view all images view all
City Refuge Retreat
Slide
Top Rated iconTop Rated

City Refuge Retreat

4.9286 reviews
Location icon
6401 Northeast 10th Avenue, Portland, OR, USA
Date
July 24 - 26, 2025

About this Retreat

Your Guides

Details of this retreat

Amidst the whirlwind of daily life in a busy metropolis, we gather to drink from the deep well of silence and stillness.

Heart of Wisdom Zen Temple will be offering an extended opportunity for retreat practice together in the city.
This three-day non-residential retreat will include many of the elements you’ll find in sesshin. The schedule will be similar to our one-day zazenkai, but with oryoki meals and some supplemental practices. (If you have an oryoki set, please bring it. Otherwise, we have sets you can borrow.)
This retreat will be held in silence. Part time participation is allowed, but you must commit to attending at least either morning or afternoon sessions on Thursday and Friday and all day on Saturday. Please discuss your schedule with Kodo or Kosho.

Cost: Sliding scale based on your participation full or part-time and ability. No one is turned away for lack of funds.

Due to the increased rigor of this retreat, we require that you first participate in a Zazenkai at Heart of Wisdom or a comparable daylong intensive at another Dharma center before registering for this retreat. 
Thursday
7:30 a.m. Zazen
9:00 a.m. Service
9:30 a.m. Break
10:00 a.m. Work Circle (Work practice includes cleaning, cooking, or gardening.)
11:00 a.m. Zazen
12:00 p.m. Oryoki Lunch
1:30 p.m. Alternative meditative practice
2:30 p.m. Dharma Talk
3:15 p.m. Break
3:30 p.m. Zazen
5:00 p.m End
*Optional* People are welcome to stay for dinner and attend our regular Thursday evening 7 - 8:30 pm program.
Friday
Same as above with additional:
5:30 pm Oryoki Dinner
7 - 8:30 pm Zazen
Saturday
Same as Thursday, ending at 5 pm.

Getting Here

Location icon Zen Community of Oregon, 6401 Northeast 10th Avenue, Portland, OR, USA

Directions

Ride sharing can be arranged from the airport with some advanced notice with our registrar. The monastery is located 80 miles northwest of Portland, Oregon on twenty forested acres overlooking the Columbia River flood plain. The drive takes 80-90 minutes.

Directions from the airport:
1. Take I-205 North to I-5 North. I-5 North to exit 36 Longview (south of Seattle, north of Portland).
2. At the exit travel west on to 432 towards Longview City Center.
3. At the sign to “Highway 30 to Oregon”, turn left (south) onto “Oregon Way” .
4. Cross the Lewis and Clark Bridge into Oregon.
5. Turn right (west) onto Highway 30 towards Astoria. Clatskanie is 12 miles from this point.
6. In Clatskanie turn right at the stoplight onto Nehalem Street
7. Go straight to the end, and then follow the road left onto 5th street.
8. Stay on this road (do NOT take the first left fork to the Poplar Farm).
9. You will reach a fork after 2.9 miles; stay left, on Quincy-Mayger Road. Following the street signs saying “Zen Monastery”.
10. The Monastery is 1.8 miles past the fork, at 79640 Quincy-Mayger Road on the right.

Accommodation

Overnight guests stay in the guest hall (semi-private dormitory), follow the daily monastery schedule, and share meals with the community. A donation is suggested. Private retreat accommodations are sometimes available for those with significant prior meditation or contemplative experience. Private retreatants can follow their own schedule in solitude.

Full-time participation/sustaining level
Part-time participation/supporter level
One-day participation/scholarship level: Please contact kosho@zendust.org to discuss part-time participation

Venue & Amenities

A/C in Rooms icon A/C in Rooms
Free Wifi icon Free Wifi
Spa icon Spa
Sauna icon Sauna
Pool icon Pool
Towels icon Towels
Free Parking icon Free Parking
Kitchen icon Kitchen
Tour Assistance icon Tour Assistance
Hot Tub icon Hot Tub
Coffee/Tea icon Coffee/Tea
Cafe icon Cafe
Restaurant icon Restaurant
Fitness Center icon Fitness Center
Yoga Studio icon Yoga Studio
Housekeeping icon Housekeeping
Bicycles For Rent icon Bicycles For Rent
The monastery includes a spacious meditation hall, guest and resident dormitories, dining hall, and a large organic vegetable garden.

Within the forest is Great Vow's famous Jizo Garden, a memorial garden for people who have died, and the newly dedicated Shrine of Vows, a place where people leave tokens of their deep aspirations.

Meals

Menu Types

Vegan icon Vegan
Vegetarian icon Vegetarian
Pescetarian icon Pescetarian
Ayurvedic icon Ayurvedic
Includes Meat icon Includes Meat
Organic icon Organic
Gluten Free icon Gluten Free
Dairy Free icon Dairy Free
Nut Free icon Nut Free
Meals are simple. Breakfast is usually hot grain cereal, nuts or nut butter, dairy and non-dairy milk, fruit, yogurt, and tea. Lunch is the most substantial with a main entree, salad, vegetable side, and condiments. Dinner is soup and bread. Many retreats are served as buffet. Zen-style retreats feature meals that are oriyoki, a Zen form of mindful eating in monasteries that goes back 1,000 years. Imagine Zen tea ceremony, but eating. Newcomers are guided on how to do it and people get the hang of it after a couple days. Meals are vegetarian with vegan options. Gluten-free alternatives can be accommodated. Coffee, caffeinated, and herbal tea are provided.

