First Few Days at Great Vow

Well, I arrived at Great Vow Monastery Thursday evening and now it's Tuesday.

Simply put, I love it here. However, my experience so far has been pretty skewed. This summer period happened to (or was intentionally designed to) begin at one of Great Vow's more relazed moments in the year. Every year, they have a July 4 celebration that involves participation in the parade, an open picnic with games for the public, and a full day off for residents. Then the next day was their open program, then the regular weekly day off! So of the 4 days I've been here, only one has been on the regular meditation/work schedule which is probably the most rigorous thing I've ever tried. So, the schedule starts up again tomorrow, and we'll see how it goes! All and all, though, I'm really looking forward to it.

I've been really enjoying the company of the other temporary residents as well as the more permanent residents at Great Vow. They're generally very mature, curious, and open-hearted people. Particularly, the long-term residents and the two co-abbots, Chozen and Hogen Bays, are inspiring role models and teachers. I'm really drawn to the teachings of the two abbots and the relevance of their teachings for everyday life.

Here's their bios ripped right from the website:

"Jan Chozen Bays, Roshi
1945 -

Jan Chozen Bays has studied and practiced Zen Buddhism since 1973. She received Jukai (lay precepts) in 1975 and Tokudo, Priest's Ordination, in 1979 from Taizan Maezumi, Roshi. From 1978 to 1983 she lived at the Zen Center of Los Angeles, studying with Maezumi Roshi and directing the Zen Center's non-profit Medical Clinic. She finished formal koan study in 1983, and she was given Dharma transmission, authorization to teach, the same year. Following the death of Maezumi Roshi in 1995 she has continued her training with Shodo Harada Roshi, a Rinzai Zen teacher, abbot of Sogen-ji monastery in Japan.

Since 1985 Chozen has been the teacher for the Zen Community of Oregon. In 2002 she helped to found Great Vow Zen Monastery and currently is the co-abbot.

She has published articles about Zen in Tricycle and Buddhadharma magazines. Her book, Jizo Bodhisattva, Modern Healing and Traditional Buddhist Practice (Tuttle Publishing, 2002), has been re-issued in paperback as Jizo Bodhisattva, Guardian of Children, Women and Other Voyagers by Shambhala Publishing. Chozen is also a pediatrician, mother and wife. As a physician she is very interested in how meditation and science interface. She is particularly involved teaching how to use meditation to work with eating disorders and grief.

Hogen Bays, Zen Teacher
1949 -

Hogen Bays began practicing in 1968 with Philip Kapleau, Roshi and was part of the residential staff at the Zen Center of Rochester in Rochester, New York until 1975.

He lived and trained at the Zen Center of Los Angeles under the direction of Taizan Maezumi , Roshi from 1980-1984. In 1990 he took Tokudo, Priest’s Ordination, with Maezumi Roshi. Since 1990, Hogen has continued his Zen studies with Rinzai Zen teacher Shodo Harada Roshi, abbot of Sogen-ji monastery in Japan and One Drop Zendo in Tahoma, Washington. In 2000, after advice and consultation with Harada, Roshi and other Zen teachers he received Dharma Transmission from Chozen, Roshi.

He has been a leader of the Zen Community of Oregon since 1985 and worked full-time for the sangha since 1997. He is co-abbot of Great Vow Zen Monastery.

Hogen holds a Naturopathic Doctor (ND) and Master’s Degree (MS) in Psychology. He worked for the Oregon Department of Corrections for 15 years."

There's also a lot of really interesting features to the monastery. It was once an old grade school, unused for a long time, and converted to a monastery by the Bays when they bought it in the 90s. The structure is still relatively the same, except major renovations of an old gym to make it a zendo (meditation hall). Otherwise it has all the same components of a grade school converted for monastic use: cafeteria, classrooms (now residences), offices, bathrooms, mass showers, etc. Also on the grounds they have Zen Works (a space partitioned off, dedicated to sewing and building meditation supplies), a statue studio (an old pottery room with kiln where they make statues of buddhas and bodhisattvas, particularly Jizo Bodhisattva), a large organic garden, smaller berry garden, greenhouse, recently built meditation tree house and meditation hut, hiking trails, rock gardens, music room, and Jizo garden.

To explain the music room and the Jizo garden . . . First, much to my delight and surprise, Hogen and Chozen have both been playing marimba and leading marimba groups for about a decade. So, in the school's old music room, they have 6-8 marimbas, including a massive bass marimba, along with other percussion instruments, acoustic guitars, keyboards, and piano. I used to take marimba lessons and was happy to hear they had marimbas here to practice on. I've even been practicing with a few people to prepare a performance of a couple really simple songs! Now these are pentatonic marimbas, meaning they don't have the flats and sharps of a regular keyboard, so the music is super simple. It's simpler than what I am used to doing, but I also didn't enjoy what I was doing before as much as I am now.

Second, the Jizo garden is an area dedicated to the memory of children who have died. In Japanese Buddhism, Jizo Bodhisattva is the bodhisattva of women, children, and travelers. In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is similar to saints and angels in Christianity, but they aren't exactly historical figures. Chozen-san has a particular affinitiy for Jizo and even wrote a well-published book about him. All over the monastery there are dozens of Jizo statues, and the monastery is dedicated to the bodhisattva. The Jizo garden is located in the woods behind the monastery. In the garden there are dozens of Jizo statues; each one is dedicated to the memory of a lost child. Each Jizo of the dozens had its own ceremony with the parents and loved ones who wanted to commemorate their child's memory. Each guardian also sewed a garment for their Jizo. The garden is very powerful.

I'm currently living in a large classroom with four other guys, but our beds are separated by a complex of walled desks and tables. It sounds odd, but it's actually pretty nice. It gives me enough privacy, drawers for my stuff, and room for yoga, and that is all I really need.

Well, those are some details about the monastery. I'll probably get more into my personal experience as the schedule intensifies. Keep in touch and thanks for reading.