Duration
12 days
This is a working retreat, not a sightseeing tour. From the first morning we keep the forms — seated meditation before dawn, meals taken in oryoki, silence held where silence belongs.
The group is capped at eight so that the monasteries can receive us as practitioners rather than visitors. We move from the Rinzai temples of Kyoto through ancient Nara to four residential nights at Eihei-ji, the great Sōtō training monastery founded by Dōgen, and close on the shrouded mountain of Koyasan. A Sōtō priest with ten years at Eihei-ji travels with the group throughout and translates the teishos.
To study the self is to forget the self. — Dōgen
April places the journey among the cherry blossom; October among the maples. Both are chosen for the quality of the sitting as much as the season.
Met at Kansai and brought to a machiya in central Kyoto. A first evening sit and a briefing on the forms we will keep together.
Zazen at dawn, then Daitoku-ji and its sub-temples, and an afternoon of instruction in the Rinzai approach with a resident teacher.
Ryōan-ji's rock garden held in silence, Nanzen-ji, and a first sitting with koan practice. Rakusu-sewing begins in the evening.
To Nara: Tōdai-ji and the Great Buddha, Kōfuku-ji, and the deer of the old capital. A quiet night before the residential days.
North to the mountains of Fukui and the gates of Eihei-ji, Dōgen's ‘temple of eternal peace.’ We enter as guests of the training monastery.
Rising in the dark for morning zazen and service, oryoki meals, samu work practice, and the long silence of the halls. Kept exactly as the training monks keep it.
A second full day inside the forms, with a teisho from a senior monk and translation. The mountain, the cedars, the bell.
A final morning of practice and a walk of the founder's grounds before we take our leave and descend.
Across to the Kii mountains and up to Koyasan, the Shingon monastic town, staying in a shukubo temple lodging among the monks.
Dawn service with the monks, then the Okunoin — two kilometres of cedar and lantern-light through the largest cemetery in Japan to Kōbō Daishi's mausoleum.
Down the mountain and east to Tokyo for a closing night, the practice carried back into the noise of the world.
A final sit together and breakfast, then transfers to Narita or Haneda for onward flights.
One price, disclosed in full. No optional extras quoted at the temple gate.
Yes, but come willing to learn the forms. The pre-trip sessions teach the posture and the oryoki meal before you arrive, and the group is small enough that the teacher can attend to each person. Eihei-ji asks sincerity, not experience.
They keep monastic hours — rising around 3:30–4:00am for zazen and service, with silence through much of the day. It is disciplined but not harsh. Chairs are available for those who cannot sit on the floor.
No. Silence is kept during sitting, meals and the Eihei-ji residency; the travel days and evenings are companionable. We mark clearly when silence begins and ends.
Because the monasteries receive us as practitioners, not tourists, and that relationship depends on a small, serious group. It is the reason the gates open at all.
Whether you are planning a private pilgrimage, a small group retreat, or a corporate dharma circuit — reach us directly. We answer every enquiry within two working days, in the order it arrives.
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