It may seem like a sesshin (Zen retreat) is somewhat artificial. Why take time out like this to focus just on Zen meditation practice? Isn’t daily life the real site for Zen practice?
I think that this is a natural sentiment, because it has some truth to it. Some truth. Here is a metaphor to express how I see it:
Your spirit, your presence, is like the soil in which, out of which, your life grows. If that soil is hard and rocky, what sort of life will grow out of it?
For some reason, whatever reason, most of us humans start our adult life with soil that isn’t so great. Sesshins are a way, one of the best ways that I know of, to build up that soil so that it can begin to really support life.
As the life growing in the soil gets healthier, it will, in turn, begin to fortify the soil. The soil will support life, and life will support the soil. This can get very strong, and, at some point, it won’t be so necessary to focus just on the soil.
The process of "building the soil" in Zen practice takes a long time, and, I can’t emphasize this enough: as humans, time is not on our side.
Sam Gabriel, San Diego, CA
http://home.roadrunner.com/~clothespin
sam_gabriel@yahoo.com