Event Type 2: Programs-Residential Reteats

Winter Sesshin with Diane Musho Hamilton Roshi
December 3-10, 2023
Torrey, Utah

Rohatsu Winter Sesshin is an intensive meditation retreat dedicated to the practice of zazen. This year, the winter sesshin is silent. There will be an orienting dharma talk at the beginning and one for integration at the conclusion of the retreat. Otherwise, the Zendo schedule is entirely silent sitting. 

Practitioners who gather at Two Arrows Zen in Torrey will be joined in a 7-day schedule by online participants from many locations. The experience of a strong schedule for sitting will benefit everyone who wishes to deepen their practice of zazen.

Rohatsu is Japanese for “eighth day of the twelfth month.” The Buddha was enlightened on the eighth of December when he looked up at the morning star, the planet we call Venus. The brightness of this planet was seen by Buddha at the end of a week straight of the deepest Samadhi.

From within this state of mind, the Buddha said: How wondrous, how wondrous! All beings are endowed with this pure nature! What a wondrous, astonishing thing has been realized! All the ten thousand things, all the flowers, all the trees, all the rocks, all things everywhere are shining brilliantly! The Rohatsu Sesshin commemorates that realization.

Participants in Torrey will be observing silence throughout the retreat. Even when not in the meditation hall, participants endeavor to maintain silence at all times — in all forms of practice. Meditative awareness is offered as a gift to support each other in creative, noble, and joyful silence. 

The Winter Sesshin in Torrey will start on Sunday, December 3 at 4 pm and end on Sunday, December 10 at noon. The program will include Zazen, Dokusan for new practitioners, community meetings, samu (work practice), and silent walks in nature.

Everyone coming to Torrey should plan to stay through the close of the retreat at noon on Sunday, December 10. No early departures. The retreat includes all meals, from dinner on 12/3 until breakfast on 12/10.

The cost is $799 for Two Arrows Zen Members and $899 for General Admission.

Please CONTACT US for more information about registration.