Sanko-ji,
is the current name of the Zen hermitage, located in the village of Elbenschwand in the Kleines Wiesental, a powerful, rustic area in the southern Black Forest. In Japanese, it means “place of peaceful dwelling in the mountains”.
We would like to use this place, from summer 2024,
as an aesthetic and simple place of practice for the benefit and growth of as many beings as possible.
In doing so, we dare to attempt to bring together a practice of shared silent contemplation with somatic bodywork and a relational practice that turns to that which wants to find expression and contact within us – to be
a practice of being with
what emerges
within us
and
between us.
A practice of cultivating presence
in all bodies.
Many wounds that permeate our human history and characterize our coexistence and non-coexistence as a global humanity have to do with uprooting or displacement.
That is why our place should be a place to grow roots. The roots that connect us to our own body and our inner being as well as to “our land”. This “land” is the soil that nourishes us as well as our connection to the more than human world and the concrete surroundings of Elbenschwand with its mountains, trees, watercourses and creatures.
As such, it is also a place where people can come into contact with and learn about the beauty of a simple life closer to the rhythms and influences of nature.
Our place of practice should be a place that welcomes people of all backgrounds – a place where our individual and collective ability to respond to the challenges of our time grows. A place that counteracts the increasing radicalization and fragmentation in our societies.
We see ourselves as constant learners with humility in the knowledge that our ignorance will always be greater than our knowledge. The design of our everyday life and place is an attempt to create the greatest possible space for what is essential.
One of the first research questions is how this ‘creating space for the essential’ can be supported by a community.
What is the power of doing something together?
To what extent are we capable of doing this?
Where do we need to mature for this?
