About Sesshin

Sesshin means to connect or receive the Heart-Mind of the universe and all beings. It is a rare opportunity to practice in a more formal and extended way, to deepen the path of Zen. Our sesshins are residential retreats with private rooms, more formal practice, teacher interviews, dharma talks, chanting, and shared meals. Weather permitting, we walk kinhin outdoors to connect with nature. We maintain silence during sesshin to help all attendees maintain a contemplative mindset.

January 2026 Sesshin We will be holding a weekend sesshin from Friday evening to Sunday lunchtime on January 9-11, 2026. Participants will arrive and select rooms in one of the two cabins between 4:30 and 6PM. Please note that as a welcoming and inclusive sangha, we do not divide the cabins by sex or gender. The cabin rooms and restrooms are private, with locking doors (there are two restrooms per cabin).

Dinner will be with conversation. At evening zazen we will enter noble silence until the conclusion of the event with a Way of Council on Sunday late morning. People who want to join the sangha for a shorter period of sitting can attend an all-day zazenkai on Saturday starting at 8 AM. Please see the event page for more details and registration information.

Our residential sesshins normally fall in January, May or September. Since late 2024, we have been coordinating schedules with our sister sangha, Joyful Mind Zen Community for sesshins. Joyful Mind sessions start on Friday evening and run through midday Monday.

As details are available they are posted on this page. We hold our sesshins at the beautiful Wellspring Conference Center in Germantown MD. Joyful Mind Zen Community holds them at the nearby and equally beautiful Dayspring Silent Retreat Center.