True Refuge Week: Self-Directed Intensive Practice for MRO Students

True Refuge Week is structured differently from a traditional sesshin. Rather than a fixed daily schedule of prescribed practice periods, this retreat holds a reliable morning container — zazen and group caretaking work — then opens the rest of the day for self-direction. You might sit additional periods, study a sutra, make art, or practice extended silence; the choice is yours. The Mountains and Rivers Order (MRO) is the training lineage of Zen Mountain Monastery, rooted in Japanese Zen but shaped by its American teachers and students over decades.

The small group size (nine participants) is deliberate. This isn't a public retreat but a gathering of people already committed to the community and its practice style. You'll live together, eat together, and work together — which means the retreat is as much about how you show up in relationship as what you accomplish in your personal practice focus.

Lodging is residential at the temple grounds. Meals are included. If you're an MRO training student considering this retreat, it's an opportunity to deepen your individual practice while staying embedded in the community's rhythm.