Before attending sesshin at Sanshin, please download and read our free booklet, Understanding Sanshin Style, paying particular attention to the section on sesshin practice.
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Upcoming sesshinRegister for bolded events at right
Sesshin at Sanshin is an opportunity to practice without distraction. We set aside the usual activities -- or entertainments -- of temple life, like work periods, meetings with teachers and dharma talks, and focus completely on zazen. We practice in complete silence following a 4 am to 9 pm daily schedule that consists simply of fourteen 50-minute periods of zazen with one-hour periods for oryoki meals and a bit of personal time. This sesshin-without-toys style of practice was created by our founder's teacher, Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, and practiced at Antaiji in Kyoto, Japan. We carry on and offer this tradition of our lineage here at Sanshin.
While sesshin at Sanshin is intensive and participants are serious about maintaining silence and focus, it is not harsh or unsympathetic. Practitioners are encouraged to take care of themselves while at the same time fully entering into the challenge and opportunity of the sesshin. It's helpful to have read both our free e-book Understanding Sanshin Style and Uchiyama Roshi's Opening the Hand of Thought for background information about this style of sesshin and to have had some prior experience of intensive practice. There is also a section on sesshin and retreats on our FAQ page and further considerations about logistics and approach below. Read More about Sanshin style sesshin
Hoko says: An experienced practitioner recently asked me, "What is the purpose of sesshin?" It's an important question, one we continue to ask even after we've completed many sesshin. It's not hard to look up the definition of the word and the meaning of the kanji (接心). 接 means to touch or bring together and 心 is the heart/mind, and we know that we're talking about a retreat that increases the intensity of our daily practice to some degree. However, we need some context to understand why we do this kind of practice at Sanshin and what part it plays in our practice life so we understand the attitude we need to take. In the training temple (senmon sodo) in Japan, there are two patterns of intensifying and relaxing our practice. One is in the two practice periods (ango) held each summer and winter. These are three-month periods in which we remain in the temple and focus on our practice by carrying out a more intensive schedule. During the spring and fall quarters our schedule is a bit more relaxed and we can enter and leave the temple as necessary. Thus periods of more intensive practice are alternated with periods of more relaxed practice. The other pattern is in the monthly sesshin. For three, five or seven days each month we shorten our liturgy, put aside work periods and other activities and increase the number of zazen periods on the daily schedule. Taken together, the regular inward intensive focus alternated with the more relaxed approach are like breathing in and out, creating a practice life that is neither too strict nor too loose. This is the regular rhythm of life for a community of practitioners who already live and practice together every day. In many Western dharma centers, sesshin is a sort of re-creation of the average day in the training temple. It includes liturgy, formal meals, work periods, dharma talks, dokusan and other things. Although this would be an unremarkable day to someone living in a training temple, it becomes a special event for householders who don't usually spend all day at the dharma center engaged in practice. It's an opportunity to participate in many kinds of activities during a short space of time, so rather than reducing the number of daily activities, it can feel like the increased intensity comes from the full and busy schedule. Sanshin style sesshin is not like this. We do only three things during sesshin: eat, sleep and sit. Since our sesshin is completely silent, there's no liturgy or other chanting, no dharma talks and no dokusan. Uchiyama Roshi calls this style "sesshin without toys." We don't get to play with anticipating a beautiful service, getting the work assignment we want or putting our dharma questions to a teacher. We've got only the cushion, the wall, the bell, and our own hearts and minds, without the distraction of the elements of the life we would be living in the training temple. I say during orientation that there are no "breaks" during sesshin. That doesn't mean that we ignore the needs of the body or that we need to be tough and harsh with ourselves. Sesshin is not a test of endurance for people with something to prove. "No breaks" means that there is no time during the sesshin at which we let go of zazen mind. Zazen is not always very interesting, and it's natural that after awhile, we want to do something else. It would be nice to step outside for a few minutes to look at something prettier than the wall, or to go see what's available in the library or on our phones. We're either chasing after something to play with or running away from thoughts we don't like. The problem is that we've just spent 50 minutes letting go of thought, and now we're just replacing one set of thoughts with another that we're going to spend the next 50 minutes trying not to grasp. One set of thoughts isn't better or worse than another. We've put ourselves into a container designed to help us let go of all thinking, even thinking about the dharma, and the idea that we need to "take a break" works against the very situation into which we've chosen to enter. Instead, we just immerse ourselves in the practice of letting thoughts come and go, hour after hour, without searching for anything else to do. When you decide to come to Sanshin for sesshin, please take care of your practice by refraining from making the sesshin a special event in your life. It's simply the intensification for now of a practice you're already doing, not something at which you need to "succeed" or from which you need to wring all the benefits before your time is up. While there are certainly advantages to sitting sesshin in a zendo with a community that can provide leadership and support, you can also sit at home on your own following the daily schedule. So what's the purpose of sesshin? I think it's the chance to remember what's at the core of our practice: clearly manifesting our Buddha nature. Yes, we do that no matter the activity of the moment, but zazen is where we really settle into it. We do only four things in our zazen: take the posture, keep the eyes open, breathe deeply through the nose and let go of thought. Taking care of just those four things hour after hour, we get really quiet and our vision clears. We return to the reality of this moment and we don't need to make anything out of it. Sesshin is challenging, but in the midst of it we find a deep rest. Food practice during sesshinOryoki meals: After many years, Sanshin has reinstated its more formal practice of taking meals in the zendo using oryoki. We sit at low tables and follow the procedures used at Antaiji. This video introduces the steps of the meal, and this one shows the use of the oryoki set for breakfast. We use the opening dinner as an opportunity to review the meal procedures by explaining the steps as we do them. If you have your own oryoki set you're welcome to bring it, but we have plenty of (lay) sets for use by participants during the sesshin.
