Meditation Retreat

Meditation Retreat

January 12-18, 2020

Starting Sunday, January 12 at 4 p.m., Korean Zen master Powha Sunim will begin a week long meditation retreat at the San Miguel Meditation Center on Callejón Blanco 4 in Centro (https://meditationsma.org)

Sunim, who has been the head monk at several international monasteries in Korea and directs two Zen centers in the Washington, D.C. area, will lead the retreat from Jan. 12 through Jan. 18.  Participants can come and go anytime during the retreat, which begins at 6:00 a.m. each morning and ends at 9:00 p.m. each evening.

The retreat will consist of 40-minute silent sitting meditations interspersed with 10-minute silent walking meditations. Sitting cushions, chairs and ergonomic benches are available.  During the retreat, the meditation center will also continue its normal daily sitting schedule, 8 a.m.- 9:30 a.m. and 5:30 p.m. – 6:10 p.m.

Participants are free to use any silent meditation techniques, but for those who are interested, the Zen master will conduct private one on one koan interviews. Koans are used in silent meditation to cut through to the heart of meditation practice.  If you already have a koan, you are welcome to discuss it with the Zen master. If not, you can try the Mount Sumeru koan, which can be found on the Zen Master’s website: WorldZen.org/Potomac/koans

The daily retreat meditation schedule will be:

6:00 a.m. – 7:30 a.m.

10:00 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.

4:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m., which includes optional private koan interviews with the Zen master.

We look forward to seeing you at the retreat. The retreat is free, but donations to help defray costs are welcome at the door.

Zen master Pohwa Sunim’s lineage:  At the end of World War II, Korean master Mann Gong (1871–1946), proclaimed that Zen teachings should be transmitted worldwide. Consequently, his Dharma successor, Hye Am (1884–1985) brought lineage Dharma to the United States. Hye Am’s Dharma successor, Myo Vong founded the Western Son Academy (1976), and his Korean disciple, Pohwa Sunim, founded the World Zen Fellowship (1994) which includes the Potomac Zen Sangha and the Baltimore Zen Center.

San Miguel Meditation Center

Callejón Blanco 4

Retreat:   Sunday, January 12 to

                 Saturday, January 18

Cost:        Nothing, but we gratefully accept donations

For more information, please contact:  Wonho at wonho701@gmail.com

The style of the retreat will be similar to that of the San Miguel Meditation Center’s normal morning and afternoon sittings.  Please only leave during the walking meditations and do not knock on the meditation center’s door, but enter quietly. On entry, please remove your shoes and leave them and your belongings in the cubicles to the left.