About our practice community:
Rocks and Clouds Zendo is a Zen Buddhist community located in Sebastopol, California. Our community is dedicated to Zen practice and training. The community (sangha) meets for meditation, tea and a talk (teisho) by the teacher, Daniel Terragno Roshi, weekly on Wednesdays.
On many Fridays, Terragno Roshi offers dokusan, an opportunity to meet privately for discussion of meditation practice. Terragno Roshi works with and guides students in their practice, which may include study of Zen koans as a way of waking up to one’s true nature and developing the awareness, compassion, insight, and presence to live courageously and responsibly.
Upcoming Meditation Retreats and Workshops:
The Practice of Zen in Everyday Life
One Day Workshop at
Rocks and Clouds Zendo
This one-day workshop is for people who are new to meditation, new to Zen, or interested in deepening their practice.
Antoinette Parekh is a Dharma Teacher in the Diamond Sangha tradition and founding teacher of the Lotus Fire Zendo in Santa Cruz. Charlie Pokorny is a scholar of Buddhism and long time Zen practitioner at Tassajara and Green Gulch Farm. They will be leading the one day workshop on Zen Practice in Every Day Life.
In this workshop you will learn and practice…
1. The cultivation of attention through sitting and
walking meditation.
2. The history and practice of Zen.
3. Making friends with difficult emotions.
4. Building tools to bring presence into working life.
5. Building a practice of presence while nurturing your
friendships, intimate partnerships and children.
Retreat Details
When: Sun Aug 29th 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Email: antoinetteparekh59@gmail.com
Contact Info: (707) 319.2001
Fee: Suggested donation of $40 per day. Sliding scale available
upon request.
We will begin the workshop at 9:00 am on the 29th. Please arrive 15 minutes early to allow yourself to settle in. Meals will be provided. If you are coming from out of town please contact us and we can arrange for carpools from the airport and help you find local accommodations.
Silent Retreats
A Zazenkai is a time to slow down in the midst the of busyness of daily life. Zanzenkai means “coming together in meditation.” It is a time of settling down and letting the water become still. It is a time to allow the disjointed parts of our lives to come together. Please join us in the courageous practice of waking up in to our lives as they are.
Retreat Details
Annual Rohatsu Sesshin
Seven Day Meditation Retreat
When: Friday December 3rd to Friday December 10th
Time: Daily from 6:00 am to 8:00 pm
Fee: Suggested donation of $65 per day. Sliding scale available upon request.
The Rohatsu seven day sesshin is an annual tradition for us at Rocks and Clouds. During this time practice communities around the world sit together in silence. Lead by Daniel Terragno, Roshi this is a time to reconnect to our fundamental nature. Sesshin is a fasting of the senses. Sesshin literally means, “to touch the heart mind.” The stillness allows us to let the water settle and something more real and simple to emerge.
Retreat Details
Zazenkai: One Day Meditation Retreat
When: Sunday October 31st
Time: 9:00 am to 4:00 pm
Fee: Suggested donation of $40 per day. Sliding scale available upon request.
Zazenkai means coming together in awareness. A Zazenkai is a time to deepen practice, to let the busyness of life drop away and allow what is most fundamental to arise. Day long retreats give us the chance to practice living each moment in connection with our life and courageously open to what is. All levels of practice are welcome. Lunch will be provided.
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Meals during Sesshin and Zazenkai will be conducted in traditional oryoki (Wikipedia, Shambhala, Berkeley Zen Article) meditation style.
Through out the day meditation periods will be 25 minutes long, followed by five minutes of walking meditation.
There will be one period of chanting meditation. Daniel also gives one teisho (talk) each day of retreats at 2:00. These talks are open to both individuals attending the retreat and anyone who would like to attend.
During Zazenkais and Sesshins there will also be time to have Dokusan with Daniel Terragno or another guiding teacher. Dokusan is a place to ask questions about your practice, work on koan study and engage with life through the dialog with the teacher. It is a simple meeting between two people and a place to directly engage with our life, just as it is.