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{{Short description|Sōtō Zen Buddhist monastery in the United States}}
==General Description==
{{About|the Zen Buddhist Monastery |the unincorporated community|Tassajara Hot Springs, California|the hot springs|Tassajara Hot Springs}}
'''Tassajara Zen Mountain Center''', or '''Zenshinji''', was established in 1966 by ] in the ] area of California's ], east of ]. It was the first ] Buddhist monastery in the United States.
{{Use mdy dates|date=June 2020}}
{{Infobox religious building
| name = Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
| native_name =
| image = Tassajara Zendo (San Francisco Zen Center, SFZC, Soto).jpg
| image_size =
| alt =
| caption = ] at Tassajara
| map_type =
| map_size =
| map_alt =
| map_caption =
| location = 39171 Tassajara Road ] 93924
| coordinates =
| religious_affiliation = ]
| sect =]
| deity =
| country = United States
| functional_status =
| website =
| founded_by = ]
| year_completed = 1967
}}
The '''Tassajara Zen Mountain Center''' is the oldest ] ] ] monastery in the United States. It is on the border of the ] and within the ], southeast of ]. The center is only accessible over {{convert|5082|ft|4=-high|sp=us|adj=mid}} Chews Ridge via a narrow, steep, {{convert|13.7|mi|adj=on}} one-lane dirt road from ]. During the winter months the center can be inaccessible due to snow and rain.<ref name="peakbag">{{Cite web |title=Chews Ridge Lookout, California |url=http://www.peakbagging.com/CALookoutPhotos/ChewsRidge.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200615044816/http://www.peakbagging.com/CALookoutPhotos/ChewsRidge.html |archive-date=15 June 2020 |access-date=15 June 2020 |website=www.peakbagging.com}}</ref> Practitioners live and study on site. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the center is open to day and overnight guests. The ] have been developed into Japanese-style baths. A steam bath is built over a hot spring in Tassajara Creek. The center is the first Zen ] established outside Asia.<ref name="sfzc.org">{{cite web|title=History – Tassajara – San Francisco Zen Center|url=http://sfzc.org/tassajara/display.asp?catid=4,35&pageid=2604|access-date=June 29, 2011|archive-date=May 11, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120511112635/http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/display.asp?catid=4,35&pageid=2604|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kharebashvili |first=Nia |date=2023-03-15 |title=Tassajara Hot Springs: The Key to The Ultimate Spiritual Restoration |url=https://www.traxplorio.com/tassajara-hot-springs/ |access-date=2023-03-18 |website=Traxplorio |language=en-US}}</ref>


==History==
Tassajara is part of the ], which also includes Beginner's Mind Temple (City Center) in San Francisco, California, and ] (Green Dragon Temple) in ], ], northwest of the city.


The name is a corruption of ''Tasajera'', a Spanish-American word derived from an indigenous ] word, which means "place where meat is hung to dry".<ref>{{cite book|author=Erwin G. Gudde |title=California Place Names: the Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names|year=2004|publisher=University of California Press|location=Berkeley, Calif.|isbn=978-0-520-24217-3|edition=4th}}</ref><ref name="Fullwood"/>
==Reputation==


The 126-acre mountain property surrounding the ] was purchased by the ] in 1967 for the below-market price<ref name=beckinterview>{{cite web|title=Interview with Robert Beck|access-date=June 29, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090215060338/http://cuke.com/Cucumber%20Project/interviews/beck.html|archive-date=February 15, 2009|date=February 19, 2002|url=http://cuke.com/Cucumber%20Project/interviews/beck.html}}</ref> of $300,000<ref name="Fullwood"/> from Robert and Anna Beck.<ref name="ChadwickBeck"/> They improved the property and renamed it The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, or Zenshinji (Zen Mind Temple),<ref name="Crews"/> during ]'s tenure as its first ].<ref name="ChadwickBeck"/> When it was purchased in 1967, it was the first Zen monastery outside Asia.<ref name="sfzc.org"/>
Tassjara is renowned as a Soto Zen training center. It attracts serious practitioners and each member of its senior teaching staff has decades of practice experience. Within the American Zen community, as well as internationally (especially Japan), Tassajara is admired for the rigor of its practice. Many alumni have started centers of their own, mainly in the U.S. and abroad. For this reason Tassajara is known for its mission of teaching teachers.


