The Zen Path 2026:
A Pilgrimage to Now

• Teachers: Charles Freligh and Saqib Rizvi

• When: September 10-13, 2026

• Where: Dai Bosatsu Zendo, on Beecher Lake amid the Catskill Mountains of upstate New York

• What: An immersive experience of meditation, silence, and communal living at a traditional Zen monastery.

• Capacity: 30 participants

• Cost: $1950 for Beecher House living quarters; $1750 for monastery living quarters

  • *more details on rooming options below

Brief description:

• The retreat will begin the afternoon of Thursday, 9/10, and finish after lunch on Sunday, 9/13.

• The main focus will be zazen (silent meditation).

• There are 30 spots available.

• There is a $300 deposit to reserve your spot.

• The total cost will be either $1950 or $1750 depending on your room accomodations:

  • $1950 for Beecher House living quarters; $1750 for Monastery living quarters

    • Details below on the difference

  • The final remaining amount will be invoiced and due one month prior to the retreat (8/10/26).

• In addition to living quarters, the cost includes:

  • All retreat activities

    • See sample schedule below

  • Welcome bag

  • 3 vegetarian meals per day prepared by Zen Buddhist residents

The focus of this retreat:

• Dai Bosatsu Zendo (DBZ) is a traditional Rinzai Zen monastery, but this will not be a traditional Zen Buddhist retreat. We will utilize various traditional Zen practices, but the real focus will be the quality of zen, which is not exclusive to Zen Buddhism.

  • The quality of zen is one of a clear and present mind.

  • It is a direct experiencing of reality. It is not ideas about reality, but reality itself.

• The main practice we will use to cultivate this quality is zazen. Za means “to sit.” So, za-zen simply means sitting zen.

• We will also engage in walking zen, working zen, eating zen, talking zen, and silent zen (see sample daily schedule below). All aspects of the retreat will be aimed at cultivating the quality of zen: a clear and present mind. When the mind is clear, everything else becomes clear.

• It’s important to note that zazen will be our main focus, with up to 4 hours per day of silent meditation (some optional). This might sound intimidating, or exciting, or both. The only way for the mind to become clear and present is to give it time and space to settle on its own, like a glass of water full of sand. We must hold the glass still for long enough to allow the sand to settle to the bottom. Then, clear water is naturally revealed.

  • We will provide practical guidance on zazen during our time together.

  • We encourage you to experiment with longer silent meditations leading up to the retreat.

    • This is not unlike training for a marathon. In this case, we are training the inverse of running.

    • Here’s a sample 20-minute zazen practice.

  • DBZ will provide meditation cushions, and you will also have the option to use a chair.

• We will also focus on silence outside of our zazen meditation practice. There will be times to talk and connect with each other through words, such as our twice daily Dharma talks, some of our meals (though some meals will be silent), and our Saturday evening celebration. But much of our time will be spent in silent presence. This will allow for deep inward contemplation and will facilitate the continued settling of your mind between formal zazen sessions.

• *If you’d like to prepare yourself for the retreat ahead of time, Charles has created a comprehensive audio course on Insight Timer that will serve you well: The Zen Path: 111 Small Steps to Awaken Your Inner Buddha

Dai Bosatsu Zendo:

DBZ has been a functioning monastery since 1976 and is located on Beecher Lake amid 1,400 acres of forest and meadows in the Catskill Mountains. It is an ideal location for the cultivation of a mind that is clear and present.

Here are a few features of the center:

• Located on the bank of Beecher Lake, the highest lake in the Catskills (see image below)

  • We will have access to the lake and surrounding forest for walks in nature.

• Vegetarian meals (3 per day) will be provided by monastery residents using local ingredients.

• Morning and afternoon coffee and tea will be provided.

• Beautifully preserved hardwood floors, meeting rooms, and main zendo for our formal zazen sessions

• See a few sample photos below.

• Click here to learn more at the DBZ website.

The timing of things:

The first day, Thursday, 9/10, will be a half-day beginning in the afternoon, where you will sign in and receive a welcome bag. Then you can settle into your room and get acclimated to the retreat space before our introductory Dharma talk in which we will help orient you to the retreat, discuss zazen practice, and answer any questions you might have.

