Retreat Cabin Application
Open Dates
Great Vow Zen Monastery
The monastery retreat cabin rests on the edge of our 23 acres of forest. Though, just a short walk to the monastery buildings, it has a feeling of a forest hermitage. Equipped with running water, electricity, a small kitchenette with electric stovetop and small refrigerator and a compost toilet it is an ideal location for doing short solo retreat practice. You will have access to our forest trail system, beautiful meadows and gardens, as well as the privacy for solo meditation and dharma study. The intention of the retreat hut is to provide practice support for those looking to deepen…
Doing The Work of Byron Katie
September 23, 2023
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple
“The teacher you need is the person you’re living with.” “Stress is an alarm clock that lets you know you’ve attached to something that’s not true for you.” – BK 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 beliefs that create dissatisfaction Doing The Work Learning to facilitate another doing The Work Q & A Connecting with each other Lunch is included. Your RSVP helps us know how much to prepare. Sliding scale $45 to $90 (suggested $75);…
Jizo Ceremony for Children Who Have Died
With Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi
September 23, 2023
Great Vow Zen Monastery
The loss of a child often opens a well of profound grief. No matter how the child dies, suddenly or slowly, whether through illness, accident, miscarriage, abortion, or suicide, our sorrow is deep and may be long-lasting.
Wilderness Backpacking Sesshin: Resting in Wild Spaces
With Sara Shinei Monial and Danney Soten Lynch
September 24 - October 1, 2023
Mt. Hood (Wy'east) Wilderness Oregon
Previous meditation retreat and backpacking experience is highly recommended. Immerse yourself in the silent wisdom of the forest, mountains, and sky. Allow these wild places to awaken within you and inform how you experience and embody this life.
Investigating Zen Practice: a one-day workshop
September 30, 2023
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple
Experience an Introduction to Zen Practice through the Ten Directions This one-day in-person workshop 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.
Five Buddhist Precepts for Ethical Living: Online Class Series
October 4 - November 8, 2023
Online
These one hour online 5 Precepts classes will happen every Wednesday for six weeks. We all want to live a compassionate life. The precepts give us a framework for what it means to live an ethical life. More then a set of rules to follow, the precepts are deep inquiries into the actual living of our lives with attention and love. The format is an introductory talk followed by class discussion. Participants will be encouraged to do a short writing on each precept and practice with the precept during the week. There are also some supplemental readings.
Service to the Temple: A Half-day of Zazen & Volunteering
October 7, 2023
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple
Working together is part of our spiritual practice, and allows us to honor and care for the sacred space that Heart of Wisdom provides in our city. Please join with community for this morning of practice and work together. There is work available for all skills and abilities. Bring something to share for lunch. Tentative schedule 9:00 to 9:50 Morning meditation 10:00 to 11:50 Work practice 12:00 to 1:00 Lunch & socializing Everyone is invited, please email how@zendust.org or sign up at the work board at Heart of Wisdom. Come for all or part of the day. Projects Include: Gardening …
Autumn Ango – Fall Residency
With Hogen and Chozen Roshi
October 10 - December 17, 2023
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 and Laura Jomon Martin
October 12 - 22, 2023
Great Vow Zen Monastery or Online
There is something very special about the magic of autumn and the kicking off of the fall 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 off…
Autumn Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat
October 28, 2023
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple
A Zazenkai is a day of Zen practice in the city. Join us for a silent day of meditation (seated and walking), chanting, mindful eating, temple care-taking, and a dharma talk. We close the day with a ceremony to renewing our intention to live an ethical life.
November Sesshin – Gratitude
With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei
November 6 - 12, 2023
Great Vow Zen Monastery
With gratitude for our beloved sangha near and far, the Monastery joyfully offers another sesshin. This sesshin has no set price. All are welcome to attend, and donations from the heart are welcome. During this week of practice, we will eat only the offerings brought to us specifically for this retreat. So food donations, while always welcome, are particularly helpful! Bring food that you like to eat, bring food that will challenge our kitchen team and cook. The head cook (tenzo) will need to dive into creativity and allow the surprises of each donation manifest our meals. We will…
Loving Kindness Weekend Meditation Retreat
With Senior Lay Practitioner and/or Ordained Priest
November 17 - 19, 2023
Great Vow Zen Monastery
With wonderment on our side, and in relationship with all that is, we recognize the inherent compassion that springs forth from deep and sustained presence. Held in a container of zen forms and the soft silence of a monastery nestling into winter, we will explore the nature of being anything at all! This exploration will take place within the practices of zazen, chanting, formal meals and work practice Much of the day will be spent in the meditation hall practicing seated meditation together. Beginners welcome. 🙂
Half-Day Zazen Retreat
November 18, 2023
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple and Online
If you use your mind to study reality, you won’t understand either your mind or reality. If you study reality without using your mind, you’ll understand both. -Bodhidharma This Ango check-in is a half day of Zen practice and an opportunity to share reflections on your Ango (traditional intensive period of practice) experience and ask a teacher questions about it. Join us for a silent half day of meditation (seated and walking), chanting, and interaction with community and teachers. During this half day of practice we’ll sit facing the wall, embodying the spirit of Bodhidharma’s Zazen. This retreat is held…
December Sesshin – Rohatsu
With Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi, Hogen Bays, Roshi and Larry Fuho Trussell
December 3 - 10, 2023
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…
Beginner’s Mind Weekend Meditation Retreat
With Senior Lay Practitioner and/or Ordained Priest
December 15 - 17, 2023
Great Vow Zen Monastery
The teachings and practices of Zen Buddhism empower us to live our lives wholeheartedly with openness, insight and compassion. During this weekend retreat we follow a silent retreat schedule, which allows us to temporarily put aside outside concerns and go deeply into inner work. The silent retreat schedule includes about seven hours of sitting meditation (with breaks), Buddhist chanting services, formal oriyoki meals, and a period of community work practice. On the first evening the retreat leaders will give thorough instruction on the foundations and methods of Zen meditation. Opportunities to meet with a teacher or senior practitioner to discuss…
Vow Sesshin
With Hogen Bays, Roshi and Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi
January 15 - 21, 2024
Great Vow Zen Monastery
Join Hogen and Chozen Roshi in an exploration of our deepest intentions. More information coming soon.
Pari-Nirvana Sesshin: A Meditation Retreat exploring Life, Death & the Unknown
With Laura Jomon Martin and Larry Fuho Trussell
February 12 - 18, 2024
Great Vow Zen Monastery or Online
Zen meditation is an invitation to the unknown. During this sesshin we take up the Buddha's Parinirvana--the Buddha's death, as the essential inquiry into our own relationship with death, dying and the uncertainties of this life. How often in your daily life do you allow yourself to reflect on your own mortality, your own death? This sesshin provides the structure and support needed to look into the fears and anxieties surrounding death, dying and the unknown. Supported by the stillness and quiet of winter, we allow the body, heart and mind to deeply settle and rest - as we feel…
March Sesshin – Deep Listening
With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei
March 15 - 24, 2024
Great Vow Zen Monastery or Online
Awareness meeting sound has been a gate into the depths of the heart-mind for as long as human beings hve longed to open. During this sesshin we come together in joyous recognition of the power of deep listening, and sink into the rhythms of our wild, wonderful and mysterious life.