Applications are now being accepted for Boundless Way Zen Temple 2024 and 2025 Sesshin.
We offer two kinds of sesshin: Online and Residential. At Online Sesshin, all teachers and students attend from their own residence via Zoom. All practice periods are held in the Zoom zendo, and all dokusan (individual meetings with the teacher) are held in Zoom breakout rooms. Residential Sesshin are held at Boundless Way Zen Temple, 1030 Pleasant Street, Worcester, MA. All students stay at the Temple. Beds and meals are provided. We are also offering 2-day Residential Outdoor Retreats in May 2025 and in October 2025.
Two sesshin remain in 2024: the November Online Sesshin and the December Residential Sesshin.
In 2025, we are offering Residential Sesshin in February, March, May, August, October and December; and Online Sesshin (Distant Temple Bell) in January, April, June, September, and November. In addition, there will be a two-week residential program starting in late July leading up to Summer Sesshin in August.
| Sesshin Date | Type | Length | Teachers* | Registration |
| November 8-11 | Online | 3-day | MB,DR,MH | open through November 5 |
| December 6-9 | Residential | 3-day | MB,DR,AR | open through November 29 |
| 2025 Sesshin and Retreat Dates | ||||
| January 3-6 | Online Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,MH | open through December 31 |
| Jan 31- Feb 3 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,AR | through January 24 |
| March 14-17 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | AR,MH,PG | open through March 7 |
| April 25-28 | Online Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,MH | open through April 22 |
| May 2-4 | Outdoor Retreat | 2-day | AR | open through April 25 |
| May 16-19 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,PG | open through May 9 |
| June 20-22 | Online Sesshin | 2-day | AR,MH | open through June 17 |
| July 25-Aug 1 | Residential Retreat | 7-day | AR,MH,PG | open through July 18 |
| Aug 1-8 | Residential Retreat | 7-day | AR,MH | open through July 25 |
| Aug 8-15 | Residential Sesshin | 7-day | MB,DR,AR,MH,PG | open through August 1 |
| September 5-8 | Online Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,AR | open through September 2 |
| October 3-6 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | AR,MH,PG | open through October 26 |
| October 17-19 | Outdoor Retreat | 2-day | AR | open through October 10 |
| November 7-9 | Online Sesshin | 2-day | MB,DR,MH | opens November 12, 2024 |
| December 5-8 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,AR | opens December 10, 2024 |
Sesshin: an intensive Zen meditation retreat
Nine hours of meditation per day, liturgy, oryoki (traditional Zen meal ceremony), and dokusan (private meetings with the teachers)
At our: Boundless Way Zen Temple (Mugendo-ji) 1030 Pleasant St, Worcester, MA 01602
Suggested registration fees are listed for each sesshin type.
Registration fee amounts can be adjusted to your specific needs.
Registration is limited.
The online registration form is at: Sesshin Registration.
For questions please contact registrar@boundlessway.org
Sesshin Teachers
Melissa Myōzen Blacker, Rōshi is a Guiding Teacher of Boundless Way Zen Temple, a Soto Zen priest, and a Dharma heir to James Myōun Ford, Rōshi in two lineages: an ordained Soto transmission through Jiyu Kennett, Rōshi and a lay koan-teaching lineage through John Tarrant, Rōshi. She holds degrees in anthropology, music and counseling psychology. From 1992 to 2012 she was a teacher and director of programs at the Center for Mindfulness, founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Her writing appears in a number of collections including Best Buddhist Writing, 2012, The Hidden Lamp, and Zen Teachings in Challenging Times, and she is co-editor of The Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Important Koan. Her writing also appears in various Buddhist magazines, including Shambhala Sun, Lion’s Roar and Buddhadharma.
David Dae An Rynick, Rōshi is a founder and Guiding Teacher of Boundless Way. He is Dharma heir to Zen Master George Bowman in the Korean Rinzai lineage and to James Myōun Ford, Rōshi in two Soto lineages. David is also a grandfather, gardener, life coach and author of Wandering Close to Home: A Year of Zen Reflections, Consolations, and Reveries and This Truth Never Fails: A Zen Memoir in Four Seasons.
Dharma Holder Alan Sanhyō Richardson began his practice of Zen Buddhism in 1973 and has sat with Boundless Way since 2007, serving in a number of leadership positions and sesshin officer roles. In 2021 he received Dharma Entrustment (the lay equivalent to Denkai) from his primary teacher, David Rynick, Rōshi, and began serving as Resident Teacher for Sky Flower Zen, an online Boundless Way sangha. Alan has taught English literature for many years at Boston College, with a specialty in poetry. An avid hiker and backpacker, he is the author, most recently, of Breakfast with Salamanders: Seasons on the Appalachian Trail.
Dharma Holder Michael Sokei Herzog is the Boundless Way Zen Temple Director and resident teacher. He is the Chairperson for both the Temple Samu Committee and the Temple Communications and Technology Committee. Since joining the Temple in 2011, he has held a number of service positions including tanto at sesshin. In 2022 he received Dharma Entrustment (Denkai) from his primary teacher, David Rynick, Rōshi. Michael is an artist who works under his dharma name Sokei. His art focuses on Zen teachings, and can be seen on his website, sokei.xyz.
Dharma Holder Reverend Paul Ryūdō Sōshin Galvin, is a Sōtō Zen priest, dharma heir of Melissa Myōzen Blacker, Rōshi, and founder of Snow Mountain Zen, a Boundless Way Zen Temple practice group. He was exposed to Zen in 1988 and struggled on his own for many years prior to meeting and starting practice with Melissa Rōshi in 2004. Since joining Boundless Way, Paul has held officer positions on the Leadership Council as Vice-President and during Sesshin including Tanto (head seat). He took the Precepts in 2009 and Bodhisattva Ordination in 2014 prior to receiving denkai from Melissa Rōshi in 2024.
