Introduction:
We are planning a week-long autumn retreat to provide a supportive environment, encompassing Zen and some related practices that are traditionally thought to be conducive to, or benefit from, developing Zen intuition. We hope to bring together both regular students and those that would not otherwise be able to complete a full Zen retreat, thus creating conditions whereby experience and freshness mutually contribute to each others enrichment. This retreat will take the format of traditional morning and evening Za-zen (sitting meditation) and Kinhin (walking meditation), which will be followed by afternoons of Shōdō (Zen calligraphy), poetry walks, Yūga-zen (Zen-yoga), breath-meditations, Sanzen (Koan practice with Ryūshin Rōshi) and Qigong etc.
In order to make this retreat affordable, we have booked the Barn at
Unston Grange, which offers the opportunity for traditional Japanese
temple-style Zendō sleeping, or the option of camping/campervan accommodation. For financial and work purposes
this retreat will be run as a co-operative. We will take turns in carrying out basic tasks that support the retreat
e.g. meal preparation, washing up, cleaning the Zendō etc. In true Zen-spirit the teachings will be free.
We estimate the cost will be between £64 pp/day (10 people) and £60 pp/day (15 people), over the 7 day period and
depending on the number of people that attend. We could also reduce the retreat length if there were insufficient people
to cover costs. Should there be any profit, after the sesshin ends, we will refund the excess proportionately.
If you wish, of course, we would gratefully accept a part of your return-portion, as a donation towards future retreats.
If insufficient numbers are achieved, by two months before the retreat commences, or thereafter, we reserve the right
to cancel the event and reimburse your booking fee. Currently there is a limit of about 15 places, but that could be
extended by people using camping/campervan facilities. The food will be Vegetarian/Vegan.
Registering Interest/Booking: Attendance for the whole week will bring the greatest benefit, but it might be possible to join for shorter periods (minimum 1 day). However, preference will be given to those booking the whole retreat, regular 'Sheffield ZenSpace' members and, of course, then on a 1st come 1st served priority-basis. We will be asking for a 50% deposit 2 months prior to the commencement of the retreat, with the remainder payable immediately upon entry at the retreat. If you are definitely interested and would like to obtain further information as this plan progresses, please contact. Ryūshin Roshi with your e-mail address, mobile number, your proposed attendance, physical and/or dietary needs and we will register your request. Occasionally you may have to wait a short while for a reply, because we currently run 9 in house retreats of one week per year.
.More 'photos can be found at:
https://unstonegrange.co.uk/gallery-2/ ;
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=3400184989997681&set=pb.100064458858871.-2207520000 ).