Retreats and Special Events

Yongmaeng jŏngjin, to leap like a tiger while sitting, is a two, three or seven–day intensive meditation period held at Zen Centers under Sŏnsa–nim’s direction. Eleven hours of formal practice each day include sitting, chanting, bowing, a work period, and interviews with the Zen Master or Dharma Master who is leading the retreat. Interviews are usually given once a day during a yongmaeng jŏngjin. New students may receive either group or individual interviews daily at the discretion of the leader of the retreat. The schedule for all yongmaeng jŏngjin follows:

5:45 am Wake–up bell
5:55 am Bow to teacher
6:00 am to 6:15 am 108 prostrations
6:30 am to 8:10 am (2 Periods) Sitting Zen w/interviews
8:10 am Breakfast
8:30 am to 9:00 am Work period
9:00 am to 9:30 am Rest Period
9:30 am to 10:10 am Chanting w/interviews
10:10 am to 12:00 noon (3 Periods) Sitting Zen w/interviews
12:00 noon to 12:40 pm Lunch
12:40 pm to 1:30 pm Rest Period
1:30 pm to 4:00 pm (4 Periods) Sitting Zen w/interviews
4:00 pm to 5:30 pm Rest Period
5:30 pm to 6:10 pm Dinner
6:30 pm to 7:00 pm Special Chanting (optional)
7:00 pm to 7:30 pm Chanting
7:30 pm to 9:20 pm (3 Periods) Sitting Zen w/interviews
9:20 pm to 9:30 pm Chanting then sleep

Guests are asked to arrive on the evening before the yongmaeng jŏngjin begins in time for dinner, to receive instruction on eating with four bowls, registration, and orientation. The head priest is usually in charge of registration, which includes assigning jobs for the working meditation period after breakfast each morning, showing guests where to keep their belongings, and collecting the yongmaeng jŏngjin fee. Priests from any affiliated Zen Centers receive reduced fees at yongmaeng jŏngjins and kidos, and members of any affiliated Zen Centers receive a lesser discount. Each guest is assigned a job to help with meals or clean–up on the cooking schedule posted in the kitchen.

Regular evening chanting begins at 7:00 pm, followed by a short sitting period and an orientation to the yongmaeng jŏngjin. At this time the sangha rules are read aloud and the Zen Master, Dharma Master, or Dharma Teacher gives a short talk.
Everyone is expected to participate fully in the schedule, and at some Zen Centers there is a minimum number of days of sitting required in order to have an Interview.

The sitting style is the same as that described in the section on the long sitting: everyone faces toward the center of the dharma room, and the changgun chukpi is used when more than six people are sitting. Guests as well as members keep the same seat throughout the retreat, and everyone faces in whether or not they are sitting during a regularly–scheduled period.

All three meals are served in the four–bowl style. People are not required to be at meals, but the same rules apply to guests as to members: if someone wants to miss a meal, they must sign out one and a half hours before the period to be missed. Silence is kept from the first morning of yongmaeng jŏngjin through the afternoon of the last day. Telephone calls are discouraged. If someone is having a problem with their practice, they may talk with one of the Dharma Teachers in charge and necessary talking during work period is permitted. Otherwise talking is limited to the individual interviews.

Yongmaeng jŏngjin ends after a Dharma Talk, usually given by the Zen Master or one of the Dharma Masters, or a circle talk at which all participants share some experience of the yongmaeng jŏngjin at the end of the afternoon sitting period on the last day. The dharma talk is followed by an informal meal and party.