Welcome!

This teaching was written by Ron Kidd, Senior Dharma Teacher in the Kwan Um School of Zen, resident teacher of the Lincoln Park Zen community, and retired professor of world religions and introduction to Buddhism at DePaul. He designed this “Busy Person’s Retreat” with someone in mind who has no or very little recent experience sitting zen, but who is at least a little familiar with zen literature and the sometimes unexpected way zen masters have of expressing themselves.

The directions which follow envision a period of about 15 or 20 minutes for the first three days, 25 minutes or 30 the fourth day and longer on the fifth.

If you currently already practice zen with a community, you know what to do to make a five day retreat: your regular practice + some other additional thing like a moment or two pondering the writings of your teacher (that’s ponder, not think about!) or five extra minutes of a mantra practice (like “Kwan Seum Bosal” or “Namu Dai Bosa”) or really being faithful to your basic daily practice or even seriously following your breath every time you wait for the bus or el or a red light. You may even find the text excerpts reproduced here a call back to where each of us really lives—only here, only now.