WEEKEND SESSHIN ( 接心)

A Sesshin (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive Zen meditation (Zazen) in a Zen monastery.

Sesshin offers a unique opportunity to retreat from the noise of the outside world for a short time. Through an intensive and focused practice in an urban hermitage environment, which is based on simplicity, silence and an atmosphere that promotes withdrawal, students are offered the oportunity to deepen their understanding of Zen practice, increase their level of attention, clear the mind and cultivate inner peace. As the distractions of everyday life are removed, practitioners are forced to see that many of these distractions are still present because they carry them within themselves.  The intensity of the practice reinforces that process of self-confrontation, making Sesshin a challenging yet rewarding Zen practice that works on all levels.

During the Sesshin, students are directed to confront and correct the patterns that…