Calendar

Great Vow Zen Monastery Zendo

Online Zendo Schedule: 

Sound Sesshin Morning  Schedule

Saturday – Saturday (Connect via Zoom link below)

5:30 am – 6:50 am – Zazen

 7:20  am – Service 

Monastery Sunday Public Program, Clatskanie, Oregon
10AM-12:15PM – in person and online.

YouTube link for Sunday Program
Zoom link for all events

Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple

Sunday Mornings: 9:30AM to 11:30AM
Led by Zen Teacher Larry Fuho Trussell
Meditation, Dharma talk, and chanting service. During sitting, Fuho offers sanzen, one-on-one meetings about Zen practice.
In Person and Online.
Zoom link for Sunday Morning (must be logged into Zoom)

Sunday Evenings: 7PM to 9:00PM
Led by Hogen Bays, Roshi
Meditation and teachings on Buddhist sutras and spiritual practice.
In Person and Online.
Zoom link for Sunday Evening (must be logged in to Zoom)

Tuesday Evenings: 7:00PM to 9:00PM
 Led by Zen Teacher Nancy Kodo Conover
Meditation, a short talk and group discussion about how Buddhist teachings apply to our life today.
In Person and Online.
Zoom link for Tuesday  Evening (must be logged into Zoom)

Wednesday Evenings: 7PM to 8:30PM
Led by Jogen Sensei
Silent and guided meditation including calm-abiding, emptiness practice and/or loving-kindness followed by dharma talk.           In person and Online. New Zoom link:
Zoom link for Wednesday Evening

Thursday Evenings: 7:00PM to 8:30P

Led by Shonin Ashton and Gensho Welsh
Meditation and Dharma talk with a focus on foundational Buddhist teachings and practices.
In Person and Online.
Zoom link for Thursday Evening (must be logged in to Zoom)

Friday Mornings: 11:00AM to 12:30PM
Led by Doug Onkatsu Kagel
Begins with chanting service, seated and walking meditation, and meditation instruction in the zendo. Open zendo – drop in.
In Person and Online.
Zoom link for Friday Morning (you must be logged into your Zoom account)

Other Ongoing Events

Morning Meditation with Trillium House Residents
Monday – Friday, 6:00am to 7am PT
Online. In person at Heart of Wisdom on Fridays. Zoom link.

Monday Evenings:  6PM to 7:30PM. 
Led by Amy Kisei, Sensei

Guided + silent meditation practice that includes the themes of embodiment, compassion and awareness practices. Dharma talk begins at 6:45P, followed by discussion. Drop in anytime! Online Only. Zoom link for Monday Evening

Tuesday Evenings: 7PM to 8:30PM 
Led by Laura Jomon Martin, Zen Teacher

Vancouver Zen Group
Upstairs from Bauman Chiropractic
202 E. McLoughlin Blvd. Vancouver, WA 98663

In Person and Online.
Zoom link for Tuesday Evening

LGBTQIA+ Dharma Group
Meets monthly on the 1st Saturday, 7pm-830pm PT.
For more information and the Zoom link: Send an email.
In Person at Heart of Wisdom and Online.

The Work of Byron Katie – facilitated by Linda Cho-on Frischmeyer


1st & 3rd Monday each Month: 7:00 – 8:30 pm Online Only. Zoom link for The Work.

1st Friday of the month: 1:00 – 2:00 pm In Person at Heart of Wisdom
Whether you are new to The Work of Byron Katie and want to ‘try it on,’ or are familiar, even experienced, and want to do The Work in a small group setting, this opportunity is for you. We explore a belief common to many (all?!) of us each time we meet.

Friday Evenings: 7:00PM to 8:00PM
Led by Zen Teacher Patrick Bansho Green
Guided meditation on metta (loving-kindness).
Online Only. Zoom link for Friday Evening

Meditation Retreats, Sesshin, Workshops

Workshops and sesshin are currently offered in-person and online format unless otherwise noted.
Please do not attend in person if you feel sick or you live with someone who feels ill.

