What is a sesshin ?

Touch the mind, become intimate with oneself, concentrating in zazen on the unified body and mind. This teaching was transmitted by Master Taisen Deshimaru.

Neither philosophy, nor ethics, nor religion, the Zen allows us to reach the origin of every philosophy, ethics or religion. Spring of awakening, the Zen transforms our life here and now.

Sesshin means touching the mind, it is a period where we essentially concentrate on zazen, also including samu, concentration on daily chore such as cooking or dish washing. Eventually we may practice yoga, do-in etc.


From Friday 05 January until Sunday 04 February 2018

Shobogenji zen temple


The practice of zazen is the essence of Zen.

Sitting facing the wall on a round cushion (zafu ), the legs in the lotus or semi lotus position, the knees laid down on the ground, the back well straight, the neck stretched, the left hand on the right hand, the edge of the hands on the abdomen, in a total immobility.

The breathing is quiet and the concentration is more directed to the breathing out.

The conscious mind is still, without entertaining nor rejecting the thoughts, we let them pass through the concentration on the posture and the breathing.

Master Deshimaru practising zazen

This sesshin is managed by Kosen Sangha Masters - Ango 2018

Toshiro Yamauchi was born in Buenos Aires on October 27, 1962. He did his primary and secondary studies in a Spanish priest school.
In 1982, he fought in the Falklands war. After the war, he studied Dramatic Arts and founded the rock band Louis XV, of which he was the leader for 20 years.
In 1992, he toured in France, where he met Master Kosen Thibaut. He immediately recognized Master Kosen as the heir of Master Deshimaru and began to follow him.
In 1994, he received the ordination of bodhisattva and received the name of Tai Gen. In 1997, he received the monk ordination with the name To Shi. He was the president of the Zen Association of Latin America for eight years.
Since fourteen years, he has been the monk responsible for the Zen Dojo of Buenos Aires.
In October 2016, Toshiro received the Transmission of the Dharma by Master Kosen at the Shobogenji Temple in Argentina.

Ingrid Igelnick came across Zen and met Master Deshimaru in 1978. In 1984, she received the nun ordination by Master Kosen, of whom she received the transmission of the Shiho in 2015.
Parallel to this, she has trained in shiatsu (Zen massage) and she has created Soi-Zen, a clothing workshop for kimonos and kolomos.
She practices zen with her Master since 1992 and assists him in his mission. She has been leading sesshins for several years and also teaches the sewing of the kesa.

Ariadna Labatte 

Born in 1969 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. At the age of 13, due to the sudden death of her elder sister, she eagerly searches for the meaning of being alive and existence, time, death, and how to experience life and take over the incredible possibility of consciousness. At 19, she walks into a dojo and practices zazen for the first time which moves her deeply, and so her practice begins. Being still and patient are really hard for her, but all the same, at age of 22, she requests the ordination of Bodhisattva to Meiho Missen Michel Bovey.
 In Buenos Aires she takes part in the creation of the local dojo and in February 1992 she meets her master, Kosen. She becomes her disciple, secretary and translator. That year, during the first Summer Camp in Argentina, she receives the ordination of nun from her master in her motherland.

She follows Kosen to France, lives in his dojos, goes with him traveling and giving conferences to spread the transmitted teachings across Latin America. In 1994 she settles in Uruguay with the monk Riki Ko e gen, Philippe Girard, her partner and father-to-be of their daughter. Together they found the dojo of Montevideo, named “The Dragon’s Pearl” by Kosen. In 2001 they move to Buenos Aires and start practicing zazen in their garage at home, the news spreads quickly in the neighborhood, the place becomes crowded, and so it is that the dojo of Florida is born, currently a small temple in the outskirts of Buenos Aires. Since 2006, she lives in Capilla del Monte, the town near Shobogenji Temple which she helped develop. She translates Kosen’s book "The Five Stages of Awakening" from French to Spanish. Along with other monks, they spread Zen across Argentina and South America. In 2015 she receives the Shiho from master Kosen along with other three women, becoming the first Latinamerican woman in the Dharma Lineage.

