Annual Kanzeon/Big Mind Sangha Sesshin -- August 24-31, 2024

Retreat Fees: For Student Plus and Active Student Members you will only have to pay for the room and meals for 7 nights at a rate of $100 per night or $700 total. The Teaching fee of $750 is included in your Membership. Check in will be on Saturday August 24. The Retreat will begin on Sunday August 25 at 6:30 am. Check out will be Saturday August 31 after the Shiho coming out ceremony that goes from 11:00 to 1:00 pm. Please try to schedule your flights accordingly.

There will be 2 types of registration for Student Plus and Active Student Members.

Room and Meals at Yokoji $700

Meals only at Yokoji $300 (for those staying at off-site lodging)

Sleeping Rooms: There are a limited number of beds on site, about 30. The sleeping arrangements range from small 2-3 person cabins up to a room called The Loft which will hold 10. The Loft will be either all women or all men. How we end up assigning the sleeping arrangements will depend on the composition of attendees. I won't be able to reserve any specific places except for the Teachers and staff. Please be ready to be flexible in accepting the room you will be assigned. You may not even know where you end up until you get there.

Meals: Three meals a day are provided. All meals are vegetarian. Let me know if you have other dietary preferences or restrictions.

Transportation to and from Yokoji:

Driving: I encourage drivers to carpool if possible. There's a Google Map on the webpage that you can rely on to get you there. Here's a link. Yokoji Google Map

Flying: We highly recommend flying in and out of Ontario California airport (ONT) as it is the closest and easiest. It's about a 1.5 to 2 hour drive to Yokoji from there.

A second choice is Palm Springs Airport (PSP). It's about the same distance but may be more expensive to fly into.

If you must, Los Angeles International Airport is available (LAX) but the drive to Yokoji can be as long as 4-5 hours depending on traffic which is notoriously bad. 

Airport Pick Up and Drop Off: If at all possible, please rent a car because we will have no ability to do pick up and drop off. It's best also, if people can work with each other to carpool and share the costs of car rental and gas. I will provide all registrants a list of the other participants and their contact information well beforehand so you can talk and make your own arrangements. It's way too complicated for us to do this for you.

You may also hire an Uber, Lyft or Taxi to take you but the costs for this may be quite high.

Alternative Lodging Off-Site: There are a few options in nearby towns of Mountain Center and Idyllwild, California. Here are links to the Trip Advisor site where you can check out the options. If you plan to stay off-site but eat at Yokoji you can select that option on the registration page.

Mountain Center:  https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g32757-Mountain_Center_California-Vacations.html 

Idyllwild: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Tourism-g32519-Idyllwild_California-Vacations.html 

Daily Schedule: We're still working on the details so check back here later. Basically we start at 6:30 AM and finish by 10:00 PM. Please note that one of the parts of these more traditional retreats is a thing called Samu. Samu is work practice and that means that everyone will be called upon to help cook, wash dishes, and clean the bathrooms and common areas. Just so you know!

Finally: It's possible that we sell out quickly. If we reach the limits on reservations you will be automatically put on a waiting list in order of when you attempted to sign up. If there are cancellations, or new spots become available I will contact people starting at the top of the waiting list to see if they would still like to attend.