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Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, or Zenshinji, was established in 1966 by Shunryu Suzuki in the Ventana Wilderness area of California's Los Padres National Forest, east of Big Sur. It was the first Soto Zen Buddhist monastery in the United States.
Tassajara is part of the San Francisco Zen Center, which also includes Beginner's Mind Temple (City Center) in San Francisco, California, and Green Gulch Farm (Green Dragon Temple) in Muir Beach, Marin County, northwest of the city.
Reputation
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.
Practice Period
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.
The Schedule
The schedule is a defining feature of this period. Activity revolves around meditation, scholarship, and work.
Typical Practice Period Schedule
3:50 am Wake-up bell
4:20 Zazen/kinhin/zazen
6:10 Morning Service, followed by breakfast in zendo
7:55 Study
9:00 Zazen or Dharma Talk
11:20 Noon service, followed by lunch in zendo
1:15 pm Work
4:15 Bathing and exercise
5:50 Evening Service, followed by dinner in zendo
7:30-9:00 Zazen/kinhin/zazen/Refuges
Guest Season
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.
Typical Summer Schedule
5:00 a.m. Informal zazen (optional)
5:30 Wake-up bell
5:50 Zazen
6:50 Morning Service
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
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