Sesshin, literally “to touch the Mind,” is a period of time set aside for an intensive meditation retreat to let go of the conditioned self and resume our original nature. This special time of practice will allow us to dive into the core of Zen training. This silent meditation intensive to still the mind from moment to moment, manifesting the realization of the Way is for experienced practitioners who have done multi-day sesshin in the past.
Each day, the schedule begins at 5:00 am, includes 11 periods of meditation, chanting, and mindful work, and ends at 9:00 pm. The retreat begins at 7:30 pm on Monday and ends at 4:00 am on Saturday. You are welcome to attend partially if you cannot attend the entire retreat due to work commitments. In the spirit of Buddha’s enlightenment, on Friday night we will be in tetsuya, which means we will “sit through the whole night,” from 12:00 am to 4:00 am.
On-site retreat begins with informal dinner in the sangha house on Monday at 6:00pm (check-in between 5:00 and 6:00pm) and ends on Saturday at 8:00am (or after closing breakfast in the sangha house). You are welcome to attend partially as long as you can close with us on Saturday. Onsite day practice option is also available without overnight stay. View Sesshin Schedule.
