All Nations Gathering Center, SD
Led by Fugen Tom Pitner Roshi, Koto Washi Dallas Chief Eagle & Ekai Joel Kreisberg
Wednesday September 11th, 11:00 am MT - September 15th, 12 pm MT (South Dakota), 2024
About This Retreat
Having successfully offered this retreat in summer of 2022 & 2023, hosts Dallas and Becky Chief Eagle have invited us back. With open hearts, we invite you to join us for a five-day journey of meditation, prayer and ceremony.
With the leadership of Fugen Tom Pitner Roshi, Koto Washi Dallas Chief Eagle and Ekai Joel Kreisberg, we will again join in a sacred circle to practice meditation and prayer. The overall structure of the retreat will be guided by the Zen form developed by Jun Po Denis Kelly Roshi including the morning and evening service, meditation, qigong practice and one-on-one meetings with Fugen Roshi. Traditional ceremony is also an essential aspect of this retreat including spirit walks with horses under the sacred stewardship of Dallas Chief Eagle. Rhe traditional purification lodge ceremony offered the final evening of the retreat.
During the retreat, we observe essential silence and ask that you plan your retreat to be free from outside communication and distractions. Cell phones, reading materials, computers and audio players will not be permitted for the duration of the retreat.
“A beautiful combination of being with horses, gentle movement, and meditation. The meditation instruction led me deeper into an awareness of being connected to the land and my experience of the present moment. I deeply appreciated the invitation to experience the circle of people in a gentle rhythm of inhaling and exhaling, coming and going, parts and a whole. Being close to the natural beauty was nourishing. ”
This retreat is offered in partnership with
Travel Planning
Please plan to arrive by 4:00 pm on the first day of the retreat and to depart after 11:00 am on the last day. The closest airport is Rapid City Regional in South Dakota. All Nations Gathering Center is a 90 minute drive from the airport in Kyle, SD.
For more information about the location, click here: All Nations Gathering Center
Room and Board
All Nation’s Gathering provides sharing sleeping dorms separated by gender. Bedding is provided. Also available are tent sites as well as the opportunity to stay in a traditional teepee. Daily offerings will include three vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals with coffee and tea in the morning.
Registration
The retreat fee is $850 for share rooms and all meals. You will be invited to make a dana contribution at the end of the retreat to support the teachers.
Payment plans
$850 full tuition
$450 now, $400 September 1st
Financial Assistance: $ 125 Enrollment fee plus complete application
Full Enrollment Fee
Payment Plan
Financial Assistance
Financial assistance is available to participants exhibiting financial need. To apply please fill out the scholarship application below, along with the refundable deposit.
Please note that while Hollow Bones aims to make our offerings financially accessible, we are unable to provide full scholarships for our programs and retreats.
If you are unable to offer the $125 enrollment fee for financial assistance, please contact us directly to discuss participation.
Financial Assistance
“This retreat enhances your connection and appreciation with the sacred lands of beautiful indigenous Americans. The Zen Retreat is a time to go deeper into your meditation and enhance your life’s journey. And, if you are seeking a deep heart connection with the land and people, this is the retreat for you.”
Retreat Leadership
Fugen Tom Pitner Roshi
Fugen attended the very first Hollow Bones Retreat for the ManKind Project in September, 1999, and he’s been pioneering ever since. He is now the primary liaison between Hollow Bones and the ManKind Project, and he’s been instrumental in bringing state-of-the-art faciliation tools to both organizations.
He has inspired thousands of people toward new experiences of personal and organizational empowerment through a unique brand of Mondo Zen coaching and organizational consulting. Fugen Roshi focuses first on the individual, then on the problem or situation to be cleared.
Fugen founded Zen Four with an interest in the well-being of the whole individual and the organization. The practice is one of mindful awareness across four fundamentals: mental clarity, emotional intelligence, physical health, and spiritual well-being.
Koto Washi Dallas Chief Eagle
Koto Washi Dallas Chief Eagle II, Sicangu Lakota and Hollow Bones priest, is a member of the Rosebud Lakota Nation, from the Pine Ridge Reservation, Yellow Bear Canyon, South Dakota.
An internationally renowned and recognized master of the Lakota Hoop Dance, as well as a K-12 art teacher, with a Master’s degree in guidance counseling and personal services, Koto Washi now leads the All Nations Gathering Center in Kyle, South Dakota.
Koto Washi has worked closely with children for years fostering concentration and mindfulness practices based on the ancestral creation stories of “Grandfather Rock” to improve self-awareness and management skills. An ambassador of unity and mindfulness within his own community, Grandfather Rock and other stones are used by everyone from school aged children to community elders as a meditative tool to quiet the mind. Stones have even been placed in dedicated spaces in schools and community centers as a refuge for concentration and reflection, replacing the burdens of pain, confusion and suffering with peace, compassion and joy.
