Ordinary Mind Umeå welcomes you to a silent seven day zen meditation retreat – Sesshin, by the lake Tavlesjön 25km outside of Umeå at Lyckebo Gård

Covid restrictions

Sesshin will be held if the spread of covid-19 in the society is at a low level.
We will follow the instructions of the National and Local health authorities.
The number of participants will be limited to 15-18 persons.
We will follow the usual routines to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

About Sesshin

During sesshin we train the very easy with the very hard: To just be. Not seeking to achieve anything, judge or try to change oneself. Zen meditation is about to have the guts to experience our lives, moment by moment exactly like it is. A practice in mindful presence, and in showing compassion to oneself and others.

Here's a quote from Barry Magid about our practice

“We start our journey just like Siddharta, saying that Old age, Sickness, Illness and Death is unacceptable. In the end our practice leads us to understand that freedom consists of a practice that frees us from the fantasy of freedom. Frees us from the idea of overcoming Mortality, Finitude, Vulnerability, Interdependency. It frees us from the view of some other Life, Place or State that we can attain. Frees us to see, that this moment, this life is the only one that is”

We get up early in the morning, meditate a lot. Each day we have sitting and walking meditation (Zazen, Kinhin), Metta practice (Sending Loving Kindness) and a Yoga practice for sore bodies. We have a work period (Samu), where we help out with the household chores.Three meals and three break/rest periods. Every day everyone is offered the possibility to have a private talk (Dokusan) with our teacher Karen.

Karen Terzano, our teacher has been active in Zen since the end of the 80´s and has in later times been in Finland where she together with her group bought an old school building and founded Ordinary Mind Zendo Finland. Karen has worked as a university teacher/professor, psychologist, therapist and with research. Before coming to Ordinary Mind she has also studied within the tradition of Philip Kapleau and other traditions. Her teacher since 2009 is Barry Magid. She was ordained by him as a Zen teacher in 2011.

Accomodation

Accommodation will be done in dorms, shared rooms on two floors. We have shared toilets and showers 100 meters from the house. Please reach out and ask if you have any specific questions or concerns. For everyone who travels far, we try to help out, by arranging accommodation before and after sesshin.

About food

Vegan. Please inform us about your eventual food allergies, in the registration sheet.

The trip to Tavelsjö Lyckebo Gård

To get to Lyckebogård, Tavelsjö 25 km northwest of Umeå you can either take a bus or go by car. We will arrange carpooling as far as possible, so please let us know how you will travel, in the registration sheet.

If you have questions about transportation & carpooling please contact: Jennie-Louise Skoglund jennielouise.skoglund@gmail.com

Sesshin fee & Payment

Full time: Saturday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, 2200 Sek/220 Euro
Part time: Monday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, 1900 Sek/190 Euro
Part time: Wednesday afternoon to Saturday afternoon, 1600 Sek/160 Euro
Last day for payment and canceling your participation is the 4th of September
If you cancel your participation after the 4th of September we will charge you 500 Sek/50 Euro
If you need a special payment arrangement please contact Jikido Mats matspleje@gmail.com
+4670-274 76 09

Registration

Registration can be found here

Contact

Please contact us if you have questions and thoughts about whatever.
Mats Pleje, Jikido & coordinator, +4670-274 76 09, matspleje@gmail.com
For transportation issues contact Jennie-Louise Skoglund jennielouise.skoglund@gmail.com