2026 Summer Chan Residency Program

GuoGu lead a month-long summer residency program at the Tallahassee Chan Center which took place between May 7-June 4, 2026.  A three-day retreat from May 8-10, 2026 at the beginning and a nine-day retreat at the end (May 27-June 4, 2026) were part of the summer residency program.

The program enriches Chan understanding and practice, fostering resilience, clarity, and a deepened sense of purpose. Vegetarian meals are provided and on-site residency is required. The program features over three hours of daily study and discussion, classes by Guo Gu on Chan teachings, noble silence during retreats, and restricted phone usage for a focused environment.

The text that was studied and contemplated (translated by Guo Gu) during the residency program is titled Cultivating the Profound Tenets of the Flower Ornament Scripture: Contemplation on Exhausting Delusion and Returning to the Source by Fazang 法藏 (643-712) of the Great Jianfu Monastery in the Tang Dynasty. Fazang was an early Tang scholar-monk. We are deeply grateful for his contributions to the development and consolidation of the Huayan school.

Here are a few photos from the summer 2026 residency program: