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Sesshin - Rohatsu

Location icon
79640 Quincy Mayger Road, Clatskanie, Oregon 97016, USA
Date
December 7 - 14, 2025

About this Retreat

Details of this retreat

 

The light of the Buddha's awakening has not dimmed. This very moment, alive, awake and luminous. Each year people from all over the world gather to celebrate, to sit in stillness and to be nourished by this truth. All over the world people join in the ritual of Rohatsu sesshin. This sesshin is the culmination of a year of practice and is also the culmination of our fall Ango practice period.

At many centers and monasteries, this is the most valued sesshin of the year, and may be the only one that many people are able to attend.

We are honored to have Hogen Roshi and Zen Teacher Fuho, stepping forward again and again, to help guide us through the trenches and pitfalls, joys and sorrows of our own minds as we partake once again in this sacred ritual.

 

This sesshin starts on Sunday evening and ends the following Sunday afternoon. It is historically one of our more rigorous sesshin--we are early to bed and early to rise. Be inspired by this global effort to awaken fully and help bring others to awakening! Together!

The expectation for this retreat in particular is that all of us be ready to follow the full schedule and be in full alignment with the forms. We will move as one body during this retreat. The silver dragon option will be available only if you are over 60. Otherwise, please be prepared to be upright and present for everything on the schedule. Part time attendance is not an option.

Sesshin is a rigorous and, at times, challenging silent meditation retreat that is not recommended for beginners. In order to attend in person, we require that you attend one of our silent weekend retreats or a five-seven day silent retreat at another Zen Center before registering for our longer zen retreats. For more information about what to expect when attending a sesshin, click here.

 
$50 deposit holds your space; balance due on arrival.


Tentative Schedule: Monday -Saturday

 

3:50 Wake Up

4:30 Zazen 

6:50 Service

7:30  Oryoki Breakfast

9:00 Work Practice

10:20 End Work

11:00 Zazen

12:20  Service

12:30 Lunch

3:00 Zazen

3:30 Teisho 

5:20 Service

5:30 Dinner

7:00 Zazen

9:20 Formal Tea

Schedule

Please note: this is an approximation; sesshin schedules vary with leader and season.

First evening
5:00 p.m. Registration begins
6:00 p.m. Dinner (informal) and sesshin orientation
9:00 p.m. Zazen and formal opening of sesshin
10:00 p.m. Monastery doors locked

All full days
4:20 a.m. Wake up bell
5:00 a.m. Zazen
6:50 a.m. Service
7:20 a.m. Breakfast (oriyoki) in dining hall
8:30 a.m. Work period begins
9:50 a.m. Warning bell to clean up
10:00 a.m. End of work period
10:30 a.m. Zazen
12:20 p.m. Service
12:30 p.m. Lunch (oriyoki) in dining hall
3:00 p.m. Zazen
5:20 p.m. Service
5:30 p.m. Dinner (oriyoki) in dining hall
7:00 p.m. Zazen
9:20 p.m. Formal Tea/Zazen
10:00 p.m. Monastery doors locked

Last Sunday
4:50 a.m. Wake-up bell
5:30 a.m. Zazen
6:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:00 a.m. Closing Circle
10:00 a.m. Sunday Program (service, zazen)
11:20 a.m. Dharma talk and formal end of sesshin
12:00 p.m. Lunch (informal)
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change

Getting Here

Location icon Zen Community of Oregon, 79640 Quincy Mayger Road, Clatskanie, Oregon 97016, USA

Accommodation

online only
online only (scholarship rate)
Event fee
Event fee (ZCO member rate)

Customer Reviews

4.92 out of 5.0 average rating

5.0
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Gratitude and Full of Dharma Joy
This was a seven-day silent retreat that was challenging both physically and mentally. I learned a lot and my heart was filled with gratitude and joy.

I was surprised and amazed that there are still koans being practiced in modern times. We are initially pushed toward letting go of our carefully guarded egos.

I am very grateful to the three teachers for teaching their own experiences and practice methods with us. Zen Teacher Fuho said: The greatest purpose of being born as a human being is to achieve enlightenment. When practicing, one breath after another, one phrase after another, you should never give up your original intention of achieving enlightenment.

Chozen Rosi emphasizes the use of powerful physical breathing techniques to achieve a state of mindlessness in practice. Rogen Rosi said: You have to love to continue to meditate with practicing breathing techniques like this. On the last night, Zen Teacher Fuho said It is a great gift that Chozen Rosi has given us an opportunity to meditate silently together in the meditation hall.
I must grasp what I have learned and keep practicing.

5.0
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A deep experience in a nourishing setting
I appreciated the container that ZCO has built to plunge deeply into practice. Food was astonishingly good. The teachers were incredibly skilled with means of transmitting the dharma, striking the right notes at auspicious times. A most intimate sesshin.

5.0
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Highly recommended
Great Vow’s teachers demonstrate commitment, kindness, and authenticity. Community members and participants show remarkable maturity. Grounds are lovingly maintained.

5.0
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Koan Sesshin is a masterclass
This was a challenging Sesshin. The wake-up bell rang at 4:20; formal tea ended at 9:30. In between, Chozen and Fuho gave explicit instructions on developing concentration and switching from thinking mind to awareness mind. Their dharma talks gave the full context for koan study, but made clear that this was koan practice - a surrender of small mind into big mind. This seemed mysterious at first, but made more sense as the days went by. Koan Sesshin is not for the faint of heart, but worked its magic even on beginning students.

5.0
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Introduction to Zen
A wonderful one day session covering all the basics. The teachers were lovely and I have so much gratitude toward them for all that they shared.

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