April 2025

4/14 - 4/20Koan Sesshin

May 2025

5/12 - 5/18May Sesshin – The Light of our Ancestors

June 2025

6/9 - 6/15June Sesshin – Loving Kindness

July 2025

7/21 - 7/27July Sesshin – Summer Breeze

August 2025

8/11 - 8/17Grasses, Trees, and the Great Earth Sesshin

September 2025

9/9 - 9/14Jizo Sesshin

October 2025

10/9 - 10/19October Sesshin – The Ancient Way

November 2025

11/10 - 11/16November Sesshin – Gratitude

December 2025

12/7 - 12/14December Sesshin – Rohatsu

ZCO Board meeting March 2025

March 30, 2025
Heart of Wisdom (in person) and Online (Zoom)
Board meetings are open and members of the community are invited to attend. Board meetings  are a place to find out what’s happening and how ZCO functions. Typical topics include finances, reports on goings on at the monastery and temple, committee reports, and the community's strategic plans. Meetings are held via Zoom.

Home Hermitage – A Day Long Retreat Online

With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei

March 30, 2025
Online
We will spend a day meditating in the intimate aloneness that embraces all beings. Doing sustained zazen in our own dwelling place and its wild domesticity invites the desired integration of the everyday and the sacred. […]

Spring Practice Period: Awakening with the Earth

April 1 - June 1, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery
  Spring at Great Vow Zen Monastery is beautiful. The fruit tree blossoms open towards the heavens, the forest is abuzz with new insects, birds and tree frogs are waking up from their winter slumber,  and daffodils, poppies, irises and tulips paint the world. With the natural world springing to life with such exubrance and force, residency at the monastery inclines towards the out of doors. We dedicate more of our daily practice to the care and maintenance of our garden and grounds. This includes maintaining our trails and caring for native trees in our forest to planting veggies in…

The Resilient Heart

With Hogen Bays, Roshi

April 3 - 6, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery
Our practice is a continual invitation to expand our view. As our view expands, we no longer live tethered to our preferences, judgements and beliefs about how we think the world should be. We come to see that even the most tumultuous and challenging circumstances can become opportunities for deep insight and possibility.  Our Zazen practice gives us a foundation upon which insight can land and be cultivated. It gives us a base upon which we can move with the winds of change. Here is our space to ground, to root, and then to look around with fresh eyes. What…

Doing the Work of Byron Katie

With Linda Chōon Frischmeyer

April 5, 2025
Heart Of Wisdom Zen Temple
Doing the Work of Byron Katie "Of all the diseases, all the ailments that afflict humanity, there is one common denominator: the conditioned mind. Our unconditioned minds are deeply interconnected." - Chakung Jigme Wangdrak   "The Work is about internal cause and effect. It is not about the external world." - Byron Katie   This one-day in-person workshop at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple provides newcomers and those familiar with this form of meditation opportunities for: Learning about The Work of Byron Katie Identifying our beliefs Doing The Work (meditation) Learning to facilitate another; listening and being present Q&A Lunch…

Investigating Zen Practice: a one-day workshop

With Kosho Ault and Ed Gensho Welsh

April 12, 2025
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple
Experience an Introduction to Zen Practice through the Ten Directions. This one-day in-person workshop at Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple is for beginners or those who want to dive deeper into Zen practice. Learn how to practice using ancient methods that are applicable in today’s world: Meditation and sitting with stability Mindfulness practice off the cushion Chanting Mindful eating Work practice Stillness Walking meditation Koans Tradition and ritual Dharma teachings Lunch is included. Your RSVP helps us know how much lunch to prepare.

Koan Sesshin

With Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi and Larry Fuho Trussell

April 14 - 20, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery
Zen koans are words, phrases or questions that can re-orient us from the discriminating mind to the One Mind, from the Relative to the Absolute.   In this sesshin we will work with koans, stilling the mind, and experience the bright clarity that comes forth as each moment.   It has been 10 long years since we offered a Koan Sesshin. Working on Koans is a rigorous, full-time-in-the-zendo practice, and that, unless you are fit and healthy, it is probably not the best retreat for you to attend. We don't want people to be tipped over into exhaustion both by the…

Spring Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat

With Ed Gensho Welsh

April 19, 2025
Heart Of Wisdom Zen Temple
This is a silent day of Zen Buddhist meditation practice together, seated and active. The schedule includes meditation (zazen), chanting, caring for the garden and grounds, and Dharma talk.

