***
Notes
Index for book --- Names with links
Tassajara Stories
The Wind Bell publications of the SFZC - Tassajara excerpts
Cover - group photo - also in end matter with names p. 239
Front Matter
p.iv - Also by David Chadwick
Books and Audiobooks
Other Writings
Podcasts
Songs and albums
p.vii - Dedication
Epigraph
We both step and do not step in the same rivers. We are and we are not.
–Heraclitus
Heraclitus was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher from Ephesus. He saw reality as being in a constant state of flux, governed by a principle he called Logos—a rational order underlying all change, sometimes likened to reason or divine order.
He believed that everything is in motion and nothing remains the same. He argued that opposites are necessary for harmony and transformation (life and death, day and night).
His philosophy contrasts with thinkers like Parmenides, who saw reality as unchanging. Heraclitus had a cryptic, poetic style, earning him the nickname The Obscure in later tradition.
p.xiii Preface
Ālaya-vijñāna (आलयविज्ञान) is a key concept in Yogācāra Buddhism, referring to the “storehouse consciousness.” It is considered the deepest level of consciousness, where karmic seeds (or impressions) are stored and later ripen into experiences, thoughts, and perceptions.
-----
Chapter One - Arriving
Capsized Boys (Summer, 1964)
p.3 - Ed Brown wrote:
Alan saved my life because
he was sensible enough to stay
with the canoe when we found
ourselves in the water alongside,
while I grew impatient after what
five ten fifteen minutes, and thinking
I was a strong swimmekr, began swimming.
I was a strong swimmer but not with levis
and heavy hiking boots!
The Scouts (Spring, 1966)
The Becks
Richard’s Fortune
The Horse Pasture
Ed and Bread
--
Monte Cristo
Cosmic Consciousness
Cleaning First
Haiku Zendo
Semi-Hippy
Draft Dodging
Bush Street
Sokoji Days
p. 26 - honorific roshi
The Watts letter saying we should call Suzuki "roshi" and not reverend or sensei came in the fall of 1966 while Suzuki was in Japan. Richard Baker says that he and some others started calling Suzuki "roshi" earlier than that when Don Allen returned from Japan and told them they should call Suzuki "roshi." Right now - 2025- that's what he remembers but he was doing the Wind Bells back then and the Watts letter and Suzuki's reaction was in the Wind Bell.
-----See Titles of Respect from Thank You and OK!
-----from Crooked Cucumber
Inescapable Eyes
The Site
p. 30 - See the whole A SITE FOR A ZEN MEDITATION CENTER IN THE CALIFORNIA MOUNTAINS brochure plus others and Suzuki's sumi circle on the poster for the fundraising art show Mike Dixon put together at the Fundraising Posters and Brochures page.
Crooked Cucumber mentions the fundraising benefits done by Alan Watts, Gary Snyder, and Ali Akbar Khan but this book does not. The sequel does though.
p.31 - "I had a little trust fund..." - Those were the days. Now days we get by and this book got written because of kind and generous donations to Cuke Archives.
A Conversation
Rockwell’s Performance (October 22, 1966)==
Ominous Thumbtacks
p. 37 - Zenefit poster - see large at Fundraising Posters page
p. 38 - "one call rule" - depending on the place and circumstances it can go from no calls to many. The one right that is most universal is the right to an attorney but ususally there's the right to let someone know. Check it out online. Various posts on it.
Kathy Cook
Lost in the Wilderness
Loring Palmer
The Deal
Teamwork
El Camino – February 1967
Demolition Days
Acid Trip Anfänger
Ready or Not
Chapter Two – Preparing
The Vanguard (March 1967)
Bob and Sandy Watkins
Peter Schneider
Spring Arrivals
Many Changes
The Essence of the Grain
Bob Halpern
Ear Ache
Deadly Roofs
The Haramaki
Cool Lemonade
The Bishop
Food Tripping
Taizan Maezumi
The Bishop’s Disciples
Joshu Sasaki
The Koan
A Reading
The Pinwheel
Mysterious Darkness
Tresidder Lecture
Car Talk
p. 90 - Photo with Phillip, Shunryu, Mitsu,. unknown, DC, Richard Baker taken behind Suzuki's cabin
The Chicken (May 1, 1967)
Exploding Streetlights
Sharing Tassajara
Nixed Nudity
The Legend
p.96 - the mural with the legend and other painted faux Indians
Old-Timers
P.99 - "They had it for a year and realized it was a mistake. We got it from them.” The Becks and Roscoes also got the Horse Pasture and the Pines in that deal for 150K. He ended up selling those three pieces for ten times that.
p. 99 - At the end of this chanter on the succession of owners of Tassajara, Robert Beck says, “I’d met Richard before, but I first met Suzuki Roshi up on the road a year ago. I was there waiting for them to come in—at the first place on the road from which one can almost see Tassajara—where Tassajara is a few thousand feet down and miles away—where you start to come down after you pass the Church Creek Road on your way in. There’s a place where you can pull out. That’s where he looked from." - I assumed Robert was talking about Hotel Point on Black Butte Summit. There's a great view toward the ocean. But just below it at the first switchback in the road, there's a more spacious pullout. One can walk a short ways from there to look further down into the mountain slopes where Tassajara lies at the very bottom. You can see a little further down from there than Hotel Point. Maybe that's where they looked from. It would have been a little more trouble but I don't think they were in any hurry.
