mudflats, a steep hill…

📗

Before the Christian era, the mountain was known as Mons vel Tumba Beleni, or ‘mountain of the tomb of Belenos (the Celtic sun god). As early as the fifth and sixth centuries, hermits had settled on the mountain, and their tombs and sarcophagi can still be visited in the parish church of Saint-Pair-sur-Mer, named after one of them, Paternus of Avranche. In the Middle Ages, the place was still known as Scissy…  
  
… On 16 October 709, the little church was consecrated and the bishop established a chapter there comprising twelve monastics …  
Wikipedia

Perhaps it would have been a good idea to build retreat destinations such as Le Mont Saint-Michel without any spectacular outlook, devoid of any architectural beauty. And to refrain from constructing a dyke between the island and the mainland. After Majishan and Dunhuang, it is no longer possible to retreat and find silence at Le Mont Saint-Michel.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/mont-saint-michel-3.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/mont-saint-michel.jpeg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/mont-saint-michel-4.jpg)

Let’s go back to the beginning of our story for a moment… *Heaven* over *Mountain*.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/Le-Mont-Saint-Michel.gif)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/niaux1-1.jpg)

Berg binnen, hemel buiten? Hemel binnen, berg buiten?

Simeon withdrew into the desert. Did he look over his shoulder, as Forrest Gump would do much later: *‘Followers, always those damned followers—how on earth will I ever get rid of them?’* His answer lay in gradually raising his little meditation platform. Ultimately, he would sit atop a pillar, out of sight of his worshippers. A very unusual variation on the *Mountain* under the *Heaven* theme. Food and drink were hoisted up to his elevated platform at regular intervals from ground level. Which must have required quite a bit of organization, there in the middle of the desert.

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/Simeon-1.jpg)

Simon the Stylite and his provisions.

📗

**.. He entered a monastery before the age of 16\. From the first day, he gave himself up to the practice of an austerity so extreme that his brethren judged him to be unsuited to any form of community life. They asked Simeon to leave the monastery.*  
**Simeon shut himself up in a hut for one and a half years, where he passed the whole of Lent without eating or drinking. When he emerged from the hut, his achievement was hailed as a miracle.* **He later took to standing continually upright so long as his limbs would sustain him.*  
**After one and a half years in his hut, Simeon sought a rocky eminence on the slopes of what is now the Sheik Barakat Mountain, part of Mount Simeon. He chose to live within a narrow space, less than 20 meters (66 ft) in diameter. But crowds of pilgrims invaded the area to seek him out, asking his counsel or his prayers, and leaving him insufficient time for his own devotions. This eventually led him to adopt a new way of life.*  
**In order to get away from the ever-increasing number of people who came to him for prayers and advice, leaving him little if any time for his private austerities, Simeon discovered a pillar which had survived among ruins in nearby Telanissa (modern-day Taladah in Syria) and began occupying it.*  
**When the monastic Elders living in the desert heard about Simeon, who had chosen a new and strange form of asceticism, they wanted to test him to determine whether his extreme feats were founded in humility or pride. They decided to order Simeon under obedience to come down from the pillar. They decided that if he disobeyed, they would forcibly drag him to the ground, but if he was willing to submit, they were to leave him on his pillar. Simeon displayed complete obedience and humility, and the monks told him to stay where he was.*  
**The first pillar that Simeon occupied was little more than 3 meters (10 ft). He later moved his platform to others, the last in the series reportedly more than 15 meters (50 ft) from the ground.* **At the top of the pillar was a platform, which is believed to have been about one square meter and surrounded by a baluster.*  
**Even on the highest of his columns, Simeon was not withdrawn from the world. If anything, the new pillar attracted even more people, both pilgrims who had earlier visited him and sightseers as well. Simeon was available each afternoon to talk with visitors. By means of a ladder, visitors were able to ascend within speaking distance…*  
**Wikipedia*

⁉️

But don’t be too gloomy. There are still some well-kept secrets. Hidden gems. Places where it’s still quiet and where you can retreat for a while, if you wish. Retreat as often as you like. But keep it to yourself! No #retreat and similar nonsense. Please don’t send around any selfies taken there! And above all, switch off your location tracker!!

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/convento-1.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/8-2.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/9-2.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/10.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/11.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/12.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/15.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/16.jpg)

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/7-4.jpg)

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![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/8ea2d67a-bcb5-4f63-947f-238e9007c3d5_200x200-jpeg-3.jpg)

33\. WITHDRAWAL

![](https://www.8ismeerdan1000.com/content/images/2026/08/sneeuw-2.jpg)

winter retreat

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