‘Sesshin week gets worse and worse. Nerves are strained to breaking-point. The tension rises. Then, usually around the fourth day, there is a sudden lull, and every-one gets his second wind. What has for each been an individual life-and-death struggle, becomes a harmony. Face-to-face confrontations between Roshi and pupil are still intense, but they have a deeper multi-dimensional quality in this new atmosphere. The week continues like the last movement of a concerto building up to its great climax.’ (from the Middle Way)
Another evocative description from an account of training with Soen Nakagawa.
Shundo David Haye 