An excerpt from a recent talk at retreat in Upper Lake, California, August 2010
Dead tree. Blind donkey. Snow is magic, because it is not cold and wet. Nor is it a fortress for a snow fight. It is all of that. It is none of that. Nobody knows what snow is. The whole world is snow.
Venture down the rabbit hole with Daniel Doen Silberberg Sensei, author of the forthcoming Wonderland: The Zen of Alice, as he reveals the Wonderland that is our lives.
Doen Sensei will conduct a retreat in the dramatic Wasatch Mountains of Utah from September 18 through 21, 2009.
We often hear about and search for the “other shore,” or Wonderland, and try to figure out how to get there. The practice of Buddhism has pointed to this other shore for thousands of years; it’s the realm where body and mind fall away. If we persist in our search for it and are lucky enough to find a rabbit hole, at the end of our travels we might find that this shore really is the other shore, and our wondrous lives and deaths are themselves the Wonderland that we seek.
The retreat will be held at The Inn at Solitude. Rooms are very reasonably priced (a special rate of $139) and can be shared. For a 360 degree view, check out http://www.skisolitude.com/accommodations/inn.php. Camp sites are also available at the nearby Spruces Camp Grounds or, even closer to Solitude, Redman Camp Grounds. It may be best to reserve your camp site in advance.
Please call 1-800-731-5061 or email contact@lostcoinzen.com with any questions. To register for the retreat, please visit www.lostcoinzen.com/retreat. Registration fees for the retreat are $275.
If you would like to reserve a room at Solitude, please contact Jeremy Chase at 801-536-5721 or jchase@skisolitude.com and mention that you are with Lost Coin.
Better Than Good
Boulder, Utah June 26-28, 2009
We are returning again to the beautiful alpine meadows and red rock desert of Boulder, Utah for the Better Than Good workshop this June. Although we have had many Lost Coin retreats, this one will be different. It will emphasize the core training of Lost Coin Zen. Participants will come away from the workshop with tools to apply to their daily lives. These tools are contemporary as well as deeply rooted in traditional practice and are part of the emerging paradigm Lost Coin embraces and Doen Sensei refers to as the “age of amplification”.
We will sit zazen, have talks and interactive group trainings. As always, Doen Sensei will conduct daisan (individual interviews and koan study with students), and we will also have time for solitary walks in the beautiful desert surrounding Boulder Mountain Lodge.
Please plan to arrive on the evening of June 25th to settle in. We will start zazen at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, June 26th. Our sitting area and the patio where we do kinhin (walking meditation) have lovely views of a pond that is also a bird refuge.
Boulder Mountain Lodge has very comfortable accommodations and an on-site restaurant, Hell’s Backbone Grill, which is known nationwide for its innovative cuisine. We often share lively (and delicious) dinners at Hell’s Backbone. Other options for lodging and dining are available, including nearby motels and camping sites and one restaurant within walking distance. You are welcome to share rooms at the Lodge to reduce costs and enjoy each other’s company; if you are not a member of Lost Coin and would like to ask about room-sharing, please email contact@lostcoinzen.com.
We have reserved a block of rooms; please call and make your own reservations. Rates vary by type of room, and more information can be found at the Boulder Mountain website (www.boulder-utah.com). When you call, please let them know that you are part of Lost Coin.
Please bring your own zafu and zabuton-and if you’re coming from Utah and have extra zafus or zabutons, please bring them to share so that people arriving by plane do not have to pack them in their suitcases.
The tuition for this retreat/workshop is $250.
If you have any questions, please email contact@lostcoinzen.com or telephone Rebecca Long Okura at 801-550-8805 or toll-free at 800-731-5061.
Lost Coin, Boulder, April 2008
The practice starts where concepts stop.
To encourage pre-registration, we are offering a $20 discount (workshop fee of $100, lunch included) for all who register by February 11, 2009. Please join us for the first of many Lost Coin gatherings in San Francisco!
Join Doen Sensei and the Lost Coin group in San Francisco for a one-day workshop. The workshop will help you see the conditioned story of your life, shed the fables that enslave you, and truly put yourself into your life.
The workshop will include meditation techniques such as zazen and koan study that are used to attain realization or enlightenment. We will also practice embodiment techniques including self observation, becoming “objective” to ourselves and others, and “losing” the story of our lives.
This workshop will be held on February 21, 2009 at a.Muse Gallery (614 Alabama Street, San Francisco). For more information and to register, visit http://tinyurl.com/7pws93.
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