I live in the Pacific Northwest, at the bottom of the Willamette River Valley, in a small town called Cottage Grove Oregon. It is 17 miles south of Eugene and I was looking on the internet for a Buddhist vihara to visit if not practice. But there are many Zen centers and many tantric Buddhist centers but I don’t even know how to Google a traditional Buddha Center, much less an EBT oriented group, if there is such a thing. Am I really trying to look for Buddhist group that’s identified by a country like Burma or Thailand, perhaps?
Hi, the style of Buddhism most closely associated with early Buddhist texts is known as Theravada.
Yes, this is often practiced by Thai, Sri Lankan, and Burmese communities.
I tried Googling “Eugene Oregon Theravada” and it returned 2 Zen and 1 tantra group… so Google interpreted my query as a genera search for Buddhist.
Best wishes for a fruitful practice in the dhamma.
Google will try to give you something rather than nothing. To force a specific term (rather than forcing a whole specific phrase) you can put quote marks around it. So in this case put quotes around "Theravada".
Is the Pacific Hermitage too far away? I don’t know if they have overnight accommodations, though. The monks do events in Portland.
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You are right about Google. Sometimes its misunderstandings are funny. And yes, I will try different conbinations.
Looks beautiful! Especially those autumn leaves…
I mean, searching online will only get you so far. Mostly I’d encourage you to attend some of their events and see how the communities feel in person.
When I lived in SF, the Soto Zen Mission was one of my favorite groups to sit with, even among the many fine Theravāda temples and lay groups, because the head priest was so inspiring.
Best of luck with your search! 
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This is exactly what happened to me. I am in the houston area and there are dozens of zen/mayahen monestaries listed on google maps…
If you can somehow search out my posts, you will probably find a lot of answers to questions you are having. I have been on this site for about a week and have learned years worth of knowledge. Or, i should say, wisdom, rather.
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@tracy might be able to fill in some gaps…
There’s nothing super close AFAIK but the following come to mind:
Canmore Buddhist community https://www.canmoretheravadabuddhism.ca/about-us
Pacific Hermitage as mentioned above
Clear Mountain Monastery in Seattle - probably your closest and they meet online twice a week too
Sitavana Birken Forest monastery
That’s pretty much the places around here I know of! Since it’d be a bit of a drive, I highly recommend joining in on any regular online programs of the various communities if you haven’t already. Not all those places are set up (yet) for folks to visit/stay/practise though. You’re also not as far as others from the many many places (including Abhayagiri, which Pacific Hermitage points to) in California!
Perhaps you’ve already come across Group Directory : Northwest Dharma Association and Sri Lankan Buddhist temples in the USA and Canada
But depending how much you’re weighing physical location with “traditional” Buddhist with EBT-oriented, it may be worth trying out ones identified by country as you say, get inspired with living breathing examples In Real Life as @Khemarato.bhikkhu mentions above, and also continue your own studies and use online resources (or save up for trips to monasteries further afield!) to fill in the EBT portion of it. Have fun exploring!
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