Residential Program

 

Residency at Great Vow Zen Monastery is a precious opportunity to devote your energy to full-time Buddhist practice. The practice of Awakening brings healing, transformation, compassion and stability into one’s heart and life. Opportunities abound, please check out the various practice period options below. 

What is Residency at Great Vow?

With 3 – 4 hours of daily meditation, residents are given the time, guidance and support to deeply enter the path of meditation – unifying, clarifying and opening the heart-mind. Meditation methods in calm-abiding, insight, koan, shikantaza and loving kindness are all taught and practiced within this community.

There is a rigor to the daily monastic schedule which supports a wholehearted engagement with every activity of life. Residents follow the daily schedule including dawn and evening meditation, five to six hours of community work practice, mindful eating, and Zen chanting/liturgy services at the monastery. Throughout the year we focus on different aspects of practice from body practice (yoga, qi gong and running), to creative process and the study of the Buddhist sutras.

All residents participate in Sesshin, our monthly weeklong silent meditation retreat, weekend meditation retreats, weekly classes and engage in direct study with a teacher.

If you are a woman, a person of color, LGBTQ* or economically disadvantaged, we welcome and especially encourage you to apply. Different types of financial assistance are available.

Join us for a practice period and begin your residency at Great Vow!

WINTER PRACTICE PERIOD

February – March

How do we dance with this life? What emerges from the stillness of a monastic container? Winter practice period is an opportunity to dive into the dance of creativity and receptivity. 

About Winter Practice Period

During this period we steep in silence and stillness, retreat practice and Sesshin. We also make a little time to explore creative expression. How do we express our understanding? How do we express the mystery and the unknown? Dancing, singing, painting, rhythm and sharing! This practice period begins with an art practice retreat. Each week we will also devote a little time to individual and group creative exploration. 

please email the residency coordinator: training@zendust.org

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AUTUMN ANGO: FALL PRACTICE PERIOD

October – December

Every fall, Great Vow residents are sustained by the beauty and mystery of autumn and dive into an all embracing practice period of deeper silence and extended retreat. 

About Ango

It is an ancient tradition, beginning with the Buddha Shakyamuni and his disciples, to set aside months of time each year to greatly simplify one’s affairs and focus exclusively on meditation practice and the study of the self.

In that spirit, this autumn at Great Vow we will hold an Ango (practice Intensive) - a two-month period- to help us explore the hidden corners of our own hearts and minds . The Ango daily schedule will include more zazen (about 5.5 hours), body practice and allow us to wade into a container of deeper silence and community connection. Ango includes one weekend meditation retreat as well as, the Walking the Ancient Way ten-day sesshin, Gratitude sesshin, and our seven-day Rohatsu sesshin.

The beauty and serenity of the monastery itself provides extra support in the process of re-discovering and resting in true self. This endeavor is life-changing and is a great opportunity for those looking to deepen their meditation practice, find peace of mind, and the innate confidence and clarity that shines through when life is oriented towards presence and love.

To inquire about residency please email the Residency Coordinator, training@zendust.org. It is helpful for us if you include a little bit about yourself and why you are interested in residency in your initial email. For more information Click HERE

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SPRING PRACTICE PERIOD

April – May

Spring offers more  opportunities to work in and explore the natural world. The garden and grounds are springing to life and we have the marvelous opportunity to stop and bare witness. 

About the Spring Practice Period

Throw open the windows and let in the sun! (and rain, and wind and ever changing weather of the Pacific Northwest). Spring is a time to shake off the winter chills and breath in the fresh smells of life emerging from the earth. 

In the Spring we dive into Zazen, enabling us to collect our attention, nurture our heart minds, and look with curiosity into the nature of reality. What are we, really? And what is really going on? 

Let’s look together at these essential questions and draw on the wonder and beauty of spring to help us keep them alive in our collective and individual heart minds. 

During the Spring Practice Period residents will participate in the full monastic schedule, which includes early morning and evening meditation and meditation retreats/sesshins. 

To inquire about residency please contact the Residency Coordinator, training@zendust.org

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Because of this practice there are the sun, the moon and the stars. Because of this practice there are the great earth and the open sky. -Dogen Zenji

SUMMER PRACTICE PERIOD:
July and August

 Summer Program is an opportunity to explore Zen practice with the support of community and teachers.  Our Summer Program is a special part of our on-going residential program at the monastery. It is designed to give you a genuine immersion in Zen practice, through the practices of meditation, mindful eating, ritual/liturgy, and temple work. Guidance from the teachers, classes and retreats/workshops are also an essential part of the residential experience. The beauty and serenity of the monastery itself provides extra support in the process of re-discovering and resting in a calm heart and mind.  

Email Training@zendust.org to inquire.

Residential training begins with a month commitment. Longer stays are available after that first month. Shorter guest stays are also welcome. 

The initial cost for residential training is $600 per month. The training fee covers room, meals, Dharma teachings, monthly sesshin, and most other retreats and workshops. Different types of financial assistance are available, please inquire.

Ordained and monastics are always welcome at no cost. 

It is ideal if those interested in residency are able to visit before applying; there are options for shorter overnight stays to see if residential training is right for you.
Residential Training Guidelines and Agreements may be viewed here. 

For more information about residential training and to obtain an application, contact training@zendust.org