Schedule

Blackboard

The actual work changes considerably depending on the season, but the schedule for April to December is like this:

1st to 5th Five day sesshin
6th Free day
7th to 9th Regular work
10th One day sesshin
11th Free day
12th to 14th Regular work
15th One day sesshin
16th Free day
17th to 19th Regular work
20th One day sesshin
21st Free day
22nd to 24th Regular work
25th One day sesshin
26th Free day
27th to 29th Regular work
30th Big cleaning
31st (or 30th) Free day
4am to 9am Zazen
9am Breakfast
10am to 3pm Zazen
3pm Lunch
4pm to 9pm Zazen
9pm Lights out
The zazen periods are interrupted by 15 minute intervals of kinhin (walking Zen) every full hour. The sesshin ends at 3pm on the last day. During sesshin no talk is allowed. There is no sesshin in August and only one sesshin from the 1st to the 8th in December.

4am to 6:10am Zazen
6:10am Breakfest
6:40am Cleaning
After cleaning Help in the kitchen
7:30am to noon Samu (work)
12:00 noon Lunch
after lunch Samu (work), shower, help in the kitchen
5:00pm Dinner
5:20pm Dish washing
5:30pm Tea meeting
6pm to 8pm Zazen
After 8pm Free time (be quiet after 9pm)

Communication is important in a community where the 24 hours of the day are practiced all together. Even if you do not speak Japanese, try to listen to the others very carefully with your heart. Do not expect everyone to understand your English.

Everyone will perform the same activities during the day, including zazen, cleaning, work, meals, bath, in the same way, so watch what the others do and try to fit in harmoniously. You are not supposed to create a schedule of your own.

During breaks or on free days you might be expected to help in the kitchen or do other jobs around the temple. This might be part of the training for the full-time position (in the cooking rotation for example).

From January to March, because of the heavy winter snow, there will be no work outside. Instead the practioners study and take turns giving dharma talks (in Japanese). Please come to Antaiji already in early spring if you want to participate in the study period in winter, so that you will be familiar with the situation here to a certain degree.