2026 Summer Chan Residency Program
July 25, 2026
During the month of June in 2026, Guo Gu visited several Dharma Centers in the West Coast offering talks and retreats. On Wednesday, June 17th, Guo Gu gave a Dharma talk at the San Francisco Zen Center, sharing different past and present contexts for the rise of Silent Illumination, making connections to the practice of Shikantaza (“just sitting”) and emphasizing the embodied dimension to Silent Illumination and how to practice it. Here is a link to Guo Gu’s dharma talk at SFZC: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xvokh4zPiSw
SFZC, June 17, 2026
On June 20th, Guo Gu led a one-day retreat at the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, and offered a Dharma talk on June 21st. In this talk, Guo Gu speaks of the significance of the “gulch” in Green Gulch, connecting it with the qualities of being the “valley”—open receptive, responsive, hollow yet luminous qualities. He relates it to his earlier training as a novice monk, and the practice of shikantaza in engaging with the world, working with causes and conditions. Here is the link for his talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1nZBnQ4El8
On June 22, Guo Gu gave a Dharma talk at the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center at Carmel Valley, CA.
Stars at Tassajara
On June 23-27, Guo Gu offered a four-day residential retreat at the Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskaine, Oregon. The final part of the West Coast tour took place at Nalanda West in Seattle, WA, where Guo Gu gave the Sunday morning talk and then led a half day retreat in the afternoon.
Great Vow Zen Monastery in Clatskaine, Oregon. June 23-27, 2026
Dharma talk at Nalanda West in Seattle, WA. June 28, 2026.