Love & Spaciousness: A Loving Kindness Weekend Retreat

With Patrick Bansho Green and Myoyu Haley Voekel

May 1 - 4, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery
With wonderment on our side, and in relationship with all that is, we recognize the inherent compassion that naturally arises from deep and sustained presence. Held in a container of zen forms and the vibrant dance of a monastery waking up to spring, we will explore the nature of being anything at all! During this silent retreat our day will unfold within the practices of zazen, chanting, formal meals and a short work practice. Much of the day will be spent in the meditation hall practicing seated meditation together.   Beginners welcome. 🙂   Please see our website Attending a Retreat at Great Vow Zen Monastery for more…

16 Bodhisattva Precepts Classes – Online

With Amy Kisei, Sensei

May 4 - June 8, 2025
Online
The beginning and end of our practice is ethical living; acting, speaking and thinking in ways that support the greatest wellbeing and awakening for all beings. Everyone is welcome to attend these classes, whether you have already formally taken the precepts, are considering taking the precepts, or you are simply curious about the ethical guidelines that rest at the foundation of Zen practice.

May Sesshin – The Light of our Ancestors

With Amy Kisei, Sensei, Patrick Bansho Green and Ed Gensho Welsh

May 12 - 18, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery or Online
Zen is a direct Mind to Mind transmission--a transmission of light. We study with teachers who help us recognize and embody our awakened wisdom and compassion. During this sesshin, we will connect with our roots and draw strength from the stories of those who have come before us. Our ancestors are real people, walking the path of their lives and opening the Dharma truths - just as we aspire to do. Join us for this intimate week of practice. Sesshin is a rigorous and, at times, challenging silent meditation retreat that is not recommended for beginners. In order to attend…

Drop of Stillness – 1/2 day retreat

With Kosho Ault, Linda Chōon Frischmeyer and Onkatsu Doug Kagel

May 31, 2025
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple
Touch into the still point at the center amidst our busy schedules. This silent retreat will include seated and walking meditation, chanting service, and movement practice. Join us for a half-day of simply sitting. ~ Tentative Schedule  8 - 8:50 am Zazen meditation 8:50 am Kinhin walking meditation 9:00 am Zazen 9:50 am Chanting service 10:00 am Break 10:15 am Movement practice 10:45 am Zazen 11:20 am Kinhin 11:30 am Zazen 12 pm end Please consider the option to bring a bag lunch and stay after to eat together. Led by Community Zen Leaders Onkatsu, Chōon, and Kosho

June Sesshin – Loving Kindness

With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei and Laura Jomon Martin

June 9 - 15, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery or Online
Because of our past as well as presently existing beliefs and attitudes, our capacity to meet ourselves and life and the people, places and things within it, with an open heart, is probably not fully embodied. Buddha taught that love and friendliness can be developed immeasurably, and that there is only benefit in filling ourselves and the world with love’s energy. In this retreat we will engage various practices for opening the aperture of the heart wider than its default setting with the goal of familiarizing ourselves with just how much freedom we have to be warm and open, even…

Solstice Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat

With Larry Fuho Trussell

June 21, 2025
Heart Of Wisdom Zen Temple
This is a silent day of Zen Buddhist meditation practice together, seated and active. The schedule includes meditation (zazen), chanting, caring for the garden and grounds, and Dharma talk.

Mindful Eating Weekend Retreat

With Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi

June 27 - 29, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery
It can be so easy to lose touch with the basic joys of our life.  With eating, the simple exploration of texture, smell, taste and touch, can bring us into deep presence and ease. What is it like to truly taste a raisin? How often do we just eat, without a cellphone or radio, without distraction? Chozen Bays Roshi has been teaching mindful eating for decades. We eat to be nourished, body, heart and mind. With mindfulness practices and community support, we can learn together - the art of eating,  and the joys of being nourished. In this workshop we…

Summer Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat

With Darah Shonin Ashton

July 19, 2025
Heart Of Wisdom Zen Temple
This is a silent day of Zen Buddhist meditation practice together, seated and active. The schedule includes meditation (zazen), chanting, caring for the garden and grounds, and Dharma talk.

