Coming up:
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2021
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 breaks for meals. This sesshin-without-toys style of practice was created by our dharma grandfather, Kosho Uchiyama Roshi and practiced at Antaji 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 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. |
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