ZenistJust Sitting Retreat - Spring 2026
Six-night silent retreat built around sitting, meals, and sleep in deep silence with community. No talks, interviews, or scheduled work. Participants practice as they see fit—walking, resting, observing—within the container of the schedule. Prior multi-day retreat or sesshin experience required.
About this retreat
This is a bare-bones retreat: sitting, silence, meals, sleep. No teacher talks, no dokusan, no structured work practice. The day is built around a sitting schedule, with silence as the container. The retreat names three principles—tranquility, harmony, respect—meant to guide both inner practice and how you move in the shared space.
Within that structure, you're trusted to know what you need. Walk if walking serves your practice. Rest. Watch birds. The retreat expects you to tend to yourself mindfully rather than follow a prescribed day. This format assumes you've already sat multi-day retreats and know how to be in silence with others.
All participants stay in single rooms (unless otherwise arranged). Meals are vegetarian and shared. If cost is a barrier, contact Lee Lewis at leestevenlewis@gmail.com to discuss. Space is limited.
Originally listed on Hokyoji Zen Practice Community's website.
Full details from Hokyoji Zen Practice Community
Please join us in a retreat of mindful meditation within an environment of deep silence and community. A sitting schedule and silence are the bones of the retreat. The principles guiding the retreat are tranquility, harmony and respect. These principles apply to both ourselves (internally) and to others (externally) through our actions. There are no services, dharma talks, interviews with a teacher or work periods. Meals, silence, sitting and sleep are the support for our individual and collective practice. That said, participants are free to practice as they see fit augmenting their day with walks, naps, bird watching, botanizing, looking…meeting one’s needs mindfully as retreat activity.
All participants should have experience sitting multi-day mindfulness retreats or sesshins.
Cost: $763/person. Single occupancy, unless otherwise arranged. Contact Lee Lewis (leestevenlewis@gmail.com) if the cost poses an economic hardship.
Space is limited. Vegetarian meals. Full retreat (6+ days/7nights).
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