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Retreat Reports: Western Zen Retreat

We publish selections from retreat reports written after Western Chan Fellowship retreats, to illustrate the range of experiences people go through as they investigate themselves in silent meditation. These reports are printed anonymously and may be lightly edited.

  • Person sitting on stone block overlooking landscape

    Anonymous |

    Teacher: Tell me who you are?
    Participant: I am the answer.
    Teacher: What is the question?
    Participant: Moment to moment.
    Teacher: What do you feel?

    Participant: Space with no boundary or pressure. (THIS SPACE DID NOT FEEL VAST OR LARGE OR IN ANY WAY OVERWHELMING, YET ONE SENSED IT HAD NO END, WAS TIMELESS, AND HAD EXISTED BEFORE THE BIG BANG, WHICH WAS EXTENDING INTO IT.)

    Teacher: What do you hear?
    …

    Read more of: A Western Zen Retreat Interview
  • Person sitting on stone block overlooking landscape

    Anonymous |

    The silence becomes very palpable, solid. The quality of experience has been turned up. My koan becomes very distant. What first seemed like a fence, close and restricting, now, has moved to the horizon and eventually disappeared.

    Everything seems wrapped in a profound silence which becomes as interesting as the sounds from the distant hills. Things become soft, fine and gentle. They all happen…

    Read more of: Western Zen Retreat

©Western Chan Fellowship CIO 2023. May not be quoted for commercial purposes. Anyone wishing to quote for non-commercial purposes may seek permission from the WCF Secretary.

The articles on this website have been submitted by various authors and the views expressed do not necessarily represent the views of the Western Chan Fellowship.