Applications are now being accepted for all Boundless Way Zen Temple Sesshin and Retreats scheduled through December 2026.
We offer six Residential Sesshin and five Online Sesshin (Distant Temple Bell) each year, approximately in alternating months. At Online Sesshin, all teachers and students attend from their own residence via Zoom. All practice periods are held in the Zoom zendo, and all dokusan (individual meetings with the teacher) are held in Zoom breakout rooms. Residential Sesshin are held at Boundless Way Zen Temple, 1030 Pleasant Street, Worcester, MA. All students stay at the Temple. Beds and meals are provided. We also offer 2-day Residential Outdoor Retreats offsite each May and October, and a 7- or 14-day Residential Retreat, the Summer Residency Program, at the Temple, starting in late July leading up to Summer Sesshin in August.
| 2026 Sesshin and Retreat Dates | ||||
| Sesshin Date | Type | Length | Teachers* | Registration |
| January 2 – 5 | Online Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,MH | through Dec 30, 2025 |
| Jan 30 – Feb 2 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,PG | through Jan 23 |
| March 13 – 16 | Online Sesshin | 3-day | AR,MH,PG | through March 10 |
| April 24 – 27 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,MH | through April 17 |
| May 8 – 10 | Outdoor Retreat | 2-day | AR | through May 1 |
| May 15 – 17 | Online Sesshin | 2-day | AR,PG | through May 12 |
| June 12 – 15 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,AR | through June 5 |
| July 24 – 31 | Residential Retreat | 7-day | AR,MH,PG | through July 17 |
| Jul 31 – Aug 7 | Residential Retreat | 7-day | AR,MH,PG | through July 24 |
| August 7 – 14 | Residential Sesshin | 7-day | MB,DR,MH,PG | through July 31 |
| September 4 – 6 | Online Sesshin | 2-day | MB,DR | through September 1 |
| October 2 – 5 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | AR,MH,PG | through September 25 |
| October 16 – 18 | Outdoor Retreat | 2-day | AR | through October 9 |
| November 6 – 9 | Online Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,MH | through November 3 |
| December 4 – 7 | Residential Sesshin | 3-day | MB,DR,AR | through November 27 |
Sesshin: an intensive Zen meditation retreat
Nine hours of meditation per day, liturgy, oryoki (traditional Zen meal ceremony), and dokusan (private meetings with the teachers)
At our: Boundless Way Zen Temple (Mugendo-ji) 1030 Pleasant St, Worcester, MA 01602
Suggested registration fees are listed for each sesshin type.
Registration fee amounts can be adjusted to your specific needs.
Registration is limited.
The online registration form is at: Sesshin Registration.
For questions please contact registrar@boundlessway.org
Sesshin Teachers
Melissa Myōzen Blacker, Rōshi is a Guiding Teacher of Boundless Way Zen Temple, a Soto Zen priest, and a Dharma heir to James Myōun Ford, Rōshi in two lineages: an ordained Soto transmission through Jiyu Kennett, Rōshi and a lay koan-teaching lineage through John Tarrant, Rōshi. She is also a Dharma heir to David Dae An Rynick, Rōshi in the Korean Rinzai lineage. She holds degrees in anthropology, music and counseling psychology. From 1992 to 2012 she was a teacher and director of programs at the Center for Mindfulness, founded by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Her writing appears in a number of collections including Best Buddhist Writing, 2012, The Hidden Lamp, and Zen Teachings in Challenging Times, and she is co-editor of The Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Important Koan. Her writing also appears in various Buddhist magazines, including Shambhala Sun, Lion’s Roar and Buddhadharma.
David Dae An Rynick, Rōshi is a founder and Guiding Teacher of Boundless Way. He is Dharma heir to Zen Master George Bowman in the Korean Rinzai lineage and to James Myōun Ford, Rōshi in two Soto lineages. David is also a grandfather, gardener, life coach and author of Wandering Close to Home: A Year of Zen Reflections, Consolations, and Reveries and This Truth Never Fails: A Zen Memoir in Four Seasons.
