Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple
The purpose of Heart of Wisdom is to provide a refuge of stillness and peace in a busy urban environment, to practice and share Buddhist teachings, and to cultivate community, compassion, and wisdom.
Zen Community of Oregon founded Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple in 2011 with the purchase of the beautiful old church it inhabits in Northeast Portland. Many hours of loving volunteer labor have gone into the renovation. (Story here) It is a warm and inviting place, one you are welcome to come and enjoy.
Free meditation instruction is available at every in-person sitting time.
When coming to meditate please wear comfortable, loose clothing that will not be distracting to others. Please do not wear shorts, tank tops, beeping watches, or strong perfume.
Meditation can be done in any comfortable, upright posture. Cushions, benches, and chairs are provided.
If you have questions, email the Temple Manager at how@zendust.org
Heart of Wisdom is open for in-person meditation. Masks are optional (with some exceptions). For more information read our Covid policy.
Meditation In Community
Apps and YouTube may get you started, but since ancient times people have walked the path of awakening in community. You're invited to come to the meditation hall and feel the quiet power of silently sitting together.
Want to learn to meditate? Instruction is available at every in-person sitting period.
Engaged Buddhism
Heart of Wisdom is an active Sangha that is engaged in working to alleviate human suffering in the world. We are committed to being of service in our local community and are involved in the on-going process of un-doing systems of oppression, working on climate change, and addressing child hunger in our neighborhood.
Zazenkai: A Day of Zen Practice
A Zazenkai is a seasonal day of Zen practice in the city. Join us for a day of meditation, chanting, work practice, and a dharma talk. We close the day with a ceremony to renew our intention to live an ethical life.
Check the events calendar for zazenkai dates.
Meet with a Zen Teacher
Heart of Wisdom offers many ways to get support for your practice. Meeting with a teacher can be informal over tea or group discussions.
One-on-one private meeting with a teacher, called sanzen, is also available during some sits.
Awakening to the Delusion of Whiteness: Using the Dharma to Dismantle Oppression
December 15, 2024 - June 22, 2025
Online
Awakening to the Delusion of Whiteness is structured as an “affinity group” for white people to explore the elements that have contributed to this often unconscious identity. We explore in this way with an understanding that our own liberation/awakening is intimately bound to one another.
New Year’s Eve Ceremony and Celebration
December 31, 2024
Online or Heart of Wisdom
Time swiftly passes by and opportunities are ever present! Let's celebrate our passage through a challenging and eye-opening year and envision how we'd like to step in to the new year. The evening will include guided meditations to help you reflect on what you want to let go of and welcome in, for the new year. As well as, a fire-ceremony of letting-go, atonement and renewal, which we call Fusatsu. We will end the evening with silent zazen meditation and 108 bells to welcome in the New Year.
Life Vows Weekend Retreat
With Kodo Conover and Kosho Ault
January 3 - 4, 2025
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple
As we pass the Winter Solstice and turn to the new year, the time is ripe for contemplating vow. When you think about life’s purpose, what comes up? Zazen and inquiry offer a framework to become grounded, meet sticking places, and transform the energy of the unknown into pure possibility. Zazen teaches us to turn down the volume on the planning, worrying mind and make space for deeper kinds of knowing. Vow offers a path to inspire and support our lives. Whether you would like to renew your vow, revise your vow, or if you’re never made a…
Vow Sesshin
With Hogen Bays, Roshi and Patrick Bansho Green
January 7 - 12, 2025
Great Vow Zen Monastery
From emptiness springs forth our deepest potential. When we are able to drop our ideas about who and what we are, we can recognize the infinite realm of possibility that has always been our playground. Reality before interpretation, before we start applying labels and identities, is vast and unbounded. From this space, we access the wisdom and compassion that is the source material of our life. With wisdom and compassion as our foundation, we recognize that we are the totality. Nothing separate and always in relationship. We come to see our personality and our personal particularities as part of the…
Five Buddhist Precepts for Ethical Living: Online Class Series
With Darah Shonin Ashton
January 8 - February 12, 2025
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.
Awakening to the Delusion of Whiteness Sign up Deadline
January 15, 2025
Online
Awakening to the Delusion of Whiteness is an affinity group that helps white people navigate an exploration of the elements that have contributed to the often unconscious identity as “white.” We explore in this way with an understanding that our own liberation/awakening is intimately bound to one another. Participants in the ADW affinity group will learn about whiteness, privilege, and racism as well as turn inward to engage in deeply reflective spiritual practice. The course is guided by volunteers who are practicing members of the Zen Community of Oregon as well as graduates of Awakening to the Delusion of Whiteness. WHEN…
Winter Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat
With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei
January 18, 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.
Investigating Zen Practice: a one-day workshop
With Kosho Ault and Ed Gensho Welsh
February 1, 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.
Pari-Nirvana Sesshin: A Meditation Retreat exploring Life, Death & the Unknown
With Amy Kisei, Sensei and Laura Jomon Martin
February 3 - 9, 2025
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…