The next two days will be full scheduled days (see sample daily schedule below).

Saturday evening will close with an informal celebration of our time together in which individuals will have the opportunity to share in any way they may like to (e.g., a poem, a song, a story, or anything you like). *This will be totally optional.

Then we will have one more half-day on Sunday, 9/13, including breakfast, a final integration session, and closing with lunch.

*We strongly suggest that you take one additional day off from work on Monday, 9/14, if possible. This will allow you to not feel rushed as you reenter daily life and will allow space for personal integration of your retreat experience.

Daily schedule example:

• 6:45-7:00am: Kinhin (walking meditation)

• 7:00-7:45am: Zazen (silent meditation)

• 8:00am: Breakfast

• 9:00-10:45am: Dharma talk 1: Moon of Truth

• 10:45-11:00am: Kinhin

• 11:00-11:50am: Zazen

• 12:00pm: Lunch

• 1:00-3:00pm: Optional practices

  • Movement (e.g., yoga, hiking, kayaking on the lake)

  • Personal study (e.g., reading, journaling)

  • Rest

• 3:00-4:45pm: Dharma talk 2: The Mind Thief

• 4:45-5:00: Kinhin

• 5:00-5:50: Zazen

• 6:00pm: Dinner and celebration of the day

• 7:00-7:50pm: Optional closing zazen

  • *We will engage in noble silence from the end of dinner to the beginning of breakfast each day.

*Rooming options:

• We will be occupying both the monastery and Beecher House, which is located next to the monastery. About half of the rooms will be in the monastery and half at Beecher House in order to accommodate our preferred number of attendees (25-30). To my mind, one is not better than the other. Each option has unique value:

  • Beecher House rooms: more spacious and akin to what you might find at a bed-and-breakfast. The Beecher House is located just down the hill from the monastery. A few rooms have private bathrooms, but most are shared between two rooms. It has a solarium and living room that opens to a lakeside deck. You can see a few sample photos below and visit the Beecher House website to learn more.
    

  • Monastery rooms: more simple, spare, and traditional, including a floor level bed (that actually makes my back feel great in the morning). This option offers the unique experience of living within the monastery itself, just steps from the main zendo hall where our morning practices will begin. This will afford the experience of what it might be like to live a monastic life. Bathrooms are shared by floor (separate men’s and women’s facilities, each with several showers, toilets, and sinks). See a sample photo below.

• We will all be spending time in both the monastery and Beecher House, as our meals will be served buffet-style at Beecher House, so we will be able to enjoy this space, and its lakeside deck weather permitting, at meal times.

• When you make your registration deposit, you will be asked to state your room preference:
  1) Monastery
  2) Beecher House
  3) No Preference
  We will accommodate preferences on a first-come-first-serve basis. The private bathrooms within Beecher House will also be assigned on a first-come-first-serve basis. The deposit price will be the same regardless of room preference ($300), but the final total amount will differ slightly:

  • Beecher House rooms will be $1950 and monastery rooms will $1750 to reflect the difference in spaciousness.

  • You can also leave it up to the universe and select No Preference, which would indicate that you are willing to pay either price and take whichever room remains for you once preferences have been accommodated.

  • Once the retreat is filled, we will determine exact living arrangements based on preferences and order of registration.

• I’d like to emphasize here that both options have unique value. If you’d like my personal advice, I might recommend the monastery option. But whichever room you have, it will be the right one.

How to get to DBZ:

It is a pilgrimage of both mind and body to reach the monastery. Along this pilgrimage, you might feel yourself truly leaving behind the busyness of everyday life and entering a pure space entirely dedicated to presence. Here are directions provided by DBZ.

Words of encouragement:

So, if this feels like it’s for you, even and maybe especially if a part of you feels intimidated or anxious, I encourage you to reserve your spot here. I don’t want you to feel rushed to do anything, but I also don’t know how long spots will be available (maybe they’ll be gone in a week, maybe they’ll be available for a few months🤷‍♂️).

If you need a little push to do something like this, here’s me gently offering one. I know I need a push sometimes.

And if you have questions, just email us.