This sesshin will occur from Friday 05 January (arrivals the evening before), until Sunday 04 February 2018, in Shobogenji zen temple.

Shobogenji zen temple

In 1999, the Kosen Sangha of Argentina acquired a deep valley on the hills of the Uriturco, the highest mountain of the province of Cordoba. Surrounded by legends, and well known in the world Ufology, it is the old sacred land of the «Comechingones» native Indians. Since many years it attracts, all the peoples looking for spiritual experiences.

Dojo of Shobogenji zen temple, in ArgentinaThe place where the temple rest is named «Ojo de agua», because a pure mineral water river flows there , coming from a reservoir in the shape of a large eye. Abandoned for a long time , this paradise have a luxurious vegetation and a diversified flora, in which we had to find and create our space.

The land occupy both sides of the narrow valley, and essentially consist of unpenetrable rocky slopes. It offer many different landscapes: sometimes large convivial spaces, sometimes dense jungles, mysterious and menacing, sometimes little shaded corners that invites to contemplation.

Lots of people come here searching for UFOs. They wait all night at the feet of the Uriturco, waiting, waiting but no UFO!

For a farmer, the river is the most magical thing here. And it’s true. This water have a charm, a sweet feminine spirit.

When we arrived there in 1999 to practice the first one month summer camp, we had nothing but simply our zazen practice. We chosen to use the resource we had to build our temple, little money but a big working capacity and faith in Master Deshimaru treasure. We builded a kitchen with a wood stove, a refectory, a dojo of more than a 100 square meter( photo on the left), hot showers fed by a well, an ecological bathroom, a little house for Master Kosen, a workshop, a small dormitory and redesigned in terrace a part of the land.

Actually every year we practice, between January, the summer camp of south hemisphere.

«Even if the work and research which a realized at the Shobogenji temple are the perfect antithesis of the research we do in the virtual world of internet, our ideal would be to make them connect together. I mean by this, to make penetrate life and reality (this is to say the spirit) in your computer. To make understand that our day to day reality (our ordinary world)is nothing else than the screen of our consciousness and our karma. It is ours now to process the merging required.»

Maître Kosen

L'atmosphére du zazen dans le dojo de shobogenji, argentine, kosen sangha La montagne de l'Uriturco vue depuis le temple zen de Shobogenji.

Address

Paraje Ojo de Agua, a 5km de Capilla del Monte Capilla del Monte, Córdoba. - Tel. 03548 15 53 05 09

How to come

In autocar

From the central bus station « retiro» de Buenos Aires, there are very comfortable buses direct to Capilla del Monte. The trip take 12 hour, it’s possible to travel by night in quite comfortable buses, with beds or inclined seats. Once in Capilla del Monte, take a cab for 5 km to «Ojo de Agua».

By plane

There is daily flights from Buenos Aires to Cordoba. Many European flights companies also offer flights from Europe to Cordoba. It’s possible to take a cab from the Cordoba airport to Capilla del Monte(1h30), or only to the central bus station and then take the bus from Cordoba to Caplla del Monte ( roughly 5-6 hours overall).


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Informations

Price :0 €

5 January till 4 February 2018, 2 sessions of 9 days, 1 session of 10 days

1st session led by Master Tai Gen Yamauchi: 5 till 13 January, 6 days of preparation, 2 1/2 days of sesshin.

2nd session led by Master Gyu ji Igelnick: 15 till 24 January, 6 days of preparation, 3 1/2 days of sesshin.

3rd session led by Master Do Sei Labatte: 26 January till 4 February, 6 days of preparation, 2 1/2 days of sesshin.

Arrivals on the evening before the first day of each session.

Info & prices: zen-deshimaru.com.ar


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