Virtual Rohatsu – Tahoma Zen Monastery

November 26, 2021December 9, 2021

Rohatsu Sesshin 2021

12.08.21 – Thanks to all who took part in our Rohatsu Sesshin, I dearly hope it was a fruitful experience. My apologize for being unable to broadcast the very final session, the Bodhi Day Ceremony. As I had feared the strong winds brought down trees all over the Island and we were without power for nearly 12 hours.

“Every sit builds toward sesshin; every sesshin builds toward Rohatsu.”

Tahoma will hold Rohatsu Sesshin on the traditional days, December 1st through 8th. This will be offered as an online retreat but there also be limited opportunities for those in the local area to attend in-person and our evening session will remain open to drop-in attendance (vaccination and masks required) As the culmination of the Autumn Kessei as well as the training year, we can all dedicate ourselves to an extended week of zazen. OSesshin is always an opportunity to go deep and push ourselves beyond our limits, Rohatsu even more-so as we are asked to leave it all on the table. A virtual sesshin does demand more from us in order to deeply take advantage of the opportunity. The broadcast provides a structure, just as attending a sesshin in-person does, but the commitment is up to the individual. If one is able commit to doing the entire sesshin, prepare yourself a space where you can minimize distractions. Have your meals planned out and the shopping completed. Work out a way to do kinhin and physical practice. Then just flow along with the schedule. During the Dharma talks we will continue our investigation of the Letters of Dahui and his teachings for lay practitioners without ready access to a teacher. Truly valuable teachings for these times and for lay practice in general.

Online Retreat Information

We will begin with a period of zazen and kokuho on November 30th. Kokuho will include any orientation information needed for online participants. During the week of retreat Zoom broadcast throughout the day will be in four blocks with the evening broadcast becoming longer and longer as as the week goes on.

November 29, 2020December 10, 2020

Virtual Rohatsu Participation Information

“People vow to experience this very same experience of the Buddha as they approach the Rohatsu OSesshin. In every single Zen dojo people put their lives on the line to be able to experience the exact same state of mind, on the eighth of December, as that of the Buddha. This is the firm vow with which they come to Rohatsu OSesshin.”
–Shodo Harada Roshi

December 1st – 8th, 2020

Before taking part in a Virtual Event at Tahoma please read these posts:
Guidelines for Virtual Events and Orientation to Virtual Sesshin.

Please note that this is a winter sesshin and storms and power outages are possible. If there is no connection at a scheduled time, please sit on your own until the host is able to join. Check here on the website where we will post updates as we can.

Dharma Talks will be from Torei Enji’s Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp of the Zen School. Download a free PDF of it here (45MB pdf). An archive of previous talks can be found here: Torei zenji’s Discourse talks.

Download the full schedule here: Rohatsu Sesshin Schedule.
Updated for Rohatsu Sutra book: Virtual Sutra book
You will need the above sutra book for Banka.

Sesshin Schedule

Tuesday, December 1st – Monday, December 7th

5:00am	Choka (morning sutras); sampai
5:40am	Zazen (short period); Kinhin
6:00am	Zazen; Zazen
7:00am	Breakfast / Samu / Cleanup
9:30am	Uninterrupted Zazen; Kinhin
10:30am	Zazen;Zazen; Kinhin
11:30am	Zazen
12:00pm	Lunch / Break
2:00pm	Dharma Talk; Kinhin
3:00pm	Zazen; Zazen; Kinhin
4:00pm	Banka (afternoon sutras); sampai
4:30pm	Outside/Physical Practice
5:00pm	Dinner / Break
6:00pm	Uninterrupted Zazen; Kinhin
7:00pm	Zazen; Zazen; Kinhin
8:00pm	Zazen; Zazen;
Day 1-4
8:45pm	Kaichin / Yaza
Day 5&6
8:50	Kinhin; Zazen; Zazen
9:45pm	Kaichin / Yaza
Day 7
8:50pm	Kinhin; Zazen; Zazen
9:45pm	Kaichin / Break
10:00pm	Zazen; Kinhin (Ho Chanting); Zazen
11:00pm	Yaza

All times Pacific Time. Please tune in five minutes before scheduled events
Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed
As the sesshin progresses the schedule runs later. Download the full schedule for details.

Tuesday, December 8th

5:00am	Choka (abbreviated sutras); sampai
5:40am	Zazen (short period); Kinhin
6:00am	Zazen; Zazen
6:50am	Break
7:00am	Bodhi Day Ceremony
7:30am	Closing Remarks

All times Pacific Time. Please tune in five minutes before scheduled events
Events in Bold will be streamed, events in Italics are self-directed.

Schedule Notes
Monday November 30th: No evening zazen
Sunday December 6th: No Zazenkai
Wednesday December 9th: No scheduled events

In Person Attendance
The following blocks are open for in-person attendance (masks required):
9:30am-Noon
6:00pm to Close

To receive the links for the Virtual Events by email:
Tahoma Virtual Events mailing list.

There is no fee for participating in this event but do be mindful that virtual events also utilize resources and the monastery does have regular expenses in order to keep open. We wish to facilitate the practice and promote the dharma as widely as possible, thus our practice of putting on these events without cost. This is especially important in these times with so many out of work and confined to home. For those who are able to offer support, we appreciate your including us in your consideration. Thank your for your continuing support and please email us with any questions: Contact Information.

November 20, 2020November 27, 2020

Virtual Rohatsu 2020

Rohatsu is the traditional peak of the practice year and commemorates the Buddha’s enlightenment. The classic story is that after his years of ascetic practice the Buddha sat under the Bodhi Tree vowing to sit there until complete awakening. Nine days later on seeing the morning star (Venus) he penetrated to the depths. Rohatsu Sesshin commemorates this with an eight day sesshin that models a single day of practice. We play the Han as we sit on the first day and not again until on the eighth morning we conclude this one long single day with the Kaimei Han. The amount of sitting increases as the sesshin wears on and it is expected that one sits through the night on the final day.

Tahoma will hold a Virtual Rohatsu Sesshin on the traditional days, December 1st through 8th. While we are not able to gather in person, we can all dedicate ourselves to an extended week of zazen. This is an intense schedule and while participating virtually one is not as held by the social pressure we encourage those who can to take full advantage of this opportunity. The broadcast simply provides a structure just as attending a sesshin in person does. The commitment is up to the individual. If one is able commit to doing the entire sesshin, prepare yourself a space where you can minimize distractions. Have your meals planned out and the shopping completed. Work out a way to do kinhin and physical practice. Then just flow along with the schedule.

Dharma Talks will be from Torei Enji’s Discourse on the Inexhaustible Lamp of the Zen School. This text is rarely engaged with in the west but presents a complete description of Rinzai Zen Training in the Hakuin tradition. If you’d like your own copy you can purchase the book here (scroll down) or download a free PDF of it here (45MB pdf).

Before taking part in a Virtual Event at Tahoma please read these posts:
Guidelines for Virtual Events and Orientation to Virtual Sesshin.