Practicing with Local sesshin Food
We are participating in the local food & farming community.
During sesshin at Sanshin, we simply sit, sleep, and eat. Quietly living out this schedule together for three, five, or seven days at a time, we embody in a very concentrated way a central question in our practice: how do we live without causing each other suffering? Relating to the local community and environment through the basic necessity for food has been a given in sanghas across the world through most of Buddhist history. In our modern context of supermarkets, large-scale industrialized agriculture, and widespread environmental degradation, it takes some intention to participate in this long tradition, and to do our best to avoid some of the harms to nonhuman and human beings inherent in much of our contemporary global food system. Cooking and eating can be a deep study of community. This becomes especially apparent when these are our only waking activities besides sitting, as during sesshin. Because of our cooking practice in the kitchen, we can eat and continue to sit in the zendo; because of our sitting and eating practice in the zendo, we can cook in the kitchen. In this context, we can’t help but notice that in order to live, we all need, as Rev. Tatsuzen Sato writes for Sotoshu, “to put other forms of life such as those of animals and plants into our mouth.” Less obvious is that underpinning this dynamic is the interaction of countless beings in the growth, harvest, and transport of living food. The practice of food, like zazen, teaches and embodies interconnection. Eating fresh vegetables grown in nearby soil can be a simple and direct reminder for us. Recognizing the opportunity, particularly in sesshin practice, for wholesome participation in the life of all beings, we aim to purchase a substantial portion of food for our practice activities from nearby small farms, gardens, and people that work to produce and provide food sustainably -- and to grow what we can as a sangha ourselves. Coordination efforts in this direction are built into the job description of Sanshin’s operations manager. More sesshin context & helpful informationsesshin logistics
Sesshin logistics:
Your role in sesshin
One of the things we hear from sesshin participants most frequently is that their practice here is only made possible by the efforts and contributions of the entire group. Your presence is important to everyone, and we plan on your attendance at all sesshin activities. If you aren’t around to carry out your work assignment, someone will need to cover for you. If you skip meals, we will have bought and prepared too much food. We realize that it may be necessary to take unscheduled breaks in order to take care of yourself, but please inform a practice leader as soon as possible if you will be taking significant time out, unable to do your work or missing meals. Leaving early on the last day is strongly discouraged as it has a significant adverse effect on the sesshin community. It’s important for the group as a whole that participants stay together and finish strong because having the energy and spirit of fellow practitioners is a vital support to everyone’s practice. Please do everything you can to be here for the full duration of your planned stay. If your flight, train or bus departure would require you to leave on the last day before the official close of the sesshin, consider staying for another night, getting some good rest and leaving for home the next day. We recognize that health issues, family emergencies, bad weather, etc. do come up, but your decision to leave early affects more people than just you yourself. Ask for help if you’re struggling rather than casually throwing in the towel. The sesshin peters out with a whimper when participants trickle quietly away before cleanup and close—not to mention that all of the work period tasks fall to the few who remain. Overall, it's important to remember that without participants there is no sesshin. It's not like a performance put on by one group of people for another, in which things can carry on whether or not the audience decides to duck out before the last act. No matter whether you're experienced or a beginner, from Bloomington or from out of town, if you're suddenly not here there's a gap in the practice that affects everyone. Health considerations
For travelers
For those traveling to Sanshin from out of town, note that Sanshin can provide neither guest rooms nor transportation to and from the temple each day. You may sleep in the zendo with your own bedding or camp in the yard with your own gear if you wish. See our zendo stay and camping guidelines here. Some may prefer to rent a nearby hotel room or other temporary housing. Virtual participation
