Your Guide
Vasu — an urban “Shaman” of Bangalore — will hold the nurturing field of Zen TaO, inviting everyone to return to their sacred, authentic self. (As often referred Zen TaO is like a self-surgery without anaesthesia)
Know More…Monsoon Zen Retreat
Return to Your True Self
A three-day residential retreat designed as a gentle threshold space for positive solitude learning Zen practices, and healing ancestral Trauma; at the ChukkiMane rural resort, 4 kms away from the sacred Kaveri River.
Reserve Your Space
A Transformative Retreat
‘Zen Interface’- ZEIF presents its first-ever Monsoon Zen Retreat for the senior and middle-aged adults – all genders who are in the search of their True Self, after reaching their dreams and debating with their loneliness and singular identity. The four-day immersive experience where silence teaches differently than articulation; participants can realign their creative energies and discover the TaO of radical acceptance and positive solitude.
Co-created by Zeif and ChukkiMane, this intimate gathering is a soulful rendezvous of stillness that opens to clarity, and find gentle pathways for transformation.
Who is this for?
Adults of all genders aged 40–55 who are seeking a space to
Take stock, confront self, forgive and find ways to heal trauma of anxiety, restlessness, more is possible, but why ?
Navigating stressful life situations at work, home, society and profession.
Seeking freedom from self-inflicted bondage and delaying creative renewal.
Ready to pause, reflect, and realign trusting their own inner wisdom in store.
What to Expect
Guided reflection and contemplative practices in sync with nature.
Preparatory self-regulation choices.
Supportive, intentional collective space potent with dynamic possibilities
for transformation.
Deep rest, restorative breathing, soulful connection by silent gaze , conversations and shamanic group singing.
With advance readings, mindful readiness, and a shared intention to grow, Monsoon Zen offers a powerful reset for the wise adult.
Give yourself the gift of pause keeping in abeyance, comparisons, assumptions, prejudgements and agree with what emerges in the moment.
Near Gaganachukki Waterfalls of Sacred Kaveri River.
View on Google Maps
₹7,500 Advance
Reach Retreat location ChukkiMane on 27th August forenoon (10.30am). Return to Bangalore on 30th August evening (6.30pm).
The Heart of the Zen Retreat
The retreat is designed as a threshold space — not a workshop, not a pilgrimage, but a gentle return to one’s own self. Zen TaO creates the conditions where healing and self transformation is inevitable, much like a river healing you without trying.
Positive Solitude
Cultivate chosen aloneness without a sense of loneliness. Solitude as nourishment, and not a deliberate escape or avoidance.
Zen Simplicity
Beginner’s mind will tolerate just sitting long hours, resting, going blank, still being present in the ‘Here and Now’ as each hour pass bye.
Vibrational Healing
Music, hymns, shamanic calls, with songs in chorus with drums in tune with expressive body vibes acts as vibrational medicine. Nature in the body and mind serving as the healer and the teacher.
“The river does not try to heal you. Yet, you return healed.”
This retreat doesn’t try to “heal” — it creates the conditions where healing is inevitable.
Four days of ‘Zenformation’
(the intense involvement is called ‘ Ango’)
Our carefully structured program balances solitude with light community activities, exercises, yoga, Zumba, Qi gong, Group dance, group cooking, resonance of shamanic music, drum beats to the rhythm of heart beat, group sketching all in silent conversation guiding.
Each day in the retreat is called the ‘Zazenkai’ and the meditative space is called the ‘Zendo’.
Day 1: Arrival & Grounding
Forenoon: Settle in campus of ChukkiMane resort. After briefing on administrative, precautionary and hygiene norms and formalities – lunch and rest, strolling around the campus feeling the space, energy, objects, ambience and merging with the spirit of Zen.
Learning how to eat the Zen TaO ways.
Afternoon: Solitude time resting and strolling Zen walking and pausing.
Evening: Sunset sitting (20–30 mins) watching birds flocking home, registering distant sounds, walking in to form Hymn Circle and take a seat. Sway with time, let go inhibitions and gently connect with groups breathing rhythm and hymns emerging.
Theme: Listening to what remains when effort drops
Day 2: Deep Solitude
Visit to Water falls with sketch pads and protective caps, sunglasses and shoes. Choice of walking, bullock carting, four wheeler options on the spot. Day of solitude no interactive talking, or engaging with conversation with rural folks of retreat helpers. After lunch resting and reflections of self and soul.
Evening: Gentle Zen inquiry (short prompts, and two minute sharing of what matters at the moment). Candlelit stillness and star-gazing for 2 hours.
Day 3: Togetherness in Zen
Morning: Buddha Gaze meditation till breakfast.
Space and time to practice Qi gong, Group dance, Zumba, Pilates, physical exertion and hydration, and resting.
Bathing the Zen ways, option for Massage or Foot reflexology.
