Zen Sesshin with Bruce Harris @ Saranam Retreat Center

Open to anyone who’s interested in meditation and the path toward our deepest yearning, what Zen calls our “true nature.” 2019 is the twentieth year Bruce has been coming to our sangha—we are celebrating the good fortune that brought us together.
Bruce gets us started, encourages us, offers thought-provoking talks, and then leaves us in the zendo while he meets one on one in the dokusan (interview) room. He finds where we’re at, and helps over the bumps and apparent barriers. Some of us have gone on to koan study with him.
We’ll arrive in the afternoon in time for a light supper at 6 on Monday November 11th, begin that evening, and conclude with a final meal at mid-day on Friday the 15th.
Typical schedule: meet at 6:30 a.m., sit/walk two periods, breakfast, meet again in the zendo or in the dharma den for a talk. Tea break, more sitting, begin personal interviews. Lunch is followed by a siesta and work period. Meet again at 3, more sitting and usually another talk, up until supper around 6. After clean-up, one or two more periods, and finish the day. Some enjoy more sitting into the night. If sitting on a cushion on the floor for 20 – 25 minutes at a time is too hard on the joints, we can use a chair.
Devotional aspects of our practice include chanting sutras (we have translations); bowing, and twice a day, three “full bows,” or prostrations, tossing away any ego stiffness; silence unless there is a real need to speak (say, in the kitchen). Living with other people in general silence has a quality of dance to it.
Speaking of the kitchen, we all contribute to meals and take turns cooking. Sleeping arrangements are dorm-style.
Bruce Harris trained as a young man at Zen monasteries in Japan; left to care for his mother in France, where he found contemplative Christian groups, including Greek Orthodox; and more recently, he has studied with a Tibetan rinpoche. His teaching is firmly grounded in Buddhism, going back to the earliest days, on to Zen’s flourishing in the Tang Dynasty, and to the lay-oriented group he’s affiliated with, Sanbo Zen. He is open-minded and interested in all traditions. We’re on the path together.
Contact: Hugh Rogers, hugh.rogers@gmail.com, 304-636-2662. Cost: $280.00 ($65.00 /day for teacher, $15.00/day for Saranam use.) Some scholarship assistance may be available.