Word: tassajara
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1960-1969
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...story, "Zen, with a Difference" [Oct. 18], regarding the ritualistic activity at the Tassajara Monastery in California, makes any knowledgeable Zennist smile, since Zen has no form, no ritual, no church, no creed, no "Bible," no authority or priestcraft administering it and is devoid of images and the adoration of them. It has as its main objective the concentration of the mind-without lotus positions, kneeling, closeting, bending, stooping or praying. This results in the person's becoming more aware of life, all life, and the process by which it flows without beginning...
...down to half an hour, I won't come." There is also no rule in the community that members must shave their heads, although, in practice, most of them do. In a similarly pragmatic vein, the community continues to take in paying weekend guests at Tassajara, and uses the income to operate and refurbish the monastery...
Into the Zendo. The day at Tassajara begins at 4:40 a.m. with the sound of a tinkling hand bell and the han-a length of ash planking that is struck with a wooden mallet. Students must report to the zendo (meditation hall) by 5. As each person enters the zendo, he bows to the platform that holds the Buddha, burning incense, the roshi and Zen priests. After removing his shoes, the student arranges his zafu (black cushion), adopts the lotus position, and meditates for 40 minutes...
According to Tassajara's students, panic and pain eventually give way to an unearthly sense of tranquillity. After meditation, the striking of a bell signals the start of a 20-minute Zen service. Although a few of these sessions are partly in English, the early morning one is in Japanese. Collectively, the students chant the Prajnā-Pāramita Sutra: "Form is not different from emptiness. Emptiness is not different from form. Form is emptiness. Emptiness is the form...
...eaten in silence. A typical day's routine continues with work in either the monastery's gardens or on new facilities, more meditation and services, and a lecture and counseling by the roshi, until bedtime at 10 p.m. After the novices have spent an appropriate time at Tassajara, they may visit the Zen center in San Francisco for a test of their Buddha-inspired imperturbability. Ultimately, most of the students expect to return to their daily lives, spiritually reinforced by exposure to the serene wisdom of Buddha...