Soji’s Summer Sesshin

June 19-24, 2026

St. Raphaela Center | Haverford, PA

We invite you to join us for Soji’s annual June retreat, held during the long, generous days surrounding the summer solstice. Our sesshin offers the chance to settle into traditional residential practice centered in silent meditation, supported by the rhythms of community, nature, and the deep stillness of shared practice. 

The theme for this sesshin is original expression—coming to see that each one of us, in every moment, is a perfect and unique expression of our essential nature. The sounds of the valley stream and the form of the mountain clearly speak the truth of the one body. In the same way, your breath, your tenderness, your questions, your joys and sorrows—all of it—is the Dharma expressing itself through the shape of your life. In coming into the centering practice days of sesshin, we can discover that who we are and what we bring into the world is already the Dharma, the life of the Buddha unfolding through each of us in an utterly original way. Our retreat will also hold space to sit with the brokenness, suffering, and uncertainty of our world. These too are expressions of the one body. When we meet our own experience, individually and collectively with honesty and care, we see that sorrow and impermanence can also reveal their radiance. Nothing is outside the circle of the Way.

The study text for sesshin will be Eihei Dōgen’s “Valley Sounds, Mountain Colors” (Keisei Sanshoku) from the Shobogenzo, along with a short selection of poems by Ryōkan. Directions for obtaining study materials will be sent to participants after registration. 

Registration Information

The summer sesshin will be held at St. Raphaela Center, located at 616 Coopertown Road, Haverford, PA 19041. The retreat will begin on Friday, June 19, 2026 at 4:00 p.m. and end on Wednesday, June 24, 2026 at 1:00 p.m. Please fill out the registration form and make your payment via check to “Soji: Dedicated to the Study of Soto Zen Buddhism Inc.” (preferred method) or via PayPal. Single occupancy rooms are limited, and no registrations will be taken without the completed registration form. To receive the discount, full payment is due by May 31 and registration closes on June 4. If you are interested in commuter participation or have any other registration questions, please contact us.