Fall 2025 Practice Period

A ninety-day practice period is an extended commitment — not a single retreat, but a season of training. This one frames itself around Dharma transmission: how the teaching moves from teacher to student and from student to world. You'll explore that theme across two intensives (the September Integrated Intensive and the December Rohatsu Intensive, which marks the Buddha's enlightenment) with the wider sangha.

Nathan Smalley teaches in the Soto Zen lineage, which emphasizes shikantaza (just sitting) as the core practice. In a practice period like this, that means daily zazen (sitting), kinhin (walking meditation), and dokusan (private meetings with the teacher) structured around the traditional sesshin rhythm — long sitting periods, communal meals, work practice, and considerable silence. The September intensive and December intensive provide focal points; the months between involve continued residential practice with the community.

This format — extended practice with periodic intensives — differs from a single week-long retreat. You're living in the schedule, not visiting it. That changes what's possible: deeper roots in the practice, more sustained engagement with the tradition and the sangha, and the kind of stability that longer periods can bring. It's also a significant commitment. If you're considering joining, contact appamada directly for details on residential logistics, whether partial participation is available, and what prior experience they expect.