Great Vow Zen Monastery
| Great Vow Zen Monastery | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Basic information | |
| Location | P.O. Box 368, Clatskanie, Oregon 97016 |
| Affiliation | White Plum Asanga |
| Country | United States |
| Website | www.greatvow.org/ |
| Completed | 2002 |
Great Vow Zen Monastery was founded in 2002 and is operated by Zen Community of Oregon[1] (ZCO) under the leadership of abbots Chozen Bays, Roshi, and Hogen Bays. The monastery offers weekend workshops, weeklong meditation retreats, and special events throughout the year.
Great Vow Zen Monastery is a training monastery in the White Plum lineage of the Japanese Soto Zen tradition. It is headed by Abbots Hogen Bays and Jan Chozen Bays.
The monastery is housed in a former elementary school on 20 acres (81,000 m2) of land overlooking the Columbia River floodplain near Clatskanie, Oregon. Two former classroom "pods" serve as dormitory wings for residents and visitors. Administrative offices and the meditation hall occupy the center of the building. Four unroofed courtyards punctuate the building.
The monastery building is surrounded by a meadow dotted with large conifers. A wooded area with walking trails sits behind the building.
The overall style of training at the monastery is primarily in the Soto Zen vein, but incorporates elements from various schools of Buddhism, as well as from other disciplines.
The daily training schedule, which is followed by all residents, includes a wakeup bell at 3:50 a.m., two hours of meditation, a bowing and chanting service, breakfast, and two periods of work. Lunch and dinner are both preceded by a short religious service. Two hours of meditation in the evening end the day. The schedule may be modified at various times of year, or to accommodate special events or classes.
Weekend workshops are offered several times a month. Weeklong meditation intensives are held monthly.
Visiting teachers often lead or co-lead meditation retreats or weekend workshops at the monastery, sometimes on a recurring annual basis. Among them are Buddhist teachers Kyogen Carlson and Gyokuko Carlson; Ejo Patrick McMullen; Lama Michael Conklin; Alan Wallace; and Ajahn Amaro.
Great Vow also offers ordination and full-time residential training as a Soto Zen Buddhist priest.
The bodhisattva known as Jizo (in the Japanese tradition; Kṣitigarbha in Sanskrit) has an important role at Great Vow. Practice with Jizo Bodhisattva includes daily chanting of the Jizo mantra; manufacture of Jizo images for sale; a meditation retreat; biannual ceremonies for children and loved ones who have died; and a yearly Jizo-Bon festival event in August.
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