Inspired by Eihei Dogen's 1240AD text the Mountains and Rivers Sutra (Sansuikyo), this retreat includes four days and three nights of silent backpacking through a beautiful old growth hemlock forest to a seldom-visited base camp at Mazama Park, just south of Mount Baker at the foot of Park Butte. Our days will be interspersed with some social and free time. Activities include traditional Zen practice, a short solo exercise, and opportunities for day hiking. The retreat is appropriate for new meditators and beginning backpackers.
The retreat begins at Hawk Meadow Farm with a day of meditation, preparation, and nature awareness activities. The ritual form of the backpack is a pilgrimage to our home mountain, "sutra mapping" the Sansuikyo on the upper watersheds of the South and Middle Forks of the Nooksack River.
Led by Reizan Bob Penny & Nomon Tim Burnett Please see www.RedCedarZen.org for details.
Cost includes all food at the farm and on the trail. A telephone interview with Bob to assess questions around hiking gear and fitness is required before registration is completed.
NOTE: The base cost for this retreat does not, however, provide any compensation to the teachers. Instruction for our Wilderness Retreat programs are offered on a dana (generosity) basis. There will be an opportunity during registration to make a dana offering if you choose (details on Dana Paramita here) and you may also make a dana offering at any time on the Dana page. Unlike our "indoor" retreats dana is not generally collected during the event.
HAWK MEADOW FARM (1102 E. Kelly Road, Bellingham) DIRECTIONS: Take Sunset Drive from I-5, drive by the Sunset Square Shopping Center going East, take a left on Hannegan, drive 3 miles, right on Kelly Road, drive exactly 1/2 mile, turn left immediately after a brown house (look for a reflective blue address marker for "1102"). Drive to the end of the long 1/4 mile driveway and turn right into the parking area for Hawk Meadow Farm.
Contact Wilderness Programs Coordinator Bob Penny at bobpenny1253@gmail.com or 360-927-5702 with questions.
Red Cedar Zen Community is a 501(c) non-profit organization.