A virtual look-in option is available during the sesshin. Simply go to our virtual practice page and click on the green button. No registration or fee payment is required, though gifts of financial support are welcome and appreciated. Please go to this page to make your donation rather than using the registration buttons. Please note that virtual participation begins with the first zazen period on the opening evening -- the opening welcome meeting listed on the schedule simply covers logistical considerations relevant to those practicing at Sanshinji in-person. Other things to know
After the sesshin
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June Sesshin (register below)
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Tuesday, June 4
5:00 pm - Welcome meeting 5:30 - Dinner w/ oryoki orientation 7:10 - Opening comments and zazen 8:00 - Kinhin 8:10 - Zazen 9:00 - End of day Sunday, June 9 05:00 am - Participants in their seats 05:05 - Doshi entrance 05:10 - Zazen 06:00 - Breakfast/Personal time 07:10 - Zazen 08:00 - End of sesshin; cleanup and close -------------- Participants are encouraged to join our regular Sunday practice which immediately follows sesshin: 09:10 - Zazen with the sangha 10:00 - Break 10:10 - Dharma talk by Okumura Roshi ~11:30 - End of Sunday practice |
Wednesday - Saturday, June 5 - 8
04:00 am - Participants in their seats 04:05 - Doshi entrance 4:10 - Zazen 05:00 - Kinhin 05:10 - Zazen 06:00 - Breakfast/Personal time 07:10 - Zazen 08:00 - Kinhin 08:10 - Zazen 09:00 - Kinhin 09:10 - Zazen 10:00 - Kinhin 10:10 - Zazen 11:00 - Kinhin 11:10 - Zazen 12:00 pm - Lunch/Personal time 01:10 - Zuiza ('free sitting') 02:00 - Kinhin 02:10 - Zazen 03:00 - Kinhin 03:10 - Zazen 04:00 - Kinhin 04:10 - Zazen 05:00 - Kinhin 05:10 - Zazen 06:00 - Dinner/Personal time 07:10 - Zazen 08:00 - Kinhin 8:10 - Zazen 9:00 - End of day |
Registration & payment
Note that there are two fee options associated with your registration: regular and sponsor. The sponsor option supports our aspiration to include all sincere practitioners at retreats and events, regardless of financial means.
If you are in a position to help in this ongoing sangha effort, please consider choosing the sponsor option from the menu below.
If the regular payment amount listed below is a barrier to your participation, please contact us to inquire about fee reductions and waivers.
If you are participating online, please do not register: simply join us for scheduled zazen periods as you wish through our virtual practice page. There is no fee, though gifts of financial support are welcome and appreciated.
If you are in a position to help in this ongoing sangha effort, please consider choosing the sponsor option from the menu below.
If the regular payment amount listed below is a barrier to your participation, please contact us to inquire about fee reductions and waivers.
If you are participating online, please do not register: simply join us for scheduled zazen periods as you wish through our virtual practice page. There is no fee, though gifts of financial support are welcome and appreciated.
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These days even in Japan monks cannot support their practice by begging (takuhatsu), so we need to find another way. Many American Zen centers do fundraising to support themselves, or they charge fees for certain kinds of practice. But we need to be careful not to lose the spirit either of practice or donation.
-- Okumura Roshi, The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo, pg. 93)
-- Okumura Roshi, The Zen Teaching of Homeless Kodo, pg. 93)
September Sesshin
September 5 - 8, 2024
We will sit together for three days, carrying out our usual steady Sanshin-style sesshin practice.
Rohatsu sesshin
November 30 - December 8, 2024
Rohatsu sesshin is carried out each year across the Buddhist world in recognition of Shakyamuni's awakening under the bodhi tree. Rohatsu is one of the sanbukki, the Three Buddha Days, marking the important events in Shakyamuni's life -- his birth, awakening, and death. Rohatsu sesshin is the longest sesshin we do at Sanshin, and on the final night we sit until midnight and then hold a brief chanting service.
3-day Uchiyama Roshi Memorial Sesshin 2025
March 6 - 9, 2025
We dedicate our March sesshin to the memory of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, the teacher of our founder, Shohaku Okumura and author of the foundational book Opening the Hand of Thought. As he is one of the main shapers of Sanshin style, we can't help but be grateful for his life and practice. He died on March 13, 1998. We will hold a brief memorial service following the usual Sunday morning zazen and dharma talk, given by Okumura Roshi himself.