Spring Sesshin

Trainer: Will Moon, Gillian Coote Category: ,

Saturday 23rd to Saturday 30th September

SZC Spring sesshin will be led by Gillian Coote, roshi and apprentice teacher Will Moon

In a profound valley beneath high cliffs,
zazen is peaceful, lonely and truly comfortable.
(from Song of Realising the Way by Yung-chia)

At sesshin, we separate ourselves from the concerns and preoccupations of our busy, everyday lives. In these special training circumstances we are free to devote ourselves entirely to the practice of realising the Buddha Way. We are free to be true to our hearts. We are free to transcend the background chatter of our busy minds and see into the fact of our own nature.
Here, everything – the fog, the dew, the birdsong, the encircling cliffs – conspires to wake us up.

Old-timers and new students alike are most welcome. However, as sesshin involves seven or eight hours a day of zazen – sitting meditation – it is suitable only for people with experience in meditating for extended periods.

Kodoji or Ancient Ground Temple, is SZC’s retreat centre in the Upper MacDonald Valley, about 2 hours north-west of Sydney, via Wisemans Ferry and St Albans. It was built over the last twenty-five years by Sydney Zen Centre students. Kodoji sits in a beautiful valley called Gorricks Run, surrounded by high sandstone cliffs and deep wilderness.

Indoor accommodation is available if you require it. Most participants prefer to bring their own tents and camp in the paddock, or sleep under cover of the dojo verandah.

Bookings:

Applications are now open for members and non-members. If we need to limit attendance numbers to minimise the COVID risks, we will allocate places in the order they are received, subject to the following priorities:

1st priority: SZC members who book full-time or part-time positions by
2nd priority: Anyone (member or non-member) booking a full-time position by
3rd priority: Any other bookings, in the order they are receive.

COVID safe:

The sesshin will be run on COVID-safe principles. Participants will need to provide proof of their double vaccinated
(at minimum) status to attend sesshin. If you experience cold/flu/respiratory symptoms in the days leading up to the sesshin, you can not attend sesshin, and we will fully refund your fee.

Backup plan / cancellation of sesshin:

In the event that flooding prevents us from accessing Kodoji, our backup plan is to relocate the sesshin to our Annandale zendo during the daytime, with early morning and evening blocks online. We will provide a refund option for participants who might find these arrangements impractical.

Flyer and Application form here

Contact: Julie Robinson julesandco@live.com.au

 

 

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SZC will hold other sesshins during the year:

Rohatsu sesshin at Annandale, led by Paul Maloney
Saturday 2nd to Friday December 8th, 2023
Contact: Jill Steverson jillsteverson@gmail.com

Timetable

  Open Time Close Time Teacher Address
23/09/2023 5:30 AM 9:00 PM Will Moon, Gillian Coote Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
23/09/2023 5:30 AM 9:00 PM Gillian Coote Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
24/09/2023 5:30 AM 9:00 PM Will Moon, Gillian Coote Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
25/09/2023 5:30 AM 9:00 PM Will Moon, Gillian Coote Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
26/09/2023 5:30 AM 9:00 PM Will Moon, Gillian Coote Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
27/09/2023 5:30 AM 9:00 PM Will Moon, Gillian Coote Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
28/09/2023 5:30 AM 9:00 PM Will Moon, Gillian Coote Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
29/09/2023 5:30 AM 9:00 PM Will Moon, Gillian Coote Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
30/09/2023 5:30 AM 9:00 PM Will Moon, Gillian Coote Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
23/09/2023
5:30 AM - 9:00 PM - with Will Moon, Gillian Coote - at Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
23/09/2023
5:30 AM - 9:00 PM - with Gillian Coote - at Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
24/09/2023
5:30 AM - 9:00 PM - with Will Moon, Gillian Coote - at Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
25/09/2023
5:30 AM - 9:00 PM - with Will Moon, Gillian Coote - at Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
26/09/2023
5:30 AM - 9:00 PM - with Will Moon, Gillian Coote - at Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
27/09/2023
5:30 AM - 9:00 PM - with Will Moon, Gillian Coote - at Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
28/09/2023
5:30 AM - 9:00 PM - with Will Moon, Gillian Coote - at Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
29/09/2023
5:30 AM - 9:00 PM - with Will Moon, Gillian Coote - at Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW
30/09/2023
5:30 AM - 9:00 PM - with Will Moon, Gillian Coote - at Kodoji, Upper MacDonald Valley, NSW

Will began his Zen practice in the mid-eighties and attended his first sesshin when Robert Aitken visited Australia in about 1985. He began practice with the Sydney Zen Centre around the same time. In 1989 and 1991 he went to Hawaii and participated in the training periods held during these years with Robert Aitken at Koko An Zendo. During this time, he worked on the building of the Palolo Zendo. He moved away from actively participating in Zen practice with the Sydney Zen Centre from 1997, returning in 2006. He began koan study initially with Robert Aitken, then John Tarrant, and then worked with Subhana Barzaghi, Gillian Coote, Paul Maloney, Maggie Gluek and Robert (Bob) Joyner during a 6 month stay in Adelaide. Will has spent many years pursuing activities in the outdoors including bushwalking, sea kayaking, mountain biking, climbing, skiing and canyoning. He developed an interest in the Aboriginal archaeology that was present in all of the remote areas he visited, and from this he pursued studies in archaeology and went on to complete a Masters in Archaeology and Heritage Management at Flinders University. He presently works as a consulting Archaeologist. In 2019 Will became an apprentice teacher with Gilly Coote, roshi as his supervisor.

Gillian Coote, a senior resident teacher of the Sydney Zen Centre, met Robert Aitken Roshi in 1980, regularly attending his annual sesshin in Sydney as well as training periods and sesshin in Hawai'i. She also studied with John Tarrant and Subhana Barzaghi, from whom she received dharma transmission in June 2004 at Kodoji, Temple of the Ancient Ground. Gillian has been involved with developing sangha at Sydney Zen Centre since the early '80's - organising sesshins, editing SZC's journal, Mind Moon Circle and being involved in sangha ceremonies and activities. Inspired by their experience of sangha building at the Ring of Bone Zendo in California in 1982, Gilly and her architect/builder husband Tony, have built and maintained, with the help of the sangha, our bush zendo Kodoji at Gorricks Run. She trained with environmental activist and Buddhist scholar, Joanna Macy, and for fifteen years was the co-ordinator of the Sydney branch of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship. She has practised with Thich Nhat Hanh, attending his artists' retreat in Ojai, California and joined his pilgrimage to Buddhist sites in India and Nepal. She directed and produced 'The Awakening Bell', a documentary film made during his visit to Sydney. Gillian is a social documentary filmmaker, writer, grandmother and bush regenerator. She is supervising apprentice teacher, Will Moon.