The Practice of Attention: Zen, Writing, and the Unfiltered Page
Please join us for our multi-day meditation retreat in the western North Carolina mountains. Watershed Retreat Center is located on 100 or so acres in a pastoral setting highly conducive to finding — or returning to — our true nature, all the while resting in the embrace of Mother Nature.
In Mountains and Waters Sutra, Dogen admonishes practitioners to “clearly examine blue mountains walking and your own walking.” Additionally, he says, “blue mountains are neither sentient nor insentient. You are neither sentient nor insentient.” At this Watershed Retreat, we will sit zazen, walk mountain paths, and enter into these same blue mountains Dogen spoke of over a millennia ago. We will try to hear with our eyes and see with our ears the teaching of the dharma from the mountains and waters that surround us. This requires us to tap into our creative energy, a flowing spring that runs throughout the natural world. Through various writing exercises, we will creatively examine the blue mountains walking and our own walking, which just means, practically speaking, our lives, our experience, our practice, and maybe touch that ineffable thing beyond insentience and sentience.
Bring your favorite writing tools, along with a camera if you would like to engage in nature photography. While writing is not required, we will alternate sitting meditation periods with writing, creative language exercises and sharing sessions.
Meet your hosts:
Taiun-roshi will share poetry from the written record of Zen, introduce verbal design exercises, and offer opportunities for personal interviews (dokusan).
Shomōn Alan Rossi, a novelist, award-winning short story writer, and teacher of creative writing, will offer technique exercises that are inspired by Zen practice.
Registration limited to 5 to preserve intimacy and interactivity of the intensive. If the event is at capacity, please join the waitlist and send an email to Bryan Price to discuss options.
Where: Watershed Retreat Center – 361 Albone Branch Road, Hayesville, NC 28904
Fees: Suggested Donation $240 (or pay what you can).
Questions Prior to Retreat Contact:
— Elliston Roshi
— Bryan Price
