Monastery
Spring Practice Period: Awakening with the Earth
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 […]
The Resilient Heart
With Hogen Bays, Roshi
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 […]
Koan Sesshin
With Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi and Larry Fuho Trussell
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 […]
Love & Spaciousness: A Loving Kindness Weekend Retreat
With Patrick Bansho Green and Myoyu Haley Voekel
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 […]
May Sesshin - The Light of our Ancestors
With Amy Kisei, Sensei, Patrick Bansho Green and Ed Gensho Welsh
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 […]
The Work: a weekend Inquiry workshop
With Eduardo Zambrano
During this Workshop, we will use Byron Katie’s method of inquiry called The Work to investigate our core beliefs and fixed ideas which cause suffering in our world. What ideas to you have about your life and the world that actually are not in service to the development of compassion? We hold many views simply from […]
June Sesshin - Loving Kindness
With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei and Laura Jomon Martin
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 […]
Summer Residency Program 2025
July Sesshin - Summer Breeze
With Patrick Bansho Green and Darah Shonin Ashton
Grasses, Trees, and the Great Earth Sesshin
With Amy Kisei, Sensei and Myoyu Haley Voekel
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 […]
Jizo Sesshin
With Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi and Laura Jomon Martin
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 […]
Autumn Ango - Fall Residency 2025
With Hogen and Chozen Roshi, Patrick Bansho Green and Myoyu Haley Voekel
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. […]
October Sesshin - The Ancient Way
With Hogen Bays, Roshi, Jogen Salzberg, Sensei and Danney Soten Lynch
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 […]
November Sesshin - Gratitude
With Laura Jomon Martin, Myoyu Haley Voekel and Anusha Enryu Fernando
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 […]
December Sesshin - Rohatsu
With Hogen Bays, Roshi, Larry Fuho Trussell and Myoyu Haley Voekel
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 […]