Kategoria: Retreat Accounts

  • Ekodharma-työpaja David Loyn kanssa

    Ekodharma-työpaja David Loyn kanssa

    This post was written by

    Maija Myōshō Ijäs

    David Loy Helsingissä Elokuun lopulla saimme Helsinki Zenissä viettää erityistä viikonloppua, kun amerikkalainen zenopettaja, filosofi ja kirjailija David Loy vieraili Helsingissä. Tapahtuma kokosi yhteen ihmisiä niin zenharjoituksen, ekologisen kriisin kuin yhteiskunnallisen toiminnan teemojen äärelle. David Loyn ajattelu on tullut monille tutuksi erityisesti hänen teoksestaan Ekodharma – Buddhalaisia opetuksia ekologisesta kriisistä. Kirjan on suomentanut Helsinki Zenin…

  • Helsinki Street Retreat 2026

    Helsinki Street Retreat 2026

    This post was written by

    Sensei Mikko

    Helsinki Street Retreat 2026 We ended our Street Retreat yesterday on Saturday September 5. It is very difficult to verbalise anything coherent. My heart feels vast and open from all the amazing encounters we had. The most meaningful moments were the talks we had with people experiencing homelessness every day. I was so moved by…

  • Bearing Witness at Auschwitz-Birkenau

    Bearing Witness at Auschwitz-Birkenau

    This post was written by

    Sensei Mikko

    In 2025, Sensei Mikko reflected on their participation in the Bearing Witness Retreat at Auschwitz-Birkenau, highlighting experiences of vulnerability and courage. Inspired by Witold Pilecki’s story of resistance, Mikko embraced a supportive role without staff duties. Clowning at the retreat emphasized humor amidst tragedy. Gratitude was expressed to donors and participants for fostering these meaningful…

  • Encounters Without Preconceptions

    Encounters Without Preconceptions

    This post was written by

    Sensei Mikko

    Kikka Rytkönen reflects on a transformative retreat, finding unexpected engagement in various religious experiences and the importance of approaching situations without preconceptions. The connection with others, moments of vulnerability while begging, and the sense of community during rituals enriched her journey. Ultimately, the experience fostered liberation from material concerns and a deeper bond among participants.

  • Kohtaamisia ilman ennakkoluuloja

    Kohtaamisia ilman ennakkoluuloja

    This post was written by

    Sensei Mikko

    Kikka Rytkönen pohtii osallistumistaan retriittiin, jossa hän löysi yllättävää kiinnostusta erilaisiin uskontoihin ja oppi, kuinka tärkeää on kohdata tilanteet ilman ennakkokäsityksiä. Yhteys toisiin ihmisiin, kerjäämisen herättämät haavoittuvuuden hetket ja rituaaleissa koettu yhteisöllisyys syvensivät matkaa. Lopulta kokemus toi vapautta materiaalisista huolista ja lujitti osallistujien välistä yhteenkuuluvuutta.

  • Helsinki Street Retreat, 7–10 September 2022

    Helsinki Street Retreat, 7–10 September 2022

    This post was written by

    Sensei Mikko

    By Johan van Mol A few weeks ago, I lived on the streets for a couple of days with an inter-faith group of Peacemakers in Helsinki. We did this without money, without phones, begging for food, and sleeping on cardboard in parks and abandoned lots. We also visited homeless shelters to bear witness to poverty…

  • Relive and Experience: Bearing Witness in Finland

    Relive and Experience: Bearing Witness in Finland

    This post was written by

    Sensei Mikko

    Text by Kees HagenaarTranslated from Dutch by Mikko IjäsPictures by Stan Weyns I knew nothing about the Finnish civil war, which lasted from 27 January to 15 May in 1918. I only heard about it when I took part in the street retreat in Helsinki, Finland in September 2017. We also visited monuments that commemorate…

  • Letters from the Finnish civil war prison camps of 1918

    Letters from the Finnish civil war prison camps of 1918

    This post was written by

    Sensei Mikko

    Johanna Hammarberg’s “Lost Letter” is an audio play installation based on twelve fictional letters describing the fates of the suspected Reds from Kotka area who were convicted in 1918 civil war prison camps. Scriptwriter, director Johanna Hammarberg (born in Kotka) has studied actual civil war documents, on which she has based the fictional letters on.…

  • Bearing Witness to the 1918 Civil War of Finland

    Bearing Witness to the 1918 Civil War of Finland

    This post was written by

    Sensei Mikko

    Blog post by Mikko Ijäs, retreat organizer We held our first Bearing Witness retreat here in Helsinki in late June 2018. The context of the retreat was set around the prison camps of the Finnish civil war of 1918. One hundred years ago Finland was torn in half by two opposing forces, the Whites and…

  • Helsinki Street Retreat, 2017

    Helsinki Street Retreat, 2017

    This post was written by

    Sensei Mikko

    In 2017 Roshi Frank De Waele asked Mikko Ijäs to organize a Street Retreat in Helsinki, Finland. For four days they were immersed in the Zen Peacemakers’ Three Tenets: Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Taking Action; they begged for food and money, slept where they could, and left their ordinary routines.