Heart of the Mountain Sesshin: A Backpacking Sesshin at the Bells Mountain Dharma Center

August 2 - 9

What does the mountain see? During this sesshin, we will set aside our usual human perspective and practice seeing through the mountain’s eyes. In the larger scale of time, our lives are only brief moments beside the vast geological forms that shape the world around us. From that vantage point, what truly matters, and how are we called to live?

Come into the quiet of mountain, forest, and sky. Let the stillness of the natural world open something in you, guiding how you meet and embody each moment of life. This retreat invites you to enter deeply into present-moment experience, held by the open clarity, steady presence, and vital energy of the landscape.

This is a full Zen sesshin.* We will hike to a mountain base camp and follow a structured daily schedule. Each day includes approximately eight hours of seated meditation, chanting/singing, meals, a period of meditative movement, and guided hiking, with optional trail running. A night hike and some solo meditation are also typically part of the program.

Participants should be prepared to carry their own gear, along with shared communal items, for 2–5 miles uphill. A required packing list will be provided, and all food is included in the retreat fee. Prior backpacking experience and previous meditation retreat experience are strongly recommended.

*Sesshin is an intensive silent meditation retreat. It may be physically, emotionally, and psychologically demanding, and is generally not recommended for beginning meditators. If you have not previously attended sesshin, or an equivalent week-long meditation retreat, we recommend joining one of our silent weekend retreats first. For more information about what to expect, please click here. If you are a beginner and feel ready for a full sesshin, please contact us to speak with one of the teachers before registering.