Monterey Pop (June 18, 1967)
Poets Visit
The Bauls
The Philosopher and the Gardener
Banana Split
Our New Friend (June 23, 1967
Chapter Three – Opening
Zenshinji Prep – July 3, 1967
p.108 "These were gift from Shumucho, Soto Zen Headquarters, which were engraved with “for Zenshinji, in the time of Shunryu.” - Fall 67 WB Time Sounds p.9 for more on han, bells, drum and clarifies which were gifts.
from Wind Bell Fall 1967 Zen Mt. Center Report and more
cuke.com/pdf-wb2/tass-67-02
Another Gift
Planting a Seedling
No Big Deal
p.110 - Tibetan Learning Center replaced with "A Tibetan monastic community"
Geshe Wangyal established the monastery itself in 1958, in Washington, New Jersey.
• It was originally called Labsum Shedrub Ling (“Place of Study and Practice of the Three Vehicles”)—a traditional Tibetan monastic name.
• In 1975, it was incorporated as the Tibetan Learning Center, with a broader educational and public outreach mission.
Richard and Shunryu
Tangaryo Daze
p. 112 - Seeking definitive kanji and meaning Soto Zen for tangaryo - == should ask Shohaku Okumura
The Schedule
p. 116 - 'he turned to the book and read the title. “Buddhist Wisdom Books: The Diamond Sutra, the Heart Sutra. George Allen and Unwin Ltd.”'
Looks like the actual title in the 1958 edition was Buddhist Wisdom Books: Containing The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra. Originally I'd used the current title I got by a web search. - Buddhist Wisdom: The Diamond Sutra and The Heart Sutra. Then changed the title before the subtitle to Buddhist Wisdom Books: as per the 1958 edition bookcover on the cuke bibliography page. But then upon further inquiry it turned out the name on the title page was the actual titlelisted above
==Peter - put title page you found here or on a page for this book.
Taking Care
Ango Samu
p.119 Photo - Bob Halpern, Shunryu, Phillip tea break
Hard Practice
Suzuki the Alchemist
Peanut Allergy
First Sesshin
-----p. 123 - Kobun helped too. Mel Weitsman remembered it as Kobun leading it but others including me remember Maezumi who had more seniority and status. And Mel's memory was frequently off. But Kobun likely joined in on the zazen throughout the sesshin when he could.
Axes and Saws
A Scolding
Village Voice
pp. 125-6 - Jack Goddard "lived in Big Sur and in April had hiked in to do a story on what was going on at Tassajara."
-----Jack hiked in and out the few times he came. He would go hiking in that wilderness for days at a time. He said he had bleeding ulcers and that it was risky for him to get that far from medical help.
Liz Wolf
Bulgarian Salt Loaf
p.127 - "The zazen period at eleven was just ending. The brief noon service would start in a minute." - That first practice period there was a lot of experimenting with schedules. The zazen period could have started before or after eleven and thus service and lunch at various times. See first practice period schedules Bob Watkins saved (PDF one and two) both with zazen before 11am and one in A Brief History of Tassajara with no zazen berfore mid-day service.
Four and Nine
Kobun to the Narrows
A Late Call
Like a Rolling Stone
Second Sesshin Approaching
The Big Pain
Deflecting Angry Birds
Notable Visitations
Sesshin Song
Mantric Awakening
Shosan with Suzuki
Great Treasure
Chapter Four – Resuming
Noah the Noble
Dining Room
p. 150 - "One of the last things the dining room crew did at night was to turn the heat down low on the coffee machine." - But we couldn't turn it down too early because people, mainly guests, were still drinking coffee till 9 or 10 pm. So the fire watch stared turning the heat down on the coffee machine - not the dining room staff. But often someone on the dining room staff would do it anyway because they were much more aware of it and less likely to forget. I know in my case, as head of the dining room, I always had the coffee machine in mind at least a little bit.
Fly Herding
Routines and Surprises
Dharma Combat
The Clattering Generator
Charlotte Selver
The Levitskys
Other Guests
pp. 160-1 - Mr. Porter of the Watsonville Domino Club - At that time Porter was the most prominant name in Watsonville. The Porter Building is a city landmark. W.H. Porter was the president of the Pajaro Valley Bank and played a major role in the city’s early development. The Mr. Porter I knew was, I assume, his son.
