This, just this – with sesshin
With Tejananda
April 4 - 11, 2025
In Zen, a sesshin is a period of especially intense all-the-time formal practice. For three days on this retreat, we will adopt – and adapt – this approach. Each day, there will be several two-hour periods of sitting and walking, and we’ll be opening to the presence of awareness in all of our activities throughout the day.
This will be preceded by two days for us to arrive in our bodies, our senses and the beauty of Vajraloka’s environment. The main practice will emphasise undivided mental calm (shamatha) and clear-seeing (vipashyana) – or ‘silent illumination’.
During the ‘sesshin’, there will be some input suggesting how to orient your practice but there will be no leading-through during the practice sessions. Each day will end with a ritual including chanting and further sitting. In the context of silent practice, short one-to-one reviews will be available each day.
The final day will offer the opportunity to relax, enjoy the fruits of our practice and, coming out of silence, sharing with others.
Leader
Tejananda has been practising meditation and Buddhism for nearly 50 years and has been a member of the Triratna Order since 1980. He has worked in a vegetarian café in Croydon, helped establish the Bristol Buddhist Centre, worked for the Karuna Trust, written a book introducing the fundamentals of Buddhism (‘The Buddhist Path to Awakening’) and taught meditation and Dharma in many parts of the UK, Europe, the USA and Australasia. A member of the Vajraloka resident team from 1995 to 2023, he remains actively involved in teaching and leading retreats at Vajraloka, as well as at other Triratna centres…
Learn more about Tejananda