Rev. Sosan Flynn + Rev. Taizan Alford
Friday, February 2, 5 pm – Sunday, February 4, noon
Registration for this sesshin is now closed.
Sesshin is the essence of Zen practice. It is a period of intensive meditation, or zazen, that offers participants an opportunity to focus on their meditation practice, free of distraction.
Join us for a three-day sesshin on the practice of loving-kindness, led by Rev. Sōsan Flynn, guiding teacher at Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul, MN, and NZC’s resident priest-in-training, Rev. Taizan Alford.
The sesshin will include several extended blocks of zazen with kinhin, or walking meditation, in between. Meditation is interspersed with service, dharma talks, dokusan (a private meeting with the teacher), rest and work periods, and vegetarian meals.
We will eat using a formal meditation ritual known as oryoki. Practitioners will observe silence throughout the sesshin to enhance their concentration.
$120 for non-members / $100 for members /
your level (pay what you can best afford)
Rev. Sosan Theresa Flynn is a Soto Zen priest and the Guiding Teacher at Clouds in Water Zen Center. She has studied and practiced Soto Zen Buddhism since 1992, receiving dharma transmission in 2012 from Joen Snyder O’Neal. Sosan’s areas of teaching include body awareness in Zen, mindful speaking and listening, loving-kindness practices, and the intersection of Buddhist practice and racial justice. She has a master’s degree in Counseling Psychology from the University of St. Thomas. Sosan lives in St. Paul, Minnesota, with her spouse of 35 years, three cats, and 23-year-old child.
Taizan Alford received jukai in 2014. He received shukke tokudo, or home-leaving ordination, from his teacher, Rev. Sosan Flynn of Clouds in Water Zen Center in St. Paul, MN, in the fall of 2016. In early 2020 he completed a six-week ango, or intensive practice period, at Hokyoji Zen Practice Community in Eitzen, MN. He spent four months at Zen Mountain Monastery in Mt. Tremper, NY, later that year. In 2021, Taizan was shuso, or head student, at Clouds in Water. Taizan’s meditation journey began in the early 1980s. His focus as a Zen practitioner and priest-in-training is on how zazen, taking refuge, and loving-kindness can heal old wounds and help individuals and communities experience more joy and less suffering. Sober since 1982, Taizan is also a singer-songwriter, deeply grateful for his loving and supportive husband, Tom. He has taught therapeutic and restorative yoga since 1998.