Summer Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat

A single-day zazenkai offers a concentrated container for practice without the multi-day commitment of a full sesshin. The extended zazen periods — longer than typical morning or evening sits — create a different quality of settling in, especially within the support of practicing alongside others in silence.

Great Vow is a Soto Zen monastery in the Dōgen lineage. In Soto practice, zazen itself is understood as complete practice, not a means to an end. You sit upright on a cushion, following the breath and the body's natural settling. The "window of possibility" the center mentions is their way of describing what emerges when you sit longer and deeper than usual — not achievement, but a kind of opening that happens when the mind quiets.

A day-sit typically runs from early morning through late afternoon or early evening, with multiple zazen periods separated by kinhin (walking meditation) and a communal meal, often taken in silence. Noble silence means no talking outside of necessary communication. You're expected to be present and attentive, not to fill gaps with conversation.

This format works well for people new to Zen practice who want to experience what longer sitting feels like, or for experienced practitioners maintaining their practice between longer retreats.