What's Included

  • Meals and lodging are included in the retreat cost for all our overnight retreats at the monastery.

Customer Reviews

4.92 out of 5.0 average rating

5.0
Verified logo
Exceptional Practice Location
Such a warm and beautiful place to be. Great Vow is overflowing with the kindness, peace, wisdom and genuine friendliness. If you are seeking a place to truly gather your heart and mind look no further.

5.0
Verified logo
Unstoppable force meets unmovable object
I’ve wanted to do a silent retreat ever since my philosophy of religion course freshman year of uni 2006. I am so glad I finally got the chance. The zazen sessions were taxing. I had to evacuate a posture the first night, a minute later they chimed the end. I realized I could have persevered but let fear rule my thoughts instead of surrendering to the discomfort. I made it through the rest of the retreat and really learned that my posture is terrible. My back was destroyed, but also VERY strong.

I lived the work practice so much. I’m very drawn to active meditation practices like rock climbing, martial arts, marksmanship, yoga, etc. The sitting was hard, but I learned so much more about my ability to self regulate and maintain stillness. I’m excited to come back and volunteer and attend more retreats. I became a member immediately upon returning.

I enjoyed the food! The residents were all very warm and welcoming. Everyone provides enough space and community at the same time. The teachers are all incredible and I particularly connected with Mioyu’s dharma talks. I loved the way she and Bansho connected their efforts.

The breakout rooms were incredible. After days of near total silence, even the hushed conversation in the library sounded like we were shouting after a concert. I cried multiple times a day from the release of a lot of stress- lots of life changes coming up soon.

I’m looking forward to helping out on Construction projects in the future. I am so glad I discovered this community.

5.0
Verified logo
Gratitude and Full of Dharma Joy
This was a seven-day silent retreat that was challenging both physically and mentally. I learned a lot and my heart was filled with gratitude and joy.

I was surprised and amazed that there are still koans being practiced in modern times. We are initially pushed toward letting go of our carefully guarded egos.

I am very grateful to the three teachers for teaching their own experiences and practice methods with us. Zen Teacher Fuho said: The greatest purpose of being born as a human being is to achieve enlightenment. When practicing, one breath after another, one phrase after another, you should never give up your original intention of achieving enlightenment.

Chozen Rosi emphasizes the use of powerful physical breathing techniques to achieve a state of mindlessness in practice. Rogen Rosi said: You have to love to continue to meditate with practicing breathing techniques like this. On the last night, Zen Teacher Fuho said It is a great gift that Chozen Rosi has given us an opportunity to meditate silently together in the meditation hall.
I must grasp what I have learned and keep practicing.

5.0
Verified logo
A deep experience in a nourishing setting
I appreciated the container that ZCO has built to plunge deeply into practice. Food was astonishingly good. The teachers were incredibly skilled with means of transmitting the dharma, striking the right notes at auspicious times. A most intimate sesshin.

5.0
Verified logo
Highly recommended
Great Vow’s teachers demonstrate commitment, kindness, and authenticity. Community members and participants show remarkable maturity. Grounds are lovingly maintained.

Select your options

Available Dates
July 24 - 26, 2025
  • $120.00
    Full-time participation/sustaining level
  • $80.00
    Part-time participation/supporter level
  • $50.00
    One-day participation/scholarship level: Please contact kosho@zendust.org to discuss part-time participation

Have a question for your host?

Contact

Similar retreats

Topic Meditation

Solstice Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat

Top Rated iconTop Rated
Date June 21, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Portland, Oregon
Donat / 1 day
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Drop of Stillness - day retreat

Last Chance iconLast Chance
Date May 31, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Portland, Oregon
Donat / 1 day
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Sesshin - Loving Kindness

2 Spaces Remaining icon2 Spaces Remaining
Date June 9 - 15, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Clatskanie, Oregon
From $75 / 7 days
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Summer Zazenkai: A One Day Meditation Retreat

Date July 19, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Portland, Oregon
Donat / 1 day
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Sesshin - Summer Breeze

Date July 21 - 27, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Clatskanie, Oregon
From $75 / 7 days
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Grasses, Trees, and the Great Earth Sesshin

Date August 11 - 17, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Clatskanie, Oregon
From $280 / 7 days
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Jizo Sesshin

Date September 9 - 14, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Clatskanie, Oregon
From $280 / 6 days
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Leadership & Social Change

Oceans of Compassion: A Retreat In Service To The Earth

Date September 18 - 21, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Clatskanie, Oregon
$175 / 4 days
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Sesshin - The Ancient Way

Date October 9 - 19, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Clatskanie, Oregon
From $75 / 11 days
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Sesshin - Rohatsu

Date December 7 - 14, 2025
Center Zen Community of Oregon Clatskanie, Oregon
From $75 / 8 days
4.92
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Personal Retreat

Date Flexible Dates
Center Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing Cragsmoor, New York
From $210
5.00
Loading logo
Topic Meditation

Retreat of the Rose Honoring Mary Magdalene

Date July 10 - 13, 2025
Center Avalon in Mount Shasta Mount Shasta, California
$1,300 / 4 days
Loading logo
Carousel Previous
/
Carousel Next