Investigating Zen Practice: A One-Day Workshop

A one-day workshop is a low-barrier entry into Zen practice. This format lets you sample the core elements—sitting meditation (zazen), walking meditation (kinhin), chanting, and work practice—without committing to a multi-day sesshin. The "Ten Directions" framing suggests the retreat is organized around Zen's cosmology or perhaps the Buddhist directions (the four cardinal directions plus up and down), though the specific structure isn't detailed here.

The curriculum hits the main pillars of Zen monastic practice. Zazen is silent sitting; kinhin breaks the stillness with walking meditation, usually in a slow, deliberate pace. Chanting anchors the schedule and the nervous system. Work practice (samu) means hands-on monastery tasks—sweeping, meal prep, garden work—treated as practice itself, not chores. Koans are paradoxical questions or statements that Zen uses to short-circuit conceptual thinking; a one-day workshop will introduce the form, not go deep. Dharma talks are teachings, delivered by the teacher.

This is a good fit if you're curious about Zen but not ready to sit sesshin (the traditional multi-day silent retreat), or if you want to check out Great Vow specifically before a longer commitment. The day-long format means you'll get a taste of the rhythm and what sitting actually feels like—not just the theory.