Tassajara's remote location in the ] means it is often threatened by ]s. In 2008 the ] reached the monastery; five monks stayed<ref>{{cite news |author=Matthai Kuruvila |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/news/article/Tassajara-monks-practice-Zen-of-firefighting-3277372.php |title=Tassajara monks practice Zen of firefighting |newspaper=] |date=February 11, 2012 |orig-year=July 10, 2008 |access-date=June 25, 2021 }}</ref> in spite of evacuation orders<ref>{{Cite web |date=2011-09-27 |title=Letter from Robert Thomas, President: 7/17/2008 - Tassajara - San Francisco Zen Center |url=https://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/display.asp?catid=4&pageid=1237 |access-date=2024-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110927143717/https://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/display.asp?catid=4&pageid=1237 |archive-date=September 27, 2011 }}</ref> and successfully protected it from the fire, after which the San Francisco Zen Center organized a trained group of firefighters to defend its three monasteries, known as "fire monks" after a book about the 2008 events. An external sprinkler system was also installed on buildings, called "dharma rain".<ref name=Soberanes>{{cite news |author=Don Lattin |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/travel/centralcoasting/article/Fighting-fire-with-Zen-at-Tassajara-10630948.php |title=Fighting fire with Zen at Tassajara |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle |date=November 23, 2016 |access-date=June 25, 2021 }}</ref><ref name=KQED>{{cite news |author=Lakshmi Sarah |url=https://www.kqed.org/news/11878787/fire-monks-prepared-to-defend-tassajara-zen-center-as-willow-fire-threatens |title='Fire Monks' Prepared to Defend Tassajara Zen Center as Willow Fire Threatens |publisher=] News |date=June 21, 2021 |access-date=June 25, 2021 }}</ref><ref name=AP>{{cite news |url=https://apnews.com/article/ca-state-wire-california-wildfires-fires-5992a65eaf55151db98ece550da08992 |title='Fire monks' ready to defend monastery from Big Sur blaze |publisher=] |date=June 22, 2021 |access-date=June 25, 2021 }}<!-- Also in The Guardian, June 23: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/23/firefighting-monks-monastery-california-big-sur-fire --></ref> The Tassajara Center was threatened by the 2016 ]; it escaped damage<ref name=Soberanes/> but was closed to guests for the remainder of the year.<ref>, "Because of the ongoing smoky conditions and the risk of fire, we have taken the difficult decision to close the Tassajara 2016 guest season". Retrieved August 9, 2016.</ref> In June 2021, the ] threatened the monastery.<ref name=KQED/><ref name=AP/>
==Practice Period==


==Calendars and schedules==
During the fall practice period (September-December) and the spring practice period (January-April), Tassajara is closed to the public. A practice period (ango, in Japanese) denotes a period of intensive monastic practice.
===Practice periods===
A practice period ('']'' in Japanese) denotes a period of intensive ] practice. During the fall (September–December) and spring (January–April) practice periods, Tassajara is closed to the public. The rigorous schedule is a defining feature. Activity revolves around ] (]), study, and work.<ref name="Guidelines"/>


===Guest season===
'''The Schedule'''
]
After the practice periods, Tassajara is open to the public from mid-April through early September.<ref name="SummerGuidelines"/> For students, this period also allows them to earn credits toward the fall and spring practice periods. The guest season, with less rigorous daily schedules,<ref name="SummerPractice"/> is a cornerstone of Tassajara's economic well-being.<ref name="Crews"/>


The guest program includes a major kitchen operation. Tassajara is renowned for its vegetarian cuisine.<ref name="Liddle"/><ref name="Hansen"/> Tassajara personnel also founded the Tassajara Bakery in ]<ref name="Sinton"/> and ] at ] in the ]<ref name="Hansen"/> in San Francisco. ]'s ''Tassajara Bread Book'',<ref name="Hodgman"/> published by ] in 1970 and revised in 1986 and 1995,<ref name="Breadbook"/> is often credited as a major catalyst for the popularity of artisanal baking in the United States, while his ''Tassajara Recipe Book''<ref name="Recipebook"/> is the best known of several books of general vegetarian cuisine produced by authors connected with the center.
The schedule is a defining feature of this period. Activity revolves around meditation, scholarship, and work.


