Sesshin

Part of a series on Zen Buddhism

The Five Houses

Caodong / Sōtō Linji / Rinzai Fayan / Hōgen Guiyang / Igyō Yunmen / Unmon

Doctrine and practice

Buddha-nature Dharma transmission Emptiness Enlightenment Group meditation Kōan practice Samādhi Sitting meditation

Principal texts

Diamond Sūtra Heart Sūtra Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra Platform Sūtra Śūraṅgama Sūtra (Kōan collections)

Mahāyāna Buddhism Outline of Buddhism (Category)

A sesshin (接心, 摂心, 攝心), literally "touching the heart-mind" (but frequently mistranslated in Western Zen centers as "gathering the mind"), is a period of intensive meditation (zazen) in a Zen monastery.

While the daily routine in the monastery requires the monks to meditate several hours a day, during a sesshin they devote themselves almost exclusively to zazen practice. The numerous 30- to 50-minute-long meditation periods are interleaved with short rest breaks, meals, and sometimes short periods of work (Japanese: samu) all performed with the same mindfulness; nightly sleep is kept to a minimum, at six hours or fewer. During the sesshin period, the meditation practice is occasionally interrupted by the master giving public talks (teisho) and individual direction in private meetings (which may be called dokusan, daisan, or sanzen) with a Zen Master.

In modern Buddhist practice in Japan and the West, sesshins are often attended by lay students, and are typically one, three, five, or seven days in length. Seven-day sesshins are held several times a year at many Zen centers, especially in commemoration of the Buddha's awakening to annuttara samyak sambodhi. At this Rohatsu sesshin, practitioners seek to relax and quiet the mind to the point of cessation of mental chatter and emotional impulse, samadhi, kensho, or satori.

A typical sesshin day

A sesshin schedule in the West will typically allow anywhere from nine to fifteen periods of zazen per day, 30–40 minutes each, with ten minute periods of walking meditation (kinhin) between zazen periods. Traditional sesshins are more intensive, with meditations lasting 30–60 minutes each, with an absence of any rest or work breaks and sleep limited to less than five hours a day.

Meals are taken in a formal meditation ritual of oryoki. Work periods in westernized sesshin are sometimes scheduled and may comprise one to two hours of the day, usually in gardening, cooking, or cleaning. The sesshin schedule typically allows for four to five hours of sleep per night, though practitioners occasionally will spend much of the next-to-last night of a five- or seven-day sesshin in zazen. This is called yaza and is much revered as a particularly effective time to meditate when the thinking mind and ego lack the energy to derail practice. It has been reported that at least three days of sesshin are usually required for the practitioner to "settle down" into the sesshin routine to a point where the mind becomes quiet enough for the deeper types of meditation and samadhi to begin.

Social aspects of sesshin

There is no talking during sesshin. Silence is observed so that each student may both concentrate on his experience and not influence those of others.

At the end of the sesshin there is usually a meal when students are allowed to talk to others for the first time since arriving.

See also

• Ango
• Buddhist terms and concepts
• Dai Bosatsu Zendo Kongo-ji
• Tenzo

Further reading

• The book Three Pillars of Zen by Philip Kapleau (ISBN 0-385-26093-8) contains several first-person accounts of Rinzai sesshin experiences.

External links

• Traditional Zen Sesshin at the Dai Bosatsu Monastery
• Diary of a lay student in Sesshin
• "Bodhidhrama's Shoe" is a film of a sesshin at Bodhi Manda with Joshu Sasaki Roshi.
• Translation for 接心 (sesshin)
• Translation for 接 (setsu) and 心 (shin)