July Sesshin – Summer Breeze

With Patrick Bansho Green and Darah Shonin Ashton

July 21 - 27, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery
Summer is bright and alive. The sun hangs high in the sky, illuminating the earth with unflinching clarity. What wisdom does a warm summer day offer? Everything is laid bare before the luminous rays of the sun. In this meditation immersion, we will endeavor to study the self, forget the self and glimpse Buddha Nature, opening in silent communion with this community of human and non- human beings. This is our collective awakening.

Grasses, Trees, and the Great Earth Sesshin

With Amy Kisei, Sensei and Myoyu Haley Voekel

August 11 - 17, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery
Earth body, sky heart. Rooted and flowing. Luminous and open. We are made of earth and sky, of wind breath and rain song, our lives woven from the teachings of the natural world. This retreat is an opportunity to re-connect and relax into the wild, ancient, wisdom of the Grasses, Trees and Great Earth. We will spend time learning from each of the five elements, as they manifest in our experience. Deeply exploring and releasing into our interconnection with the living, breathing body of the Earth, waters, energizing air, bright fiery sun, and vast spacious sky. This retreat is held…

Jizo Sesshin

With Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi and Laura Jomon Martin

September 9 - 14, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery - In Person Only
This retreat begins on Tuesday!   This retreat will focus on the qualities of Jizo Bodhisattva, guardian of all that comes from the earth, and Jizo’s qualities – benevolence, optimism, fearlessness, determination, and vow. A unique element of this retreat is the inclusion of time devoted to art projects, creative time, and a slide show and talk about Jizo. As part of our practice, we will be making small Jizo-related items. Due to the nature of this retreat schedule, we will be sitting outside and also out of the zendo to make art, there will not be an online option.…

Annual Dinner 2025

September 27, 2025
Saint Andrew Catholic Church
Once a year we gather for a dinner celebration to reflect on what we've accomplished and intentions for the year ahead.

Autumn Ango – Fall Residency 2025

With Hogen and Chozen Roshi, Patrick Bansho Green and Myoyu Haley Voekel

October 7 - December 21, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery
This Dharma is abundantly present in each human being, but if we do not practice it, it does not manifest itself, and if we do not experience it, it cannot be realized. - Dogen Zenji In communion with our ancestors who set aside time each year for deep retreat, the Monastery offers this Autumn Ango.  Ango is a celebration of stillness and quiet contemplation, upheld with the support of community and teachers. Ango can be translated to mean peaceful dwelling. During this practice period our daily schedule takes on a tone of a light retreat which includes more zazen (about…

October Sesshin – The Ancient Way

With Hogen Bays, Roshi, Jogen Salzberg, Sensei and Danney Soten Lynch

October 9 - 19, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery or Online
There is something very special about the magic of autumn and the kicking off of the fall ango practice period that makes this sesshin so powerful. What a great gift it is to be able to sit together in silence. This is our longest sesshin of the year. The extra days enable us drop down into the bare bones essentials of our lives. We have this rare opportunity to turn towards the practice/awakening that is our true nature, and to celebrate quietly together in the container of sesshin. Day after day plunge into the waters of mystery and exploration. Turn…

December Sesshin – Rohatsu

With Hogen Bays, Roshi, Larry Fuho Trussell and Myoyu Haley Voekel

December 7 - 14, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery or Online
  The light of the Buddha's awakening has not dimmed. This very moment, alive, awake and luminous. Each year people from all over the world gather to celebrate, to sit in stillness and to be nourished by this truth. All over the world people join in the ritual of Rohatsu sesshin. This sesshin is the culmination of a year of practice and is also the culmination of our fall Ango practice period. At many centers and monasteries, this is the most valued sesshin of the year, and may be the only one that many people are able to attend. We…