Taking root in North Bend, website revamps sprouting soon!

Note: As the Clear Mountain monks gently land in their new home in North Bend, our schedule is temporarily on hold as monastery hours gradually unfold more fully in November. Please hold tight, and stay tuned for revamped webpages (especially Daily Alms) coming soon. In the meantime, subscribe to our Newsletter or check our Linktree for the latest updates.

A new forest monastery in the Pacific Northwest.

Clear Mountain is a Buddhist forest monastery 40-minutes from Seattle in North Bend, Washington. In addition to daily meal offerings and visiting hours (Sun-Fri 8-10 am; Sat 1-5 pm), the wider community also gathers Saturday mornings in Seattle, and for weekly online events. A secluded and wooded home for monastics, Clear Mountain Monastery also hosts teachings and provides a space for stillness to a broader community; each side supporting the other on the path towards complete liberation of heart—Nibbāna.

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Aug.’26 – Summer Reflections & Upcoming Retreat

Aug.’26 – Summer Reflections & Upcoming Retreat

This summer has been especially bright with our fourth annual Almsgiving ceremony bringing together our community with 17 Buddhist monastics, visits from our Thai Elders, and several retreats (you can see photos here). After a busy season of events, Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho plan to enter a month of retreat in August before moving to the new monastery land in North Bend, WA. Throughout the month of August, the Clear Mountain monastics will offer an increased daily schedule of Zoom meditations…

Monastery Hours

Sunday-Friday 8-10 am
Saturday 1-5 pm
15901 Cedar Falls Road SE,
North Bend, WA

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Events & Calendar

Weekly Schedule

Daily Monastery Visiting Hours
Sunday-Friday 8 – 10 am PT | Saturday 1 – 5 pm PT

~Daily Zoom Meditation: 🎉 One-Month Retreat Special 🎉~
Mon-Fri. 4-7 am; 10 am-12pm; & 3:45-5:45 pm PT
Sat. & Sun.: 4:30-5:30 am & 4:45-5:45pm (Sat); 6-7 pm (Sun) PT

Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (Online)
Wednesday 6-7:45 pm PT

Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (Online & In-Person near Saint Mark’s Cathedral)
Saturday 9:30-11 am PT

Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (Online)
Sunday 5-6 pm PT

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Latest Writings

The Wellbeing Cascade: Natural Passages Through Pāmojja

Jun 11, 2024 | , ,

An exhaustive survey of all instances of “the wellbeing cascade” in the Pāli Canon. This “cascade” describes the causality of wellbeing (pāmojja), and the subsequent development of more and more refined states of joy (pīti), tranquility (passadhi), and happiness (sukha) resulting in concentration (samādhi) and awakening (Nibbāna).