Sesshin Daily Schedule
Each sesshin starts on a Friday evening with an optional online orientation, or with residential attendees arriving and setting up, at 6:00 p.m. Sesshin officially begins at 7:00 p.m. with all gathering in the zendo (virtual or physical). Each full day during sesshin consists of four formal practice periods punctuated with meal, work, and rest practice periods according to the schedule below. The final day of sesshin (Monday, for 3-day sesshin) ends at 12:30 p.m. for online attendees or 1:00 p.m. for residential attendees.
Online attendees are expected to attend all online formal practice periods (bolded below), arriving at least 5 minutes early to the Zoom zendo. Schedule accommodations are available for online attendees from distant time zones. Online attendees take their meals offline.
Residential attendees follow the full schedule and attend all practice periods, meals, and work periods.
Sample Daily Schedule
(Eastern U.S. Time Zone)
| 5:00 am | Wake |
| 5:30 am | (Residential) Tea in the zendo. |
| 6:00-7:30 am | Early morning formal practice period |
| 7:30 am | Breakfast, Samu (work practice), and rest practice |
| 9:30-12:30 pm | Late morning formal practice period with sutra service, teisho, and Dharma dialogue |
| 12:30 pm | Lunch, rest practice |
| 2:30-5:30 pm | Afternoon formal practice period |
| 5:30 pm | Dinner, rest practice |
| 7:00-9:00 pm | Evening formal practice period |
| 9:00 pm | Rest practice. Lights out 10:00 pm |
Registration
Registration is open for all sesshin scheduled to start within one year of the date of registering. In prior years, we have opened registration a few months before the start of each sesshin. You may now register for any sesshin throughout the year. You may even register for all of the sesshin at the same time. If you register for multiple sesshin, you don’t necessarily have to pay for them all at once.
Since you may register several months before a given sesshin begins, we will send an email reminder approximately one month before the start of any sesshin (or as soon as the previous sesshin ends) for which you are registered. If you have not yet paid your registration fee, the email will include a reminder that you need to pay to keep your space.
Notes about registration:
- We offer easy-to-use online registration. This application is a streamlined and secure process. You may use Paypal to pay the registration fee, or you may mail a check. The link to the registration form is below.
- After completing and submitting the online application form you will be taken to our payment page. Here you may pay online with a credit or debit card by clicking on the Paypal button. You do not need to be a member of Paypal to use this payment method.
Registration for Online Sesshin
Registration for attendance at an Online Sesshin remains open until three days before sesshin starts. Payment is expected before the start of sesshin.
Registration for Residential Sesshin
Space is limited for a Residential Sesshin or Outdoor Retreat. Registration for attendance or for the waiting list remains open until one week before sesshin starts. To hold your space in sesshin or on the waiting list, we must have received payment in full of the registration fee three weeks before the start of sesshin. (Fees may be adjusted to your specific needs, do not let financial considerations keep you from applying).
Important notes about registration for residential attendance:
- Your place will be secured after both a completed application and your payment have been received. Verbal requests for a sesshin reservation are not accepted.
- Registration closes one week before sesshin starts.
- If you were on the waiting list and a space did not become available, you will be offered a full refund of your fee.
- If you have not paid your registration fee one month before the sesshin begins, you will receive an email reminder. If we have not received your fee by three weeks before the start date of sesshin, and there are others on a waiting list, you may lose your spot at sesshin.
Suggested Registration Fees
For a 3-day Online Sesshin, the suggested registration fee is $210 for members or $240 for non-members.
For the 2-day Online Sesshin in June, the suggested registration fee is $100 for members and $125 for non-members.
The fee for a 3-day Residential Sesshin is $325 for members of Boundless Way Zen Temple, and $360 for non-members.
For the 7-day residential Summer Sesshin in August, or for one week of the Summer Residency Program, the fee is $750 for members and $840 for non-members.
For a 2-day Outdoor Practice Retreat, the fee is $200.
In each case, the amount is a suggested amount. Know that you can pay more or less than the suggested amount.
All contributions support sharing the Dharma so please do not let financial considerations affect your decision to apply. We do ask everyone to make some contribution, no matter how small.
| Attendance Type | Sesshin Length | Temple Memeber | Non-member |
| Online | 2-day | $100 | $125 |
| 3-day | $210 | $240 | |
| Residential | 3-day | $325 | $360 |
| 7-day | $750 | $840 | |
| Outdoor | 2-day | $200 | $200 |
Cancellation and Refund Policy
Online Cancellation
For online attendance, if you must cancel your attendance at any time before sesshin starts, for any reason, you will be offered a full refund of your registration fee.
Residential Cancellation
For residential attendance, the cancellation policy is as follows:
- Payment in full is required at the time of registration.
- If you cancel prior to 4 weeks from the sesshin start date, 100% of your fee will be refunded.
- If you cancel between 4 weeks and 1 week (7 calendar days) prior to the sesshin start date, 75% of your fee will be refunded.
- If you cancel fewer than 7 calendar days prior to the sesshin start date, 0% (none) of your fee will be refunded.
We realize that there are extenuating circumstances that might prevent you from attending sesshin. During the last week before sesshin starts, we provide a 100% refund of your residential fee only for a positive test result in your household, a death in the family, your illness, or the illness of a close family member for whom you must provide care. If you or someone you must care for becomes ill and you cannot attend sesshin, please notify the registrar as soon as possible.
If you are canceling residential attendance because of a positive test result, you will be offered a full refund of your fee.
If the Outdoor Retreat is cancelled for weather, all participants will be offered full refunds.
The online registration form is at: Sesshin and Retreat Registration.
If you have any questions please email registrar@boundlessway.org .
We hope to see you at sesshin!
