Precepts retreat 

July 2 - 7, 2024 (Registration for in-person participation not yet open)
Jukai-e on Sunday, July 7, 10 am, followed by potluck lunch (all are welcome to attend)

This retreat focuses on the study of the sixteen bodhisattva precepts that Buddhists receive as guidelines for living a life of practice.  The daily schedule includes zazen, lectures, work practice and silent meals, and a precepts ceremony (jukai-e) is held during the last day of the retreat, during which those receiving the precepts will make their vows and receive a dharma name and a rakusu, or small robe, which they have sewn beforehand. (Note that the dates for the rakusu sewing retreat, likely in April 2024, have not yet been set). 

In-person participation in the retreat is required for precepts recipients. There may also be room for a few additional practitioners to participate in-person . Others may participate virtually (no registration required).  Everyone is welcome to attend the jukai-e in support of the recipients. There will be a potluck lunch following the ceremony.

Learn more about this year's preceptor, Hosshin Shoaf, here.

Daily schedule
Tuesday
5:00 Welcome meeting
6:00 Supper
7:10 Opening comments & zazen
8:00 Kinhin
8:10 Zazen
9:00 End of Day

Wednesday - Saturday
04:40 Wakeup
05:10 Zazen
06:00 Kinhin
06:10 Zazen
07:00 Breakfast
07:30 Soji (temple cleaning)
08:00 Break
09:00 Presentation and group discussion
10:50 Break
11:10 Zazen
12 pm Lunch/break
01:00 Work period (For precepts recipients, work period will frequently be devoted to preparing for the jukai-e.)
02:50 Tea
04:00 End of work/break
05:10 Zazen
06:00 Supper/break
07:10 Zazen
08:00 Kinhin
08:10 Zazen
9:00 End of day

Sunday
04:40 Wakeup
05:10 Zazen
06:00 Kinhin
06:10 Zazen
07:00 Breakfast
07:30 Soji (temple cleaning)
08:00 Break
09:00 Preparation for jukai-e
10:00 Jukai-e
11:00 Photo, cleanup and reset
12 pm Potluck lunch/cleanup
End of retreat

We receive the precepts from a preceptor, but they really come from the Buddhas and ancestors.  The preceptor is a person between the recipient and Buddha.  Our traditional belief is that the precepts are transmitted from Bibashi Buddha, the first Buddha, from the very beginning.  The reality to which Buddha awakened is the source of these precepts.  That's our faith.  I can't "give" the precepts to anybody.  They aren't my possessions; they were transmitted to me from my teacher, and his teacher transmitted them to him.  The recipient does not become "my" possession either.  Even Buddha said that he had no disciples.
-- Shohaku Okumura

Receiving the precepts

An aspiration to receive lay precepts arises from a steady and well-established practice of zazen, work and study with a sangha.  It's good to have been practicing at Sanshin or within the Sanshin network for at least a year before considering making a commitment of this kind.  You will want to know that Soto Zen practice really is meaningful for you and that you are willing to maintain a steady practice following receiving the precepts.  Jukai-e is not a reward for time served, an elevation in rank, a stamp of approval on your practice so far or any kind of end in itself; it's only the beginning of a committed lay practice.  Neither is it a badge of membership in Sanshin's sangha or a commitment to any preceptor or teacher.  You remain free to practice anywhere and with anyone.  Your commitment is to Buddha.

If you live outside of Bloomington and it's possible to take precepts with a teacher in or closer to your hometown, please engage with and support that group rather than traveling to Sanshin to do so.  You need your local or regional sangha, and it needs you.  Continuing your practice of living with the precepts is much more difficult without in-person practice with a sangha, even if it's only a few times a year.

Due to the amount of work and preparation required, a maximum of six practitioners may receive lay precepts at Sanshin each year.  Full in-person attendance at the weeklong April sewing retreat as well as the July precepts retreat are required for recipients; neither partial attendance nor virtual participation is an option.  

There will also be space for practitioners who are not formally receiving precepts to participate in this retreat. Practitioners who live in town and have been fully vaccinated may register for full days with communal meals, or may drop in for one or more zazen and/or work periods as they wish (no registration or fee).  
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A limited number of non-local practitioners may be able to participate in person depending on availability.  If open seats remain once local practitioners have finished their own registration, those seats may be offered to non-locals who have placed themselves on a standby list and whose names are drawn by lot (see below).  Non-locals must be fully vaccinated and prepared to travel and participate on short notice (likely about two weeks).  You may sleep in the zendo with your own bedding or camp in the yard with your own gear if you wish.  Sanshin can provide neither guest rooms nor transportation to and from the temple each day.  We'll contact those remaining on standby when all seats are filled.

If you have questions about the logistics of retreat registration and attendance, please email us.

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​If you're interested in receiving the precepts, please fill out and submit the request form below to begin this process.​  We'll close applications here when the limit is reached or sufficient lead time no longer remains.  ​​