The Outside World
p.161 - Stuart Brand later said he regretted not trademarking "Whole Earth." I thought of that when sometime around the mid 1990s I was shopping at the Whole Earth Access store in San Rafael, part of a chain not owned by Brand, and stood next to Brand in the check out line. I knew him well enough to say hello but didn't, allowing the serindipity of be moment to be undisturbed.-dc
A
The Roscoes
Robert Remembers
The Zapper
Pecking Pigeons
Aphids and Ruthie
Esalen Institute
Barry and the Barb
p.175 - New World Utopias: A Photographic History of the Search for Community published in 1975 by Paul Kagen. I don't think it included Tassajara but don't know for sure. I read it listed ten contemporary communities and this is only six. It's on archive.com. Chat GPT listed these:
Contemporary/Modern (as of 1970s) Communities:
• Drop City (Colorado) – Iconic 1960s artistic commune
• Twin Oaks (Virginia) – Founded on principles from B.F. Skinner’s Walden Two
• Morning Star Ranch (California) – Open-land commune
• The Farm (Tennessee) – Stephen Gaskin’s spiritual/vegetarian community
• Black Bear Ranch (California) – “Free land for free people” commune
• Hog Farm – Founded by Wavy Gravy, known for its activism and support roles at festivals like Woodstock
Kobun Chino
p. 176 - "I found it curious he (Kobun) thought white noodles were healthy." - Udon noodles is what we were eating - the flat white wheat noodles. But I bet he thought soba - buckwheat noodles were healthy too. Chat GPT says: A monk from a Zen Buddhist tradition would most likely be referring to soba, which aligns with traditional shojin ryori (Buddhist vegetarian cuisine) and is considered a balanced, natural food.
Dealing with Demons
Bookmarked Path
p.183 - "The Way of Zazen by Rindo Fujimoto... was available only in Suzuki’s Sokoji office." - as far as I knew - and that's only for the West Coast. They would of course been available from Elsie Mitchell and the Cambridge Buddhist Association. Whole 25 page booklet
Three Scholars
p.182 - link to page for Buddhist Wisdom Books ==
pp. 183-4 -"one thing that bothered me about Conze’s book on the Heart and Diamond sutras. Rather than buying copies of the book, we each got a cheap photocopied version." - I just guessed they were photocopied. Richard Baker now (25-08) says probably Henry did them. He meant Henry Louie who owned East-West Printers had been printing the Wind Bells for Zen Center and was friendly and helpful. So it llooks like they were made with offset printing at East-West Printers. Baker also wrote that Conze was okay with us copying them but now he realzies we should have bought the books.
-----Found this on Henry Louie, a mention in his brother-in-law's obit.
Margot Patterson Doss
p. 186 - Don Allen - Don had me take out of Crooked Cucumber for the 2nd printing that he was an original board member of the ZC (not yet named SFZC) in 1962. He said Richard listed him without asking him.
Ruth Fuller Sasaki
Dorothy Schalk
pp.88-9 - "Before Tassajara became an item, it looked like Suzuki would send Phillip to help with her group and Suzuki would be spending more time in New England, the home of transcendentalism. Now Schalk could see that wouldn’t happen any time soon. She was on her way to practice at a temple in Japan. Maybe she’d meet a priest there who would be their teacher." - She did. She met Kosho Uchiyama. See below.
-----The Valley Zendo is what I think of as what grew out of Dorothy Schalk's dream to create a practice place. I keep thinking Vermont because that's where she was but the land she bought was in Masshachusets. Here's a message from Gerald McFarland about Schalk, Suzuki, and the Valley Zendo
Diamond Sutra
After the Cadillac
Elsie Mitchell
Grand Occasion
Landmarks on the Road
Chapter Five – Continuing
Working with Stones (November 1967)
Building Walls
p 204 - "Dodson agreed and gave Tassajara three years to complete construction of the new kitchen." ==check Zen Architechture - that's what it says as I recall
-----Wind Bell 67-02 - The present kitchen is located in what was once the staff kitchen and the proposed unit is more than twice as large. The students have already begun working on it and it must be finished by next May if Tassajara is to be reopened to guests, according to county health department requirements
DC - obviously the health department changed their requirement as well - it took four years
p.231 - Alden Truesdell - Here are over 600 lectures of his lectures or writings as sent by Warren Lynn - Spiriticity
p. 205 Photo and another copy of the same Photo - Suzuki, Discoe, Phillip working on walls
Making Robes
The Banker
Jane Runk
A Danish Carpenter
Noh Answers
All Shining
p. 219 - Photo - Bob Watkins with Suzuki break from stone work under the bridge over the small creek by the dorm
Evil Desire
Waterfall Descent
Rohatsu Sesshin
Saying Goodbye
Cowtown Holidays
Dawning of 1968
End Matter
Acknowledgements
Notes
p.239 group photo with names - follow the link to see it presented serval ways with and without names.
p. 242 - Poster with Suzuki enso, sumi circle, for benefit art show - See it large at Fundraising Posters page