Zen Training with Eshū
This is my own framework — my way of structuring how a person might approach training and belonging here. It isn't the only way. Other teachers hold it differently, and theirs are no less true. I'm laying mine out as clearly as I can, so that you can engage with it, and find where you might stand.
Two things shape where you stand, and they're separate questions. One is how you want to train with me — as a mentee, more open and as-needed, or as an apprentice, in the formal training relationship this lineage has carried for centuries. The other is whether you want to belong to Zenwest itself. You can be my apprentice without being a member. You can belong to the community without training formally with me.
These aren't steps on a ladder. Each asks something different, and offers something different in return.
Three relationships
Guest. Tuesday sits, public Dharma talks, and open events — these belong to anyone who wants to show up. Public ceremonies are open to guests as well. You are received with full hospitality. There is no pressure and no expectation. This is not a lesser state — it is an honest one. You are here. You have not yet chosen to formally belong. That choice hasn't been asked of you, and it isn't assumed.
Member. Zenwest membership is the formal act of choosing to belong to this sangha — to take on the responsibilities and privileges that membership carries. As a member, you have access to Zenwest-hosted Zazenkai and Sesshin, Dharma talks within those intensives, and the full range of Zenwest ceremonies. Membership also opens the RAPP path — but only in conjunction with formal apprenticeship. Membership alone does not place you on the RAPP.
Apprentice. You are in formal training with me. The Shokenko ceremony marks entry into that relationship. The work is different in kind, not just in degree. Apprenticeship opens Dokusan — the formal interview, where the real work of formation happens. It also opens the RAPP path, when combined with Zenwest membership. Apprenticeship does not require Zenwest membership. The training relationship through Monarch is real on its own terms.
How you train with me
Zen Mentorship — Zen-informed guidance without entering a formal apprenticeship. Periodic meetings, booked as the relationship calls for it. This might be where you begin if you are discerning, or where you remain if formal apprenticeship is not what you are seeking. $150 + GST per 45-minute meeting.
Apprenticeship — A formal training relationship in the Rinzai Zen tradition, entered through the Shokenko ceremony. Real obligations on both sides. Held to twelve. $75 + GST per month; individual sessions $130 + GST.
Ways in
If you are new to Zen, or arriving with a practice formed elsewhere, there is more than one way onto this ground — the free Orientation material, the Practice Assessment, and the guided cohort.
Ways In — courses, assessment, and what comes before Shokenko.
Belonging to Zenwest
Zenwest membership is Zenwest's to offer, not Monarch's. Membership fees and tiers are being finalized this autumn.
Start with a conversation
For many people the first step isn't a course or an assessment — it's a conversation. Book a free 30-minute consultation, whether you are unsure which path is yours or already ready to enter apprenticeship. We'll talk about where you are and what you are looking for. Nothing is decided in advance.
Teàrlach Eshū Kilgour, Oshō — Abbot, Zenwest Buddhist Society