Wednesday – Thursday · 23 days
06–28
January 2027

3-Week Intensive led by Norman at Green Gulch Farm

with Norman·Zen

Zenresidentialsesshinzazenoryoki

Three-week residential Zen intensive at Green Gulch Farm Zen Center in Muir Beach, California, January 6–27, 2027, led by Norman and offered through the Everyday Zen Foundation. The schedule includes four daily zazen periods, formal oryoki meals, work periods, dharma talks, classes, and meetings with teachers. The study theme is lojong, the Tibetan Buddhist practice of working with short slogans to generate enlightened compassion. For experienced meditators, by application through the Green Gulch Farm website.

About this retreat

This is the January intensive at Green Gulch Farm: three weeks of residential Zen practice, January 6–27, 2027, led by Norman and listed by the Everyday Zen Foundation. The theme is "Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong." Lojong is a Tibetan Buddhist practice built around short phrases — "slogans" — worked with as a way of generating bodhichitta, which the listing describes as the heart and mind of enlightened compassion. A Tibetan study theme inside a Zen intensive format is the stated design here, flagged right in the title.

The teacher and the setting

The Everyday Zen page identifies the teacher only by first name, so anyone researching the leadership should start with the event page on the Green Gulch Farm website, which is hosted on the San Francisco Zen Center site (sfzc.org). The venue is Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, 1601 Shoreline Highway, Muir Beach, California. The listing describes participants as joining Green Gulch's resident staff for the three weeks, so the retreat runs within the center's existing residential community rather than as a separate event alongside it.

The schedule

The description is more concrete than most. Zazen sits in four periods a day — early morning, mid-morning, afternoon, and evening — along with formal oryoki meals (the Zen ritual of taking meals from bowls in a set form), work periods, dharma talks, and classes. Formal and informal meetings with teachers are also offered. The listing does not say whether the three weeks are held in silence; that, along with lodging details, would be on the Green Gulch Farm page.

Practical notes

Attendance is by application — the listing directs meditators to apply through the event page on the Green Gulch Farm website — and the retreat is aimed at experienced meditators. Fees are not published on the Everyday Zen page.

  • Dates: January 6–27, 2027
  • Location: Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, 1601 Shoreline Highway, Muir Beach, CA
  • Registration: apply via the Green Gulch Farm event page on sfzc.org
  • Questions: registrars Tim Sandoe and Maya Elrick, [email protected]
  • Not stated on this page: fees, silence policy, lodging details
Register for this retreat→

Schedules can change — confirm details on Everyday Zen Foundation's website.

Full details from Everyday Zen Foundation

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This three-week retreat offers an opportunity for experienced meditators to join Green Gulch staff in a period of intensive residential practice. The schedule includes zazen in the early morning, mid-morning, afternoon, and evening; formal oryoki meals; work periods; Dharma talks; and classes. Formal and informal meetings with teachers will also be offered.
The theme for study and practice in this intensive is Training in Compassion: Zen Teachings on the Practice of Lojong. Lojong is the Tibetan Buddhist practice that involves working with short phrases (called “slogans”) as a way of generating bodhichitta, the heart and mind of enlightened compassion.
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