sesshin at ei-tai ji with sensei tokuda

some photos of our retreat at ei tai-ji temple with sensei tokuda that may give you a glimpse into the week we spent in the mountains with him.

those who closely encounter him may come to recognize in him the making of the masters of ancient chan in china. that is how i perceived him the first time i met him twwenty-eight years ago. something about him made me instinctively feel that i was in the presence of a master who could have stepped out of the ages.

“mountains belong to people who love them - master dogen.”

ei-tai ji is as rundown today as it was twenty-five years ago when i first practiced there yet the silence and stillness you feel is deep as is the sitting.

there, as the love of mountains begins to blossom in your heart you clearly see that the path you have been seeking is at once nowhere and everywhere to be found.

not grasped, not grasped, surrendered to : so can you hear the valleys whispering.

https://maitri-retreats.wixsite.com/sesshinateitaiji