Residential Program
About Our 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. Join us for one of our residency programs.
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/workshops, weekly classes and engage in direct study with a teacher.
WINTER PRACTICE PERIOD
Winter practice period is marked by a more spacious schedule and opportunities for creative process.
About the Winter Practice Period
During the deep stillness and quiet of winter, as the Earth lays dark and fallow - residential training at Great Vow adopts a lighter, more spacious schedule. The Winter Practice Period allows for residents to tune in with their own natural rhythms in practice, giving space to explore zazen, creative process, body practice and study on one's own.
Residents will be asked to choose a creative medium to work in through the Winter Practice Period. Classes, Dharma Readings and teachings will help support and encourage a deep and thorough-going investigation of the theme. The term will culminate with a community sharing of our art.
This is also the time of year where the schedule is more flexible and open. A great opportunity to intensify or explore personal 24 hour a day practice, in the context of the monastic schedule.
To inquire about residency please email training@zendust.org
AUTMUN ANGO
Every Autumn at Great Vow we hold a 60 – 70 day practice intensive.
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 of buckle-down, single-minded endeavor. The Ango daily schedule will include more zazen (about 5.5 hours), body practice and increased times of noble silence. The 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 acceptance.
To inquire about residency please email the Residency Coordinator, training@zendust.org.
SPRING PRACTICE PERIOD
Spring into life and study the teachings of the natural world with opportunities to work in the garden and on the grounds.
About the Spring Practice Period
Spring is a time of cultivation and planting. We cultivate the earth and learn about the natural growing, soil, compost and watering cycles.
Just as the earth needs tender and attentive care, to grow and produce abundant offerings of food, so too our spiritual lives. As we nurture the garden and grounds, we also cultivate our hearts and minds. Learning the sustained care of meditation, mindfulness, self-compassion, inquiry and awareness, we can grow in spiritual maturity and confidence.
Join us as we prepare our over two acres of organic gardens for planting. Residents will have the opportunity to work in the garden, grounds and help with food preparation.
During the Spring Practice Period residents will participate in the full monastic schedule, which includes early morning and evening meditation and meditation retreats/sesshins. We will study Dogen Zenji's Insentient Beings Speak the Dharma as a guide to help us uncover and listen to the on-going teachings of the natural world.
To inquire about residency please contact the Residency Coordinator, training@zendust.org
Information & Application for Residency
Those in residential training commit to at least one month of residency though shorter guest stays are welcomed.
The initial cost for residential training is $500 per month. The training fee covers room, meals, monthly sesshin, and most other retreats and workshops. Scholarships are sometimes available, please inquire.
Ordained and monastics are always welcome at no cost.
It is recommended that someone 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
Summer Program
Our most popular period of residency is the Summer Program, a 6-week session of intensive practice in the heart of the Summer. Summer Program is designed to give you a genuine immersion in Zen monastic practice. During the Summer months body practice is included in the weekly monastic schedule, to support embodiment and meditative awareness. The residential fee is reduced to $250 during the Summer Program, though donations are welcomed.