The sesshin day
Sesshin may be three, five, or in the case of Rohatsu sesshin in December, seven days long. On the opening day, participants gather for announcements and a review of mealtime procedures. Following some final dharma words from the sesshin leader, we begin our silent practice with several periods of zazen and end the day.
The daily schedule during sesshin is very simple. Maintaining complete silence throughout the day, we begin sitting at 4:10 am and sit two 50-minute periods with a 10-minute period of kinhin in the middle. Servers quickly set up low folding tables in the zendo and bring in the containers of food, and we gather with our bowls for breakfast. There is no chanting; the jikido signals us with the clappers when the doshi is ready for the steps of opening bowls, getting our food, eating and cleaning up. Following the meal, the servers put away the tables, the cleanup person starts work in the kitchen, and everyone else tends to personal business for half an hour or so before the next block of zazen periods begins at 7:10.
Five more periods of zazen alternating with kinhin take us to noon, and it's time for lunch. Once again, at the end of zazen, servers prepare the tables and food and we eat another silent meal. Half an hour of personal time is followed by five more periods of zazen beginning at 1:10 pm, dinner, brief personal time, two more zazen periods, and the end of the day. Participants take out their bedding and sleep in the zendo, or camp on the grounds, or go home for the night and return in the morning.
On the final (Sunday) morning, we practice as usual through breakfast. After that, we break silence and prepare to welcome the rest of the sangha for our usual Sunday zazen period, dharma talk and informal teatime. Following practice and reconnection with the larger sangha, participants make their way home.
It's important to know that the simple and repetitive schedule is intentional in itself, and is not the result of anyone disliking various other activities, finding them meaningless, or not knowing how to carry them out. The second of Sanshin's six points of practice, keeping forms simple so we know what we're doing and why, is relevant here. There are times and places for morning liturgy, for instance, but this sort of sesshin is not one of them. Stripping our activities down to the essentials and keeping forms simple during sesshin allows us to let go of relationships, helping us to return to the self that is only the self. Without distraction, we have the opportunity to see more clearly what's going on in our hearts and minds -- without interacting with whatever is happening there.
The daily schedule during sesshin is very simple. Maintaining complete silence throughout the day, we begin sitting at 4:10 am and sit two 50-minute periods with a 10-minute period of kinhin in the middle. Servers quickly set up low folding tables in the zendo and bring in the containers of food, and we gather with our bowls for breakfast. There is no chanting; the jikido signals us with the clappers when the doshi is ready for the steps of opening bowls, getting our food, eating and cleaning up. Following the meal, the servers put away the tables, the cleanup person starts work in the kitchen, and everyone else tends to personal business for half an hour or so before the next block of zazen periods begins at 7:10.
Five more periods of zazen alternating with kinhin take us to noon, and it's time for lunch. Once again, at the end of zazen, servers prepare the tables and food and we eat another silent meal. Half an hour of personal time is followed by five more periods of zazen beginning at 1:10 pm, dinner, brief personal time, two more zazen periods, and the end of the day. Participants take out their bedding and sleep in the zendo, or camp on the grounds, or go home for the night and return in the morning.
On the final (Sunday) morning, we practice as usual through breakfast. After that, we break silence and prepare to welcome the rest of the sangha for our usual Sunday zazen period, dharma talk and informal teatime. Following practice and reconnection with the larger sangha, participants make their way home.
It's important to know that the simple and repetitive schedule is intentional in itself, and is not the result of anyone disliking various other activities, finding them meaningless, or not knowing how to carry them out. The second of Sanshin's six points of practice, keeping forms simple so we know what we're doing and why, is relevant here. There are times and places for morning liturgy, for instance, but this sort of sesshin is not one of them. Stripping our activities down to the essentials and keeping forms simple during sesshin allows us to let go of relationships, helping us to return to the self that is only the self. Without distraction, we have the opportunity to see more clearly what's going on in our hearts and minds -- without interacting with whatever is happening there.
