Tassajara Stories
A Sort of Memoir/Oral History of the First Zen Buddhist Monastery in the West The First Year—1967
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Proper Nouns
Tassajara Stories
Front Matter
Dedication
Soyen Shaku Nyogen Senzaki D.T. Suzuki Sokei-an Sasaki Ruth Fuller Sasaki Alan Watts Gary Snyder
Epigraph
Heraclitus
Preface
Tassajara, San Francisco Zen Center, Los Padres National Forest, San Francisco, Katrinka, Cuke Archives, Alaya Vijnana, Cuke.com, Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mountain Center, Japan
Chapter One - Arriving
Capsized Boys (Summer, 1964)
Alan Winter, Ed Brown, Lake of the Woods, Ontario, Canada, San Francisco Bay Area, Antioch
The Scouts (Spring, 1966)
Tassajara, Robert Beck, Anna Beck, San Francisco State, Zen Macrobiotics, George Ohsawa, Salinas, CA 68, Laureles Grade, Carmel Valley Road, Carmel Valley Village, Cachagua Road, Tassajara Sprs, Jamesburg, Los Padres National Forest, White Oaks Camp, Chew’s Ridge, China Camp, Salinas Valley, Tassajara Hot Springs
The Becks
Bill Parker, Jim Holmes, Laurie Holmes, Penny, Kathy, Tassajara Creek, Sokoji, Zendo
Richard’s Fortune
Richard Baker, Suzuki, Buzz Inn, Gilroy
The Horse Pasture
Horse Pasture Trail, Willard Mike Dixon, Trudy Dixon, Norman Stiegelmeyer, Tim Buckley, Arroyo Seco River, Paraiso Springs, Pacific Gas and Electric, Mel Lane, Sunset Magazine, Monterey County Roughriders
Ed and Bread
Ray Hurslander, Jimmy Vaughn, Alice, Theosophical Society, Columbus, J. Krishnamurti, Ojai, Big Sur Inn, Nepenthe Restaurant, The Tassajara Springs Cookbook, Sunset Magazine Cookbook, Gladys, Frances Baer, Bill Lambert, Rose Lambert, Gela Sappok, Peter Scagliotti, Live Oaks Winery, Gilroy, Ed Brown
Monte Cristo
Josh Baer
Cosmic Consciousness
Tim Burkett, Stanford, Richard Maurice Bucke, Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind, Sokoji
Cleaning First
Los Altos, Stanford
Haiku Zendo
Margaret Hall, Marian Derby, Haiku Zendo, Palo Alto
Semi-Hippy
Mexico City, Rhode Island School of Design, Marin County Civic Center, Frank Lloyd Wright, Nike Missile, San Francisco
Draft Dodging
Fort Worth, Selective Service, Berkeley, Brooklyn, Haight Street, Harold, Gandhi, Texas, Dallas, Mr. McKenzie, The University of Texas, Alaska
Bush Street
Haight Street, Golden Gate Park, Sokoji, Zen Center
Sokoji Days
Filmore Auditorium, Rincon Annex, Carol Doda, Condor Club, North Beach, San Francisco Chronicle, Sokoji, Suzuki, Katagiri, Octavia Street
Inescapable Eyes
The Eyes of Texas, Gabriel, The Eyes of Texas (song), Texas Our Texas, John F. Kennedy, Fort Worth, Dallas, Viva Las Vegas, Elvis Presley, San Francisco Zen Center
The Site
Pat, Sokoji, Zen Center, Silas Hoadley, Alan Watts, Allen Ginsberg, A Site for a Zen Meditation Center in the California Mountains, Willard Mike Dixon
A Conversation
Sokoji, Texas
Rockwell’s Performance (October 22, 1966)
Jerry Ray, Tammy, Fort Worth, San Francisco, Sokoji, Suzuki, Rick, Loring, Fillmore Auditorium, Beatles, Pfeiffer Falls, George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi Party, John Birch Society, Fort Worth, General Edwin A. Walker, Dallas, Playboy, Hate Bus, Ken Kesey, Further, Merry Pranksters, Stormtroopers, City Hall
Ominous Thumbtacks
Gil Pomeroy, Karen Pomeroy, Zen Center, Big Brother, Grateful Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Tassajara, Haight-Ashbury, Littleman’s Supermarket, Haight, Stanyon, Golden Gate Park, Hindu, Buddhist, Zen Buddhism, Soto Zen, central police station, Ronnie, Kenny, Mississippi, Jackson, Freedom Summer
Kathy Cook
Kathy Cook, Zen Center, Suzuki, Okusan, Mitsu, Jung Institute, Jungian psychology, Sokoji, Horse Pasture, Richard Baker
Lost in the Wilderness
Alan, Ed, Richard, Gary Snyder, Silas Hoadley, Ginny Baker, Yvonne Rand, Sterling Bunnell, Rinzai Zen, Daitokuji, Kyoto, Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Marin-an, Mt. Tamalpais, Jack Kerouac, Robert Beck, Anna, Tassajara, Willow Creek, Tony Trail
Loring Palmer
Suzuki, Katagiri, Loring Palmer, Buchanan Street, Japantown, Tim Buckley, gomashio, muso, Acapulco Gold, Gavin Arthur, Gary Snyder, Murshid Sufi Sam, Alan Watts, Jano, The Way of Zen, Nature, Man, and Woman
The Deal
Silas Hoadley, Sokoji, Richard Baker, Zen Center, Horse Pasture, Tassajara Springs, Robert Beck, Anna Beck, Broadway Street, Japanese restaurant, Buddha, Christmas, Horse Pasture, Carmel Valley Road
Teamwork
Richard Baker, Suzuki, Becks, Silas Hoadley, Zen Center, Tassajara, Robert Beck, Anna Beck, Japanese restaurant, Broadway Street
El Camino – February 1967
Silas, Chevy El Camino, Buzz Inn, Gilroy, Fred Tuttle, Fred’s Camp, Pacific Bell, Horse Bridge, Greenfield Road, Cachagua, Chew’s Ridge, Coulter Pine, China Camp, Tassajara Road
Demolition Days
Tim Buckley, Silas, Tassajara, Howard Campbell, Jeanne, East Bay, Sokoji, Suzuki, Richard Baker, Tassajara Creek, Berkeley
Acid Trip Anfänger
Tammy, Muir Woods, Owsley, Watts Acid Test, Marin County, LSD, Suzuki, Katagiri, anfänger, Germany, beginner’s mind
Ready or Not
Tim, Sokoji, Tassajara, Katagiri, Silas, Loring Palmer, genmaicha, I Ching, Panama Red
Chapter Two – Preparing
The Vanguard (March 1967)
Tassajara, Bill Parker, Kathy Parker, Jim Holmes, Laