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Grasses, Trees, and the Great Earth Sesshin

Location icon
79640 Quincy Mayger Road, Clatskanie, Oregon 97016, USA
Date
August 10 - 16, 2026

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Details of this retreat

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 will spend time learning from each of the five elements, as they manifest in our experience. Deeply exploring and releasing into our interconnection with the living, breathing body of the Earth, waters, energizing air, bright fiery sun, and vast spacious sky.

This retreat is held at Great Vow Zen Monastery. Due to this retreat being held mostly outdoors, we are not planning a Zoom option for attending this retreat.

Lodging is dormitory style, however for this retreat we will open up a tent camping area. Please bring your own tent and sleeping bag if you would like to sleep outside.

Sesshin is a rigorous and, at times, challenging silent meditation retreat that is not recommended for beginners. In order to attend in person, we require that you attend one of our silent weekend retreats or a five-seven day silent retreat at another Zen Center before registering for our longer zen retreats. For more information about what to expect when attending a sesshin, click here.

Please plan on attending the whole sesshin.
$50 deposit holds your space; balance due on arrival.

Schedule

Please note: this is an approximation; sesshin schedules vary with leader and season.

First evening
5:00 p.m. Registration begins
6:00 p.m. Dinner (informal) and sesshin orientation
9:00 p.m. Zazen and formal opening of sesshin
10:00 p.m. Monastery doors locked

All full days
4:20 a.m. Wake up bell
5:00 a.m. Zazen
6:50 a.m. Service
7:20 a.m. Breakfast (oriyoki) in dining hall
8:30 a.m. Work period begins
9:50 a.m. Warning bell to clean up
10:00 a.m. End of work period
10:30 a.m. Zazen
12:20 p.m. Service
12:30 p.m. Lunch (oriyoki) in dining hall
3:00 p.m. Zazen
5:20 p.m. Service
5:30 p.m. Dinner (oriyoki) in dining hall
7:00 p.m. Zazen
9:20 p.m. Formal Tea/Zazen
10:00 p.m. Monastery doors locked

Last Sunday
4:50 a.m. Wake-up bell
5:30 a.m. Zazen
6:30 a.m. Breakfast
8:00 a.m. Closing Circle
10:00 a.m. Sunday Program (service, zazen)
11:20 a.m. Dharma talk and formal end of sesshin
12:00 p.m. Lunch (informal)
Note: Schedule is approximate and may change

Getting Here

Location icon Zen Community of Oregon, 79640 Quincy Mayger Road, Clatskanie, Oregon 97016, USA

Accommodation

Event fee
Event fee (ZCO member rate)

Customer Reviews

4.92 out of 5.0 average rating

5.0
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RE: First Retreat at ZCO, The Work (Byron Katie)
I had the privilege of attending a retreat on The Work by Byron Katie, at the Great Vow Zen Monastery.

While I am not a Buddhist, I am interested in the religion, and as a lay person felt welcome and supported by the teachers and residents, who were kind, warm, and supportive.

I learned so much, and highly recommend consideration of the temple's programs in your spiritual and personal development.

5.0
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Transformational experience
I was familiar with Byron Katie’s books before The Work retreat but had no idea how much more I would learn about the process during the 3 days I was at Great Vow. Words cannot explain the tremendous insight on so many levels I received.
The teachers of the retreat were both so kind, skillful and marvelous. They were there to support us every step of the way.
To sum it up I LOVE Great Vow so much! It is my refuge.

5.0
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City Refuge Retreat
3 days of stillness in the city. Great food and companions.

5.0
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Turning the Mirror Inward
Participating in inner criticism is like turning yourself around in front of a mirror—up, down, left, right, front, and back—so that you can truly see yourself clearly. You must be brave and honest enough to face your true self—the depths of your own heart. Inside, there is good and evil, light and darkness, and a tangled mix of disguise and authenticity intertwined with your external relationships.

It takes courage to see and honesty to confront this stubborn “self” and the attachment to “ego.” From my own learning experience, this is only the first step in self-cleansing. It may take years of self-acceptance (often a painful process) and the wisdom to protect that inner self. Only by taking this first step can one truly begin the practice of cultivating the mind and nurturing goodness.

I am deeply grateful to Teacher Jogen for his guidance to beginners in meditation. His approach is both kind and down-to-earth, and he highlighted the importance of turning our awareness inward. I am also thankful for all his teachings and final reminders. Through persistent daily meditation and prayer (self-reflection), we can cultivate the mind and nurture goodness.

4.0
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New Member Tea
Glad I attended as it gave me more insight into why sangha matters. I had felt seperate from others, I think because my 'usual' way of relating, mostly through conversation, simply had not had nor made many opportunities as I sat at home on zoom, or even as I attended zazenkais over the last many couple of years.

I appreciate the opportunity to share and to ask questions of interest to me.
Thank you.

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