Ocean Gathering Sesshin

Ocean Gathering Sesshin is a standard residential sesshin—the flagship format of Zen practice in North America. If you've never sat one, expect a full immersion: 7 to 10 hours of zazen (sitting meditation) per day, structured in periods of 25–40 minutes with kinhin (walking meditation) between them. Silence is maintained throughout; you'll eat formal oryoki meals in the meditation hall, work alongside others in silence, and sit in the same room with the group for most of the day.

The retreat includes chanting services (typically morning and evening), teacher talks that contextualize the practice, and dokusan—private meetings with a teacher where you can ask about your practice or sit in silence together. Work practice is part of the schedule, usually in the morning or afternoon; it's both practical and meditative.

Six days is long enough to settle past the initial restlessness and into a genuine rhythm. Most people report that by day three or four, the schedule stops feeling oppressive and becomes almost invisible. The structure—the bell, the schedule, the silence, the presence of others—does the holding for you.