Writings
In this session, Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho engage in a conversation with poet David Whyte (https://davidwhyte.com/). 00:00:00 Introduction & Spiritual Background 00:09:48 David Recites "The Bell and the Blackbird" 00:12:35 Marshaling Art for Spiritual Growth 00:19:16 Overcoming Acedia & Finding Joy 00:24:55 David Recites Blessing for the Morning Light 00:26:24 David Recites "The Well of Grief" & Metabolizing Suffering 00:31:43 Facing the Conversation You Don't Want to Have David Whyte's biography: David Whyte grew up with a strong, imaginative influence from his Irish mother among the hills and valleys of his father’s Yorkshire. He now makes his home in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. The author of twelve books of poetry and five books of prose, David Whyte holds a degree in Marine Zoology and has traveled extensively, including living and working as a naturalist guide in the Galapagos Islands and leading anthropological and natural history expeditions in the Andes, Amazon and Himalaya. He brings this wealth of experience to his poetry, lectures and workshops. David’s life as a poet has created a readership and listenership in three normally mutually exclusive areas: the literate world of readings that most poets inhabit, the psychological and theological worlds of philosophical enquiry and the world of vocation, work and organizational leadership. The link to the 7:00-7:45 pm Zoom session following the livestream may be found on the event listing at https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/events/wednesday/. Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events! - Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 - 7:45 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom) - Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11:00 am PT, Online & In-Person) - Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6:00 pm PT, Online) See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome! Zen & the Art of Poetry at the Edge: Everything is Waiting For You | David Whyte Q&A
This is PART ONE of Clear Mountain's interview with Andrew Holecek—scholar, practitioner, and "student of the night" (https://www.andrewholecek.com/). Watch PART TWO here: https://youtu.be/mGqZDbIVK0c 00:00:00 - Introduction & Andrew Holecek's Background 00:01:44 - Lunar Spirituality Bio & Background 00:07:01 - Overview & Significance of Dark Retreat 00:10:34 - Physical Setup and Environments 00:12:03 - Sutra vs. Tantra Approaches 00:18:26 - Comfort, Challenge, and Danger Zones 00:24:03 - Testing Personal Limits and Session Duration 00:25:34 - Preparing for Total Darkness 00:33:17 - The Perception of Light and Openness 00:34:24 - Home Simulations vs. Retreat Centers 00:39:42 - Psychotherapy and Contemplative Practice 00:40:43 - Indications and Contraindications 00:53:34 - Signs of Dissociation and Knowing When to Stop 01:03:55 - Time Perception and Circadian Rhythms 01:07:22 - Egolocation and Boundaries of the Self Andrew Holecek's Biography: Dr. Andrew Holecek is an author, concert pianist, and interdisciplinary scholar-practitioner of Vajrayāna Buddhism. A member of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine, he holds degrees in music, biology, and a doctorate in dental surgery, in addition to having completed a traditional Tibetan three-year meditation retreat under the guidance of Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche. He serves as Resident Contemplative Scholar at the Institute for Advanced Consciousness Studies, is a research consultant for the Cognitive Neuroscience Program at Northwestern University, and is actively involved in scientific research on dark retreat with the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Tiny Blue Dot Science Foundation. He is also the author of 10 books including: Preparing to Die; Dream Yoga; The Lucid Dreaming Workbook; and his latest book Total Eclipse of the Mind: Unleashing the Power of Darkness for Creativity, Healing, and Transformation. Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events! Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:30 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom) Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person) Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online) See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_mona... for details. Welcome! Meditating in Total Darkness: Divine vs Diabolical Darkness | Andrew Holecek PART ONE
In this session, Ajahn Kovilo and Ajahn Nisabho interview Brother Pháp Lưu, the eldest non-Vietnamese American monk in the Plum Village tradition who is currently at Deer Park Monastery (https://deerparkmonastery.org/). CHAPTERS 0:00 Introduction & Welcome 4:17 Moments of Faith & Early Path to Monasticism 17:09 Early Affinity with Early Buddhist Texts (Pāli Canon) 19:14 Historical Context: Vietnamese Buddhism & Plum Village's Synthesis 28:06 Monastic Community Dynamics: Plum Village & Thai Forest Traditions 46:08 Socially Engaged Buddhism vs. Applied Buddhism 55:22 Rebirth, Vows & Continuous Transmission in the Present 1:02:17 Closing Remarks & Expressing Gratitude Biography of Brother Pháp Lưu: Ordained as a monk since December 13, 2003, Brother Chân Pháp Lưu (Brother Stream) received Transmission of the Lamp from Zen Master Thích Nhất Hạnh to teach in 2011. He helped start Wake-Up, the international movement for young people, as well as the Happy Farm, Plum Village’s organic farming community, and has been working with Wake-Up Schools since its inception in 2012 to bring mindfulness to schools. He has served as a monastic editor several of Thích Nhát Hạnh’s books including Happy Teachers Change the World, Stepping Into Freedom, Cracking the Walnut, The Admonitions and Encouraging Words of Master Guishan, and How to Focus. Brother Phap Luu leads mindful backpacking retreats in nature around Deer Park Monastery in Escondido, California and recently co-authored a book with Brother Phap Xa called Hiking Zen. Brother Stream has been working lately with scientists at Dartmouth College and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health to develop research on the effect of Plum Village mindfulness practices on children. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Thích Nhát Hạnh Center for Mindfulness in Public Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He is the 201st disciple of Zen Master Thich Nhat Hanh and belongs to the 43rd generation of the Lâm Tế lineage and the 9th generation of the Liễu Quán school. The link to the 7:00-7:45 pm Zoom session following the livestream may be found on the event listing at https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/events/wednesday/. Tune in with fellow practitioners for Clear Mountain’s weekly online and hybrid events! - Wednesday Evening Teaching & Discussion (6:00 – 7:45 pm PT, YouTube then Zoom) - Saturday Morning Meditation, Teaching, & Coffee Social (9:30 - 11 am PT, Online & In-Person) - Sunday Evening “Mission Majjhima!” Sutta Teaching & Discussion (5:00 - 6 pm PT, Online) See https://www.clearmountainmonastery.org/ or visit https://linktr.ee/clear_mountain_monastery for details. Welcome! Mahāyāna Satipaṭṭhāna: Thich Nhat Hanh's Theravāda Bonafides | Brother Pháp Lưu Q&A
Latest Teachings

In the Theravāda Buddhist tradition there exists a lovely, deeply rooted interdependence—built on respect for practice and generosity—between the monastics and the lay community.  Your open-hearted support allows monastics the opportunity to devote their lives to meditation and right practice (sammā-paṭipadā) in a forest refuge, and through lessons learned therein, to offer teachings for the wider Buddhist community while stewarding the land as a place of practice for all. Whether donating funds, giving daily alms, or volunteering, there are many ways in which one may lend support. We rejoice in your generosity! Sadhu!

May all beings be well.

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Winter ’25: New Beginnings

Winter ’25: New Beginnings

This winter brought its own warmth as we welcomed many monastic friends, celebrated ordinations & the new year, and explored the monastery’s potential new home in North Bend near Seattle!

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