==Gallery==
'''Typical Practice Period Schedule'''
<gallery widths="190px" heights="180px">
Image:Tassajara Hot Springs (Menu).jpg
Image:Tassajara Kitchen (San Francisco Zen center, SFZC, Soto).jpg
Image:Tassajara Dining Hall.jpg
Image:Sitting area by office (Tassajara).jpg
Image:Napkin Table at Dining Hall (Tassajara).jpg
Image:Buddha statue at Tassajara.jpg
</gallery>


==See also==
3:50 am Wake-up bell
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]


==References==
4:20 Zazen/kinhin/zazen
{{Reflist|colwidth=30em|refs=


<ref name="Crews">{{cite web |url= http://www.cuke.com/bibliography/shoes/crews%20review%20of%20shoes.html |series= Zen & the Art of Success |author= Frederick C. Crews |author-link= Frederick Crews |title=Michael Downing's ''Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center'' |work= ] |type=Review |via=cuke.com |date= March 28, 2002 |quote= book begins with, and then encircles in widening orbits, a conference held in March 1983 at Zenshinji, or Zen Mind Temple, better known to the world as Tassajara … Tassajara in summer sees too much traffic to be called a true monastery. Rather, it is part training camp, part profitable tourist enterprise, and part showcase for potential donors who may be inspired to support Zen Center's instruction in ]. }} ()</ref>
6:10 Morning Service, followed by breakfast in zendo


<ref name="ChadwickBeck">{{cite web |url= http://www.cuke.com/Cucumber%20Project/interviews/beck-robert.html |title= Interview with Robert Beck |author= David Chadwick |author-link= David Chadwick (writer) |work= cuke.com |date= February 19, 2002}}</ref>
7:55 Study


<ref name="Fullwood">{{cite web |url= http://www.sacbee.com/fullwood/story/11456.html |title= Serene escapes: Where less is more |author= Janet Fullwood |work= ] |date= November 29, 2006 |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://archive.today/20130104152443/http://www.sacbee.com/fullwood/story/11456.html |archive-date= January 4, 2013 }}</ref>
9:00 Zazen or Dharma Talk


<ref name="Guidelines">{{cite web |url= http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/docs/zmc_pp_guidelines.pdf |title= Pure Standards and Guidelines for Practice Period |author= San Francisco Zen Center |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070205205122/http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/docs/zmc_pp_guidelines.pdf |archive-date= February 5, 2007 }}</ref>
11:20 Noon service, followed by lunch in zendo


<ref name="SummerGuidelines">{{cite web |url= http://sfzc.org/tassajara/documents/ZenshinjiSummerGuidelines.pdf |title= Guidelines of Conduct & Precepts for Summer Practice |author= San Francisco Zen Center |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20070207012600/http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/documents/ZenshinjiSummerGuidelines.pdf |archive-date= February 7, 2007 }}</ref>
1:15 pm Work


<ref name="SummerPractice">{{cite web |url= http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara/display.asp?pageid=181 |title= Summer Work Practice |author= San Francisco Zen Center |url-status= dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20101128230737/http://sfzc.org/tassajara/display.asp?pageid=181 |archive-date= November 28, 2010 }}</ref>
4:15 Bathing and exercise


<ref name="Liddle">{{cite web |url= http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3190/is_v20/ai_4468096 |title= Fresh seafood, produce mold 565 Clay's success – San Francisco restaurant |author= Alan Liddle |work= ] |date= September 29, 1986 }}</ref>
5:50 Evening Service, followed by dinner in zendo


<ref name="Hansen">{{cite web |url= http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/08/29/CMGK781M0T1.DTL |title= It's good to be greens |author= Eileen Hansen, review of ] |work= ] |date= August 29, 2004 }}</ref>
7:30-9:00 Zazen/kinhin/zazen/Refuges


<ref name="Sinton">{{cite web |url= http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/1999/04/10/BU97721.DTL&type=travel |title= Staff of Life Not Enough For Tassajara |author= Peter Sinton |work= ]|date= April 10, 1999 }} ()</ref>
==Guest Season==


<ref name="Hodgman">{{cite web |url= https://www.nytimes.com/2003/03/30/magazine/flour-power.html |title= Flour Power |author= Ann Hodgman |work= ] |date= March 30, 2003 }}</ref>
After the practice periods, Tassajara re-opens to the public in mid-April. The guest program is the cornerstone of Tassajara's economic well-being and the chief fucus turns to looking after the guests, which includes a major kitchen operation since Tassajara is famous for its vegetarian cuisine. For students, this period also allows them to earn credits toward the fall and spring practice periods.