Alan Sanhyō Richardson, Sensei began his practice of Zen Buddhism in 1973 and has sat with Boundless Way since 2007, serving in a number of leadership positions and sesshin officer roles. In 2021 he received Dharma Entrustment (the lay equivalent to Denkai) from his primary teacher, David Rynick, Rōshi, and began serving as Resident Teacher for Sky Flower Zen, an online Boundless Way sangha. Alan has taught English literature for many years at Boston College, with a specialty in poetry. An avid hiker and backpacker, he is the author, most recently, of Breakfast with Salamanders: Seasons on the Appalachian Trail. He received Denbo transmission (full transmission) from David Rynick in 2025.
Dharma Holder Michael Sokei Herzog is the Boundless Way Zen Temple Director and resident teacher. He is the Chairperson for both the Temple Samu Committee and the Temple Communications and Technology Committee. Since joining the Temple in 2011, he has held a number of service positions including tanto at sesshin. In 2022 he received Dharma Entrustment (Denkai) from his primary teacher, David Rynick, Rōshi. Michael is an artist who works under his dharma name Sokei. His art focuses on Zen teachings, and can be seen on his website, sokei.xyz.
Dharma Holder Reverend Paul Ryūdō Sōshin Galvin, is a Sōtō Zen priest, dharma heir of Melissa Myōzen Blacker, Rōshi, and founder of Snow Mountain Zen, a Boundless Way Zen Temple practice group. He was exposed to Zen in 1988 and struggled on his own for many years prior to meeting and starting practice with Melissa Rōshi in 2004. Since joining Boundless Way, Paul has held officer positions on the Leadership Council as Vice-President and during Sesshin including Tanto (head seat). He took the Precepts in 2009 and Bodhisattva Ordination in 2014 prior to receiving denkai from Melissa Rōshi in 2024.
Sesshin Daily Schedule
Each sesshin starts on a Friday evening with an optional online orientation, or with residential attendees arriving and setting up, at 6:00 p.m. Sesshin officially begins at 7:00 p.m. with all gathering in the zendo (virtual or physical). Each full day during sesshin consists of four formal practice periods punctuated with meal, work, and rest practice periods according to the schedule below. The final day of sesshin (Monday, for 3-day sesshin) ends at mid-day: around 12 p.m. for online sesshin or 1:00 p.m. for residential sesshin.
Online attendees are expected to attend all online formal practice periods (bolded below), arriving at least 5 minutes early to the Zoom zendo. Schedule accommodations are available for online attendees from distant time zones. Online attendees take their meals offline.
Residential attendees follow the full schedule and attend all practice periods, meals, and work periods.
Sample Daily Schedule
(Eastern U.S. Time Zone)
| 5:00 am | Wake |
| 5:30 am | (Residential) Tea in the zendo. |
| 6:00-7:30 am | Early morning formal practice period |
| 7:30 am | Breakfast, Samu (work practice), and rest practice |
| 9:30-12:30 pm | Late morning formal practice period with sutra service, teisho, and Dharma dialogue |
| 12:30 pm | Lunch, rest practice |
| 2:30-5:30 pm | Afternoon formal practice period |
| 5:30 pm | Dinner, rest practice |
| 7:00-9:00 pm | Evening formal practice period |
| 9:00 pm | Rest practice. Lights out 10:00 pm |
Registration
Registration is open for all programs scheduled to start through December 2026. You may register for any single program, or for multiple programs throughout the year. If you register for multiple programs, you don’t necessarily have to pay for them all at once.
Since you may register several months before a given program begins, we will send an email reminder approximately one month before the start of any program (or as soon as the previous one ends) for which you are registered. If you have not yet paid your registration fee, the email will include a reminder that you need to pay to keep your space.
Notes about registration:
- We offer easy-to-use online registration. This application is a streamlined and secure process. You may use a credit card to pay the registration fee, or you may mail a check. The link to the registration form is below.
- After completing and submitting the online application form you will be taken to our payment page. Here you may pay online with a credit or debit card by clicking on the Paypal button. You do not need to be a member of Paypal to use this payment method.
Registration for Online Sesshin
Registration for attendance at an Online Sesshin remains open until three days before sesshin starts. Payment is expected before the start of sesshin.
