A ''sesshin'' (接心, or also 摂心/攝心 literally "touching the heart-mind") is a period of intensive

meditation Meditation is a practice in which an individual uses a technique – such as mindfulness, or focusing the mind on a particular object, thought, or activity – to train attention and awareness, and achieve a mentally clear and emotionally calm ...

(

zazen ''Zazen'' (literally " seated meditation"; ja, 座禅; , pronounced ) is a meditative discipline that is typically the primary practice of the Zen Buddhist tradition. However, the term is a general one not unique to Zen, and thus technicall ...

) in a

Zen Zen ( zh, t=禪, p=Chán; ja, text= 禅, translit=zen; ko, text=선, translit=Seon; vi, text=Thiền) is a school of Mahayana Buddhism that originated in China during the Tang dynasty, known as the Chan School (''Chánzong'' 禪宗), and ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whic ...

. While the daily routine in the monastery requires the

monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

s to meditate several hours a day, during a sesshin they devote themselves almost exclusively to zazen practice. The numerous 30- to 50-minute-long meditation periods are interleaved with short rest breaks, meals, and sometimes short periods of work (Japanese: 作務 ''samu'') all performed with the same

mindfulness Mindfulness is the practice of purposely bringing one's attention to the present-moment experience without evaluation, a skill one develops through meditation or other training. Mindfulness derives from Sati (Buddhism), ''sati'', a significant ...

; nightly

sleep Sleep is a sedentary state of mind and body. It is characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited Perception, sensory activity, reduced muscle activity and reduced interactions with surroundings. It is distinguished from wakefuln ...

is kept to a minimum, at six hours or fewer. During the sesshin period, the meditation practice is occasionally interrupted by the master giving public talks ( teisho) and individual direction in private meetings (which may be called '' dokusan'', ''daisan'', or ''sanzen'') with a

Zen Master Zen master is a somewhat vague English term that arose in the first half of the 20th century, sometimes used to refer to an individual who teaches Zen Buddhist meditation and practices, usually implying longtime study and subsequent authori ...

. In modern

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

practice in Japan and the West, sesshins are often attended by lay students and are typically one, three, five, or seven days in length. Seven-day sesshins are held several times a year at many

Zen center The phrase Zen center was coined by American students of Shunryu Suzuki in the mid-twentieth century, and the San Francisco Zen Center became the first Zen center, incorporating in 1962. Neither temples nor monasteries (although at times operati ...

s, especially in commemoration of

the Buddha Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha, was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist tradition, he was born in L ...

's awakening to full enlightenment (''anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi''). At this Rohatsu sesshin, practitioners seek to relax and quiet the mind to the point of cessation of mental chatter and emotional impulse, '' samadhi'', '' kensho'', or ''

satori is a Japanese Buddhist term for awakening, "comprehension; understanding". It is derived from the Japanese verb satoru. In the Zen Buddhist tradition, ''satori'' refers to a deep experience of '' kenshō'', "seeing into one's true nature ...

''.

A typical sesshin day

A ''sesshin'' schedule in the West will typically allow anywhere from nine to fifteen periods of ''

'' per day, 30–40 minutes each, with ten-minute periods of walking meditation ('' kinhin'') between ''zazen'' periods. Traditional ''sesshin'' are more intensive, with meditations lasting 30–60 minutes each, with an absence of any rest or work breaks and sleep limited to less than five hours a day. Meals are taken in a formal meditation ritual of ''

ōryōki ''Ōryōki'' ( ja, 応量器) (, ja, はったら, hattara), is a transliteration of Sanskrit ', also called ''應量器'' ( zh, p=yìng liàng qì), means "vessel that contains just enough" is a set of nested bowls and other eating utensils for ...

''. Work periods in westernized ''sesshin'' are sometimes scheduled and may comprise one to two hours of the day, usually in gardening, cooking, or cleaning. The ''sesshin'' schedule typically allows for four to five hours of sleep per night, though practitioners occasionally will spend much of the next-to-last night of a five- or seven-day ''sesshin'' in ''zazen''. This is called '' yaza'' and is much revered as a particularly effective time to meditate when the thinking mind and

ego Ego or EGO may refer to: Social sciences * Ego (Freudian), one of the three constructs in Sigmund Freud's structural model of the psyche * Egoism, an ethical theory that treats self-interest as the foundation of morality * Egotism, the drive to ...

lack the energy to derail practice. It has been reported that at least three days of ''sesshin'' are usually required for the practitioner to "settle down" into the ''sesshin'' routine to a point where the mind becomes quiet enough for the deeper types of meditation and ''samadhi'' to begin.

Psychological aspects of sesshin

Some people unfamiliar with the process have reported becoming disoriented and fearful of incurring psychological damage during sesshin. Some Zen centers do not allow novices to attend long sesshins without much prior experience and screening by the practice leaders. Sesshin can lead to deep experiences of awakening that may at times be somewhat traumatic, akin to a " spiritual emergency" or symptoms of Kundalini Syndrome. While this may seem daunting at first, people who practice regular

do not usually have problems with sesshin. Heightening of senses may arise during sesshin. Sometimes practitioners report that food has incredible flavor and colors become more vivid and pronounced.

Social aspects of sesshin

There is no talking during sesshin. Silence is observed so that each student may both concentrate on their experience and not influence those of others. At the end of the sesshin, there is usually a meal when students are allowed to talk to others for the first time since arriving.

References

External links

Traditional Zen Sesshin at the Dai Bosatsu Monastery

"Bodhidhrama's Shoe"
a short film of a sesshin with Joshu Sasaki Roshi, recorded by Tom Davenport in 2003. {{Buddhism topics Zen Buddhist meditation Zazen

A typical sesshin day

Psychological aspects of sesshin

Social aspects of sesshin

See also

References

External links