Sesshin, translated as “touching the heart-mind,” is a deep, intensive Zen retreat devoted to wholehearted immersion in formal Zen practice. Through sustained zazen, silence, liturgy, dharma teachings, and opportunities to meet with the teachers, participants enter into a shared rhythm that supports the discovery of intimacy with our true nature. The retreat’s integrated schedule invites us to set aside ordinary distractions and give ourselves fully to both the practice of awakening and the life of the community. While Zazenkai offers a flexible, modular experience, sesshin asks participants to commit to the schedule and retreat forms, allowing its depth and continuity to unfold. GHSangha offers 58 days of Sesshin per year, with a retreat offered every month.
What to Expect:
-Sacred time in cloistered space for sustained Zazen, access to the practices and devotions of the Mahayana, and dokusan (direct individual guidance) for each participant, honoring Noble silence, deep concentration, and continuity of practice.
-Intensive, Rigorous, and Demanding Practice. Sesshin asks for sincere effort and a willingness to meet the challenges of sustained, multi-day retreat. We encounter the barriers that limit our practice and wholeheartedly engage the work of breaking through them. Its purpose is awakening and maturation through the stages of Zen training depicted in the Ten Oxherding Pictures as transmitted in this lineage.
Expectations of Participants:
-Wholehearted participation in the full ritual and liturgical experience. Sesshin is a multi-day ritual designed to bring participants into the training space necessary for awakening as recognized in the Zen tradition. Zazen, liturgy, meals, samu, Dharma teachings, and rest practice form one integrated experience of “touching the heart-mind.”
-Fully enter into formal Zen training. Sesshin is the place to deepen, and embody the Buddhadharma with experienced practitioners supporting those newer practitioners who are developing their skills. Each training role serves the whole retreat and is itself a complete expression of practice. If one's practice is chronically casual and self-styled, it can not be fully sufficient for the realization of Mind and integrating this realization into daily life.
Capping Comment:
-The truth of Zen cannot be realized through books or classes alone, helpful though they may be. To truly realize ‘ordinary mind is the Way,’ we must first realize Mind—our true nature. Sesshin is the primary training ground for this direct realization.
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For More Information about Attending Sesshin at the Buddhist Temple of Toledo contact Info@buddhisttempleoftoledo.org