Early Registration Discount for Online Sesshin If you register and pay for an Online Sesshin at least two weeks before the start date of sesshin, you may take 10% off the suggested registration fee.
| Sesshin | Last Date for Early Registration | Discounted Member Fee | Discounted Non-member Fee |
| January 2-5, 2026 | Dec 19, 2025 | $189 | $216 |
| March 13-16, 2026 | Feb 27, 2026 | $189 | $216 |
| May 15-17, 2026 | May 1, 2026 | $90 | $113 |
| September 4-6, 2026 | Aug 21, 2026 | $90 | $113 |
| November 6-9, 2026 | Oct 23, 2026 | $189 | $216 |
Registration for Residential Sesshin
Space is limited for any residential program: Residential Sesshin, Residential Retreats, and Outdoor Retreats. Registration for attendance or for the waiting list remains open until one week before the program starts. To hold your space in the program or on the waiting list, we must have received payment in full of the registration fee three weeks before the start of the program (Fees may be adjusted to your specific needs, do not let financial considerations keep you from applying).
Important notes about registration for residential attendance:
- Your place will be secured after both a completed application form submission and your payment have been received. Verbal requests for a reservation are not accepted.
- Registration closes one week before the residential program starts.
- If you were on the waiting list and a space did not become available, you will be offered a full refund of your fee.
- If you have not paid your registration fee one month before the sesshin begins, you will receive an email reminder. If we have not received your fee by three weeks before the start date of sesshin, and there are others on a waiting list, you may lose your spot at sesshin.
Suggested Registration Fees
For a 3-day Online Sesshin, the suggested registration fee is $210 (*$189) for members or $240 (*216) for non-members.
For the 2-day Online Sesshin in June, the suggested registration fee is $100 (*$90) for members and $125 (*$113) for non-members.
*For online sesshin, there is a 10% discount in the suggested fee if you register and pay at least two weeks before the start date of the sesshin.
The fee for a 3-day Residential Sesshin is $325 for members of Boundless Way Zen Temple, and $360 for non-members.
For the 7-day residential Summer Sesshin in August, or for one week of the Summer Residency Program, the fee is $750 for members and $840 for non-members.
For a 2-day Outdoor Practice Retreat, the suggested fee is $200.
In each case, the amount is a suggested amount. Know that you can pay more or less than the suggested amount.
All contributions support sharing the Dharma so please do not let financial considerations affect your decision to apply. We do ask everyone to make some contribution, no matter how small.
| Attendance Type | Sesshin Length | Temple Memeber | Non-member |
| Online | 2-day | $100 ($90)* | $125 ($113)* |
| 3-day | $210 ($189)* | $240 ($216)* | |
| Residential | 3-day | $325 | $360 |
| 7-day | $750 | $840 | |
| Outdoor | 2-day | $200 | $200 |
Cancellation and Refund Policy
Online Cancellation and Refund Policy
For online sesshin, if you must cancel your attendance at any time before the sesshin starts, for any reason, you will be offered a full refund of your registration fee.
Residential Cancellation and Refund Policy
For residential programs, the cancellation policy is as follows:
- Payment in full is required at the time of registration.
- If you cancel prior to 4 weeks from the start date, 100% of your fee will be refunded.
- If you cancel between 4 weeks and 1 week (7 calendar days) prior to the start date, 75% of your fee will be refunded.
- If you cancel fewer than 7 calendar days prior to the start date, 0% (none) of your fee will be refunded.
We realize that there are extenuating circumstances that might prevent you from attending sesshin. During the last week before the program starts, we provide a 100% refund of your residential fee only for a positive test result in your household, a death in the family, your illness, or the illness of a close family member for whom you must provide care. If you or someone you must care for becomes ill and you cannot attend sesshin, please notify the registrar as soon as possible.
If you are canceling residential attendance because of a positive test result for a contagious pathogen (e.g. COVID-19 or influenza), you will be offered a full refund of your fee.
If an Outdoor Retreat is cancelled for weather, all participants will be offered full refunds.
The online registration form is at: Sesshin and Retreat Registration.
If you have any questions please email registrar@boundlessway.org .
We hope to see you at sesshin!
