Programs
Retreat Cabin Application
The retreat hut is available only to those who have already participated in a weekend retreat or longer here at the 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 […]
Hossenshiki -- Shuso Ceremony
Hossenshiki is an important gateway in a priest's life in the Soto Zen school. A person who takes up the role of Shuso (head trainee) in a temple or monastery takes on the responsibility of upholding the matrix of practice for all sincere practitioners. Guiding the assembly with keen sight, love, discipline, and respect, the […]
March Sesshin - Deep Listening
With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei, Hogen Bays, Roshi and Anusha Enryu Fernando
Practice in Activity Workshop
With Kodo Conover and Linda Chōon Frischmeyer
We spend many, many hours in activity, whether working in employment, as a volunteer, or in our homes. Work environments and the people we work with can be challenging. All work experiences are opportunities for Zen practice. Join us for a deeper dive into right action, right speech and right livelihood, and bringing spiritual practice […]
Service to the Temple
ZCO Board Meeting March 2026
Council Circle: Bearing Witness in Times of Upheaval
In a Council Circle process*, we come together in a small group in a profound way. We create a shared liminal space that is supportive, confidential, and sacred. We each listen and speak from the heart, encountering and experiencing one another gently and with awareness. We are not solving problems, debating issues or making plans. We are […]
The Resilient Heart
With Hogen Bays, Roshi
This retreat is one in which Hogen Roshi often experiments with dharma teaching and practice. So, please come with a flexible mind, open to possibilities. This retreat/workshop is (as are all of our events) an opportunity to hear the teachings of liberation, to reflect and verify them and to apply them to our lives. As the truths of […]
Doing The Work of Byron Katie
With Linda Chōon Frischmeyer
“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 Please attend Friday evening and Saturday. This in-person workshop […]
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 life as birds, insects and tree frogs are wake up from their winter slumber. Early spring flowers emerge in abundant color, offering fresh perspectives and encouragements. With the natural world springing to […]
Investigating Zen Practice: A One-Day Workshop
With Darah Shonin Ashton, Ed Gensho Welsh and Kosho Ault
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 […]
April Sesshin
With Larry Fuho Trussell and Laura Jomon Martin
Our meditation practice can be one of relaxed openness and vivid presence, with wisdom into our nature naturally revealing. This is the practice of serene-illumination, a form of meditation where calm-abiding (shamatha) and insight (vipassana) are practiced as one. Sesshin is a rigorous and, at times, challenging silent meditation retreat that is not recommended […]
Spring Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat
With Larry Fuho Trussell
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 […]
Service to the Temple
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Great Vow Work Party
New Member Tea
Calling New Members~ The ZCO membership committee joyfully invites you to join us at our New Member Tea! New member tea is open to ZCO members who joined in the 2025/2026 calendar year. Come connect, make new friends, tour the temple, learn about ways to practice and the organization as a whole. It's a great […]
Jizo Ceremony for Children Who Have Died
May Sesshin - The Light of our Ancestors
With Amy Kisei, Sensei, Patrick Bansho Green and Darah Shonin Ashton
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 […]
Inner Critic Workshop
With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei
This retreat will bring together parts work modality (i.e. IFS, Voice Dialogue) with Buddhist meditation practices to amplify understanding, empathy and dis-identification from parts, specifically the inner critic and perfectionist, that hinder our unfolding. Sessions will be a mix of silent and guided sitting meditation and group facilitations where participants directly explore parts of themselves such as those listed above. […]
Holding Power Wisely: Ethics, Boundaries, and Care in Buddhist Teaching Relationships
With Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi, Lama Lekshe, Laura Jomon Martin and Patrick Bansho Green
Holding Power Wisely is a two-day, residential applied ethics workshop for Dharma teachers, teachers-in-training, and others who hold positions of spiritual teaching authority within Buddhist communities. Teachers may also send students with possible teaching responsibilities on their development horizon. Since teaching relationships carry inherent power, even when grounded in sincere intention and deep practice, the […]
ZCO Annual Meeting
Every year, ZCO has our Annual Membership Meeting, and everyone is invited, whether or not you are a member. Come and learn about how this organization operates. During this year's meeting, we will: Introduce the ZCO Board of Directors and Officers. Learn about the financial health of the organization. Receive yearly overviews of Great Vow, […]
Swords into Blossoms: The Alchemy of Stopping and Seeing
With Jody Hojin Kimmel, Sensei and Danica Shoan Ankele, Sensei
On the night of his enlightenment, the Buddha was confronted by Mara, a trickster figure embodying forces that sought to pull him away from awakening. Remaining firmly seated, the Buddha met these forces with stillness and awareness. Mara dissolved, and the Buddha awakened to his true nature. Why does this ancient story remain central to […]
16 Bodhisattva Precepts Online Class Series
With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei
Investigating Zen Practice: A One-Day Workshop
With Darah Shonin Ashton, Ed Gensho Welsh and Kosho Ault
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 […]
Solstice Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat
With Ed Gensho Welsh
Five-Day Silent Chan Retreat led by Guo Gu
With Guo Gu
Tuesday June 23 – Saturday June 27, 2026 In the Chan tradition, there are two main approaches to awakening: the method of silent illumination (mòzhào) and investigating a critical phrase (huàtóu). The former is a settling method of serene reflection on the nature of awareness; the latter is an explosive approach that aims to concentrate […]
Summer Residency Program 2026
Five Buddhist Precepts for Ethical Living - Online
With Darah Shonin Ashton
City Refuge Retreat
With Kodo Conover
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple will be offering an extended opportunity for retreat practice in the city. This three-day non-residential retreat will include many of the elements you’ll find in sesshin.
July Sesshin
With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei, Patrick Bansho Green and Myoyu Haley Voekel
Heart of the Mountain Sesshin: A Backpacking Sesshin at the Bells Mountain
With Sara Shinei Monial and Danney Soten Lynch
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 […]
Summer Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat
With Darah Shonin Ashton
Walking Mountain Pilgrimage Sesshin with Bells Mountain
With Sara Shinei Monial and Danney Soten Lynch
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 […]
Equinox Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat
With Jogen Salzberg, Sensei
Investigating Zen Practice: A One-Day Workshop
With Darah Shonin Ashton, Ed Gensho Welsh and Kosho Ault
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 […]
New Member Tea at Great Vow Zen Monastery
Calling New Members~ The ZCO membership committee joyfully invites you to join us at our New Member Tea! New member tea is open to ZCO members who joined in the 2025/2026 calendar year. Come connect, make new friends, tour the temple, learn about ways to practice and the organization as a whole. It's a great […]
Soul of the Mountain Sesshin: A Backpacking Sesshin at Bells Mountain
With Sara Shinei Monial and Danney Soten Lynch
Autumn Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat
With Laura Jomon Martin
City Refuge Retreat
With Larry Fuho Trussell
Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple will be offering an extended opportunity for retreat practice in the city. This three-day non-residential retreat will include many of the elements you’ll find in sesshin.
December Sesshin - Rohatsu
With Hogen Bays, Roshi, Larry Fuho Trussell and Darah Shonin Ashton
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 […]