From 24 to 26 October 2025, the WCCM of Catalonia organised a meditation retreat led by Berta Meneses at a retreat house of the Congregation of the Philippian Sisters near Barcelona. Berta Meneses is a Catholic nun and Zen master in the lineage of Harada, Yasutani and Yamada Ryooun Roshi. Since the late 1970s she has carried out research and in-depth study of Eastern culture, especially Zen Buddhism, periodically attending intensive Zen meditation courses in Spain, Germany and Japan. She has been a disciple of Willigis Jäger and Ana M. Schlüter, masters of the Sanbô-Zen School. In 2016 she was named Zen master of the Sanbô-Zen School by Yamada Ryoun Roshi.
Berta told us about silence, meditation, the liberation of the fictions that separate us, and the welcoming of the Reality that unites us, with all its richness of diversity, at all levels of our lives. In addition to lectures and meditation sessions, the retreat combined other meditative practices such as tai chi, Lauds and Vespers prayers, and meditative walks. A distinguished speaker, a peaceful environment and enthusiastic and committed companions have made this retreat an experience of silence and communion that will need to be deepened in daily meditation.