<ref name="Breadbook">{{cite book |author=] |title=The Tassajara Bread Book |edition=25th Anniversary |location=Boston |publisher=Shambhala Publications |year=1995 |isbn=978-1-57062-089-8}}</ref>
'''Typical Summer Schedule'''


<ref name="Recipebook">{{cite book |author=] |title=The Tassajara Recipe Book |edition=rev. |location=Boston |publisher=Shambhala Publications |year=2000 |isbn=1-57062-580-8}}</ref>
5:00 a.m. Informal zazen (optional)


}}
5:30 Wake-up bell


==External links==
5:50 Zazen
{{Commons category|Tassajara Zen Mountain Center}}
*
*
*


{{Buddhism topics}}
6:50 Morning Service
{{Authority control}}


{{Coord|36.233611|-121.550314|display=title|type:landmark}}
7:15 Soji (temple cleaning)


]
7:30 Breakfast
]

]
8:30 Work Meeting
]

]
12:00 p.m. Lunch
]

]
1:00 Work Meeting

3:30 Dharma class (as announced)

4:30 Resident & student bathing (silent)

5:00 Informal zazen (optional)

5:50 Evening Service

6:00 Supper

7:45 Informal zazen (optional)

8:40 Zazen/Dharma Talk/Small Groups

10:30 Firewatch (lights out)

The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is open to the public each year from April to September.

== See also ==
* ]

== External links ==
*

]
]
]
] ]
]

]
{{zen-stub}}
]
]

Latest revision as of 02:32, 28 November 2024

Sōtō Zen Buddhist monastery in the United States This article is about the Zen Buddhist Monastery. For the unincorporated community, see Tassajara Hot Springs, California. For the hot springs, see Tassajara Hot Springs.

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
Zendo at Tassajara
Religion
AffiliationBuddhism
SectSoto Zen
Location
Location39171 Tassajara Road Carmel Valley, CA 93924
CountryUnited States
Architecture
FounderShunryu Suzuki
Completed1967
Website
http://sfzc.org/tassajara/

The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is the oldest Japanese Buddhist Sōtō Zen monastery in the United States. It is on the border of the Ventana Wilderness and within the Los Padres National Forest, southeast of Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The center is only accessible over 5,082-foot-high (1,549 m) Chews Ridge via a narrow, steep, 13.7-mile (22.0 km) one-lane dirt road from Jamesburg. During the winter months the center can be inaccessible due to snow and rain. Practitioners live and study on site. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, the center is open to day and overnight guests. The natural hot springs have been developed into Japanese-style baths. A steam bath is built over a hot spring in Tassajara Creek. The center is the first Zen monastery established outside Asia.

History

The name is a corruption of Tasajera, a Spanish-American word derived from an indigenous Esselen word, which means "place where meat is hung to dry".

The 126-acre mountain property surrounding the Tassajara Hot Springs was purchased by the San Francisco Zen Center in 1967 for the below-market price of $300,000 from Robert and Anna Beck. They improved the property and renamed it The Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, or Zenshinji (Zen Mind Temple), during Shunryu Suzuki's tenure as its first abbot. When it was purchased in 1967, it was the first Zen monastery outside Asia.

Tassajara's remote location in the Coastal Range means it is often threatened by wildfires. In 2008 the Basin Complex Fire reached the monastery; five monks stayed in spite of evacuation orders and successfully protected it from the fire, after which the San Francisco Zen Center organized a trained group of firefighters to defend its three monasteries, known as "fire monks" after a book about the 2008 events. An external sprinkler system was also installed on buildings, called "dharma rain". The Tassajara Center was threatened by the 2016 Soberanes Fire; it escaped damage but was closed to guests for the remainder of the year. In June 2021, the Willow Fire threatened the monastery.

Calendars and schedules

Practice periods

A practice period (ango in Japanese) denotes a period of intensive monastic practice. During the fall (September–December) and spring (January–April) practice periods, Tassajara is closed to the public. The rigorous schedule is a defining feature. Activity revolves around zazen (meditation), study, and work.