Group sketching and Joint cooking of lunch by participants. All movement with total awareness, slow, steady, kinesthetics sensing – all in silence.
Afternoon: Starting to write Personal Zen TaO Journal. Guidance option from Retreat facilitator.
Evening Sunset gazing: 45 mins.
Day 4: Consolidating Own Zen, Integrating insights and practices
Forenoon: Zen circle after packing and breakfast. What emerges is the truth of the group in the ‘ Here and Now’
Revisiting Group sketch. Sitting on Zen Journal writing.
Burning the trauma junk and going for bath.
Collective connect to converse their Kaon or Metaphors and exchange gifts.
Retreat Spaces
Four intentional zones create the perfect environment for presence, solitude, and community resonance.
Silence Zones
Meditation hall – ‘Zendo’ and shaded groves, near water bodies and sunset sittings.
Sound Zone
Evening hymn space with fire or lamp-lit ambiance for vibrational music, shamanic calls, drum beats and chorus or singing in the field.
Solitude Trails
Marked walking paths for solo wandering and personal exploration. Strolling in the Fields, walking along the Falls all in solitude.
Community Zone
Break fast, Joint activity, cooking, sketching, singing, teaching exercises, breathing.
Vibrational Ecology
Music is treated as vibrational ecology, not content. Hymns and chants as medicine for the soul.
River Chants
Chants honoring Kaveri, flow, and continuity of life.
Shamanic drums
Stillness, dissolution, and universal compassion.
Nirguna Bhajans
Formless, spacious devotion beyond name and form.
Zen Meditation
Single notes, humming, and silence between sounds breathe awareness. Walking , bathing, eating, drinking, breathing feeling – meditative.
What This Retreat Is Not
Not a Cathartic Emotional Release Space
We avoid heavy emotional processing. Healing emerges through stillness and rhythm.
Not a Training Programme
Beyond structured teaching, this space invites experience, awareness, and presence to what emerges from trusting the inner core.
Not a Performance or Concert
Music is vibrational medicine, not entertainment. You are a witness, not an audience.
Hasten to Register
(Max 15 participants)
Complete the form to register and send an advance.
Typical Concerns Of Senior Adults
“I am constantly managing—but not living”
“My children, parents and partner need presence and involevment but I am not excited.”
“Something in me wants to emerge, but I feel stuck” Loosing direction.
“My parents’ aging is pulling me back into old roles”
“Efficient together, but not deeply connected to commit”
“I am holding everything together—but losing myself due to guilt, inadequacy, enthusisam and zest.”
The Packing List: “The Essentials of Sufficiency”
This list is designed to provide “Just Enough” (the Oryoki principle) and nothing more.
Clothing (The “Uniform of No-Self”)
• Loose, Pastel, Plain Clothes: Avoid bright colors, logos, or “athleisure” that draws attention.
• Comfortable Socks: Much of the retreat is spent barefoot or in socks.
• Easy-Slip Shoes: For transitioning between the Zendo and the outdoors without breaking the “flow”.
• Mosquito Repellent, Own Mug or Water Bottle
Hygiene (The “Non-Scented” Rule)
• Unscented Toiletries: Strong smells (perfume, heavy deodorants) are “sensory data” that distract others. No Makeup/Grooming Kits.
The Forbidden Items
• Screens: Phones, tablets, Kindles, smart watches or expensive zoom cameras.
• Cigarettes, Alcohol, drugs.
Zen Guide: Vasu (87)
An urban shaman, Zen therapist rooted in the rhythms of the city, Vasu embodies a rare blend of wisdom shaped by both ordinary and extraordinary life experiences. A lifelong learner and a curious seeker of reality, he continues to explore life with quiet intensity and openness, living a simple, spartan life at GoodEarth, a serene garden community on the outskirts of Kengeri, South Bangalore.
His presence is best experienced in person—there is always more to discover when you meet him. His partner, Bhanu, is a fellow spiritual seeker and an empowerment coach, dedicated to guiding and uplifting aspiring women.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do I need to be a Buddhist or have meditation experience?
No. In fact, “expert” knowledge can be a barrier. We are looking for “stumblers”—those ready to drop their conceptual maps.
2. What if I can’t sit still for that long?
The restlessness is the “noise” of your system. We don’t fix it, we observe it. The schedule includes walking meditation to balance the biological load.
3. Can I bring a journal to record my insights?
No. Journaling is just another way of “watching” yourself. Live the insight, don’t document it.
4. What if my partner and I have a conflict during the retreat?
You will not have the “interface” (speech) to escalate it. You will sit with the friction until it dissolves. This is the healing.
5. Where else in India such retreats anchored on Zen or Shamanism conducted.
None so far. Mostly in Tibet, Bali, Cambodia, Peru and Bay area California.
Participants will be Hosted in Quiet ChukkiMane Cottages
