Q&A: The Gift of Silence

An interview with Douglas A. Codiga, Director of the Contemplative Law Program of the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society. Codiga practices environmental law and is an adjunct professor at the University of Hawaii Richardson School of Law, where he teaches international environmental law. He was interviewed by Steven Keeva.

Key Points: The role of contemplative practice in the law; meditation retreats for lawyers.

Q: Tell me a little bit about the Center for Contemplative Mind in Society and how it came to have a law program. . . .

Codiga: The Center is a not-for-profit organization that works to integrate contemplative awareness into key sectors of contemporary American life, including education, business, philanthropy, and the law. The goal is to help create a more just, compassionate and reflective society.

The Center's work in education includes administering a grant program through the American Council of Learned Societies that provides funding for teachers -- including law school faculty -- who introduce contemplative practice into their courses. Our work in business has included organizing and leading meditation retreats for executives and scientists at the Monsanto Corporation.

The Center's Contemplative Law Program is the brainchild of several prominent attorneys, law professors, and mediators who have a strong connection to contemplative practice. Based on their own positive experiences with it, and their sense that the time is right, they began exploring the idea of introducing contemplative practice to law students, law professors, and attorneys. Of course, initially there was some trepidation - who knew how it would be received? It was a rather bold experiment.

Q: How many retreats have you now had, and what has been the response of participants, including those who had never meditated before?

Codiga: We've had three retreats thus far and the response has been very positive. The type of meditation that is taught is very simple, accessible and straightforward. Most participants find it easy to learn the basics -- which is not to say that it's easy to master!

The first retreat was organized for Yale Law School students and faculty in October 1998. (By coincidence, I was in my first semester of my LL.M. program at the Yale Law School, and was able to take part in this.) There were about twenty students at the retreat, which began on a Friday afternoon and concluded the following Tuesday. We were very fortunate to have Joseph Goldstein as our meditation teacher, who, as you know, is one of the country's leading teachers of Insight Meditation, and who has a tremendous amount of experience in leading retreats. We were also fortunate to have generous funding from the Nathan Cummings Foundation and the Fetzer Institute, so that the retreat could be offered free of charge to the students.

The daily schedule included instruction in sitting and walking meditation, some basic yoga exercises, and group discussions. Most of the time was spent learning about and practicing silent meditation, and much of the day was in silence.

Our second retreat was held a year later, in October 1999, at the Pocantico Conference Center of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund in Tarrytown, New York. This retreat followed much the same format. Several attorneys from the law firm of Hale and Dorr in Boston - including the managing partner - attended this retreat. At that retreat we discovered, among other things, that our time in silent meditation really contributed to the depth and meaning of our discussions about life at the firm or back at law school.

And last March we hosted a bigger retreat for about fifty participants, including a senior faculty member and eight students from Columbia Law School, twenty Yale law school students, attorneys from Hale and Dorr, the head of a public interest clinic at CUNY law school, and other leaders in contemplative practice and the law.

Q: To what extent have these retreats been tailored to the specific needs and concerns of lawyers, law professors and students? Are legal issues, or issues pertaining to law practice, actually discussed at the retreats?

Codiga: Our contemplative law retreats are all about exploring the role of contemplative practice in the law. So in that sense, they are most definitely tailored to the needs of those in the law, including attorneys, professors and students. More specifically, although most of the day centers around learning and practicing silent meditation, we also have very lively facilitated discussions, both in small groups and in a large circle that includes all participants. In these discussions we take up questions such as, "What is your connection to contemplative practice? How can you integrate it into your daily life as a lawyer or law student? And, what are the implications of contemplative practice and the legal profession and building a just society?"

As I mentioned, we have found that the contemplative practice during the retreat lends a focused and settled quality to these discussions. The exchanges can be quite powerful. As much as the participants enjoy these discussions, however, we have been somewhat surprised to find in conducting post-retreat evaluations that what people like the most - and want more of - is silence. This is not necessarily what you would expect.

Q: I know you have another contemplative law retreat coming up in October. Will this one be different in any way from the previous retreats, in terms of who will be coming or how the retreat is structured?

Codiga: We are excited about this retreat because it is exclusively for practicing attorneys and law faculty. The retreat will be held from October 20-24, 2000 at the Trinity Conference Center in West Cornwall, Connecticut, a secluded retreat center on 500 forested acres along the Housatonic River in the foothills of the Berkshire Mountains.

Like our previous law retreats, most of each day will be devoted to the study and practice of silent meditation, under the guidance of Joseph Goldstein. Joseph will be assisted by Grove Burnett, an attorney and meditation teacher who has co-led two contemplative law retreats, and Steve Schwartz, an attorney who began practicing meditation in the early 1970s and who was profiled in your book, Transforming Practices.

Q: How can someone learn more about this retreat or the contemplative law program?

Codiga: Enrollment in the retreat is very limited. Anyone who would like to learn more about our Contemplative Law Program, or who may wish to register for the October law retreat, should send their full name and mailing address as soon as possible to our offices by e-mail, codiga@hawaii.rr.com , or by fax, (208) 293-4411. In addition to registration materials, we also have available on request a special report on the Contemplative Law Program and the Yale Law School retreat.

>> click here for more information on the October retreat