Whitman College Retreat
For a week in early March a group of seven students from Whitman College came to experience daily life at a Rinzai Zen Monastery. We followed the general day schedule with choka, zazen, formal breakfast, samu and a formal lunch. Additionally we had a session each afternoon where we discussed topics surrounding monastery life and Rinzai Zen with ample time for personal experiences and questions. On the last afternoon at the monastery they went to Enso House where Sōen and Ann discussed the hospice and its relationship to Tahoma. The students ended their week with a day of decompression at Jisai’s beach house. By all reports it was a fruitful experience for the students.
This retreat wouldn’t have been such a success without the efforts of Jiyu, Myokan, Seiwa and Sōen in the tenzo. Extra special thanks to Jiyu who flew up from Portland and apart from being tenzo also helped with shopping, the teas and with the students.
Another picture of the group and a bit more information can be found in the April Tahoma Newsletter.