This community ministry has developed in parallel with his own practices as a Hollow Bones priest. Koto Washi describes his first days of meditative practice as being “hard to get.” He reflected on early lack of comfort in sitting still and credits his eventual mastery of zazen practice to a deeper study of his own ancestral creation stories of the “stone people.” By focusing on the respect due to these “eldest beings,” he became able to quiet his mind and take his seat with greater ease, in the company of his ancestors.
“It was homey and real, as opposed to sterile and institutional. The connection to Yellow Bear Canyon was profound, and the feeling of being situated in the world of one Lakota family as it sits in the larger surrounding Lakota culture was intrinsic to the retreat. ”
Ekai Joel Kreisberg
Dr. Joel Kreisberg has been teaching healing and meditation for over 30 years. Taking jukai with Jn Po Denis Kelly Roshi at Hollow Bones Zen, Joel was given the name Ekai meaning “Ocean of Generosity.” Ekai was ordained by Jun Po in 2018 at Dai Bosatsu the root monastery for Hollow Bones. He was asked to take the role of the first Executive Director of Hollow Bones Zen in 2019. During his three years of leadership he helped Hollow Bones Zen during the challenging period of the loss of their founding abbot.
Retreat Schedule
September 11th, 2024 - Wednesday
10:00 am Arrival at the retreat
11:00 am Opening Check-in
11:30 am Orientation
12:30 Lunch
2:00 pm Meditation - Silence begins – Meditation Instructions
2:30 pm Walking Meditation - Equine Practice Begins
2:40 pm Meditation
3:20 pm Walking Meditation
3:30 pm Embodiment practice
4:00 pm Walking Meditation
4:10 pm Meditation
4:50 pm Walking Meditation
5:00 pm Meditation
5:30 pm Dinner
7:00 pm Evening service – Meditatio
7:45 pm Walking Meditation
7:55 pm Embodiment
8:20 pm Meditation – Closing Service
9:00 pm End of Practic
September 12th, 2024 - Thursday
5:00 am Wake-up bell
5:15 am Meditation hall opens
5:30 am Morning Service
5:50 am Walking Meditation
6:00 am Meditation
6:45 am Embodiment
7:15 am Meditation
7:30 am Breakfast
9:00 am Meditation
9:45 am Walking Meditation
9:55 am Meditation
10:30 am Walking Meditation
10:40 am Dharma Talk
11:20 am Walking Meditation
11:30 am Meditation
Noon Lunch
1:30 pm Meditation - Equine Practice - Dokusan
2:00 pm Walking Meditation
2:10 pm Meditation
2:55 pm Walking Meditation
3:05 pm Meditation
3:35 pm Nature Walk
4:05 pm Meditation
4:50 pm Walking Meditation
5:00 pm Meditation
5:30 pm Dinner
7:00 pm Evening service – Meditation
7:45 pm Walking Meditation
7:55 pm Embodiment
8:20 pm Meditation – Closing Service
9:00 pm End of Practice
September 13th, 2024 - Friday
5:00 am Wake-up bell
5:15 am Meditation hall opens
5:30 am Morning Service
5:50 am Walking Meditation
6:00 am Meditation
6:45 am Embodiment
7:15 am Meditation
7:30 am Breakfast
9:00 am Meditation
9:45 am Walking Meditation
9:55 am Meditation
10:30 am Walking Meditation
10:40 am Dharma Talk
11:20 am Walking Meditation
11:30 am Meditation
Noon Lunch
1:30 pm Meditation
2:00 pm Walking Meditation - Equine Practice - Dokusan
2:10 pm Meditation
2:55 pm Walking Meditation
3:05 pm Meditation
3:35 pm Nature Walk
4:05 pm Meditation
4:50 pm Walking Meditation
5:00 pm Meditation
5:30 pm Dinner
7:00 pm Evening service – Meditation
7:45 pm Walking Meditation
7:55 pm Embodiment
8:20 pm Meditation – Closing Service
9:00 pm End of Practice
September 14th, 2024 - Saturday
5:00 am Wake-up bell
5:15 am Meditation hall opens
5:30 am Morning Service
5:50 am Walking Meditation
6:00 am Meditation
6:45 am Embodiment
7:15 am Meditation
7:30 am Breakfast
9:00 am Meditation
9:45 am Walking Meditation
9:55 am Meditation
10:30 am Walking Meditation
10:40 am Dharma Talk – Fugen Tom Pitner Roshi
11:20 am Walking Meditation
11:30 am Meditation
Noon Lunch
1:30 pm Meditation
2:00 pm Breaking the silence
2:30 pm Break
3:00 pm Ordination Ceremony
4:30 pm Photos
5:00 pm Break
6:00 pm Light Dinner
7:00 pm Inipi
9:30 pm Evening Celebration
September 15th, 2024 - Sunday
6:00 am Wake-up bells
6:15 am Meditation hall opens
6:30 am Morning Service
6:55 am Meditation
7:25 am Embodiment
7:50am Meditation
8:00 am Breakfast
9:00 am Closing Circle
10:00 am Closing Business
10:30 am Closing Ceremony
11:00 am Clean and Pack
Noon Lunch
1 pm Rides out