Guest season

Lunch buffet at the Center

After the practice periods, Tassajara is open to the public from mid-April through early September. For students, this period also allows them to earn credits toward the fall and spring practice periods. The guest season, with less rigorous daily schedules, is a cornerstone of Tassajara's economic well-being.

The guest program includes a major kitchen operation. Tassajara is renowned for its vegetarian cuisine. Tassajara personnel also founded the Tassajara Bakery in Ashbury Heights and Greens Restaurant at Fort Mason in the Marina District in San Francisco. Edward Espe Brown's Tassajara Bread Book, published by Shambhala Publications in 1970 and revised in 1986 and 1995, is often credited as a major catalyst for the popularity of artisanal baking in the United States, while his Tassajara Recipe Book is the best known of several books of general vegetarian cuisine produced by authors connected with the center.

Gallery

See also

References

  1. "Chews Ridge Lookout, California". www.peakbagging.com. Archived from the original on June 15, 2020. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
  2. ^ "History – Tassajara – San Francisco Zen Center". Archived from the original on May 11, 2012. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  3. Kharebashvili, Nia (March 15, 2023). "Tassajara Hot Springs: The Key to The Ultimate Spiritual Restoration". Traxplorio. Retrieved March 18, 2023.
  4. Erwin G. Gudde (2004). California Place Names: the Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names (4th ed.). Berkeley, Calif.: University of California Press. ISBN 978-0-520-24217-3.
  5. ^ Janet Fullwood (November 29, 2006). "Serene escapes: Where less is more". Sacramento Bee. Archived from the original on January 4, 2013.
  6. "Interview with Robert Beck". February 19, 2002. Archived from the original on February 15, 2009. Retrieved June 29, 2011.
  7. ^ David Chadwick (February 19, 2002). "Interview with Robert Beck". cuke.com.
  8. ^ Frederick C. Crews (March 28, 2002). "Michael Downing's Shoes Outside the Door: Desire, Devotion, and Excess at San Francisco Zen Center". The New York Review of Books (Review). Zen & the Art of Success – via cuke.com. book begins with, and then encircles in widening orbits, a conference held in March 1983 at Zenshinji, or Zen Mind Temple, better known to the world as Tassajara … Tassajara in summer sees too much traffic to be called a true monastery. Rather, it is part training camp, part profitable tourist enterprise, and part showcase for potential donors who may be inspired to support Zen Center's instruction in zazen. (abstract)
  9. Matthai Kuruvila (February 11, 2012) . "Tassajara monks practice Zen of firefighting". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  10. "Letter from Robert Thomas, President: 7/17/2008 - Tassajara - San Francisco Zen Center". September 27, 2011. Archived from the original on September 27, 2011. Retrieved October 23, 2024.
  11. ^ Don Lattin (November 23, 2016). "Fighting fire with Zen at Tassajara". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  12. ^ Lakshmi Sarah (June 21, 2021). "'Fire Monks' Prepared to Defend Tassajara Zen Center as Willow Fire Threatens". KQED News. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  13. ^ "'Fire monks' ready to defend monastery from Big Sur blaze". Associated Press. June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 25, 2021.
  14. Zen center News, "Because of the ongoing smoky conditions and the risk of fire, we have taken the difficult decision to close the Tassajara 2016 guest season". Retrieved August 9, 2016.
  15. San Francisco Zen Center. "Pure Standards and Guidelines for Practice Period" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 5, 2007.
  16. San Francisco Zen Center. "Guidelines of Conduct & Precepts for Summer Practice" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on February 7, 2007.
  17. San Francisco Zen Center. "Summer Work Practice". Archived from the original on November 28, 2010.
  18. Alan Liddle (September 29, 1986). "Fresh seafood, produce mold 565 Clay's success – San Francisco restaurant". Nation's Restaurant News.
  19. ^ Eileen Hansen, review of Greens Restaurant (August 29, 2004). "It's good to be greens". San Francisco Chronicle.
  20. Peter Sinton (April 10, 1999). "Staff of Life Not Enough For Tassajara". San Francisco Chronicle. (photo)
  21. Ann Hodgman (March 30, 2003). "Flour Power". The New York Times.
  22. Edward Espe Brown (1995). The Tassajara Bread Book (25th Anniversary ed.). Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 978-1-57062-089-8.
  23. Edward Espe Brown (2000). The Tassajara Recipe Book (rev. ed.). Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 1-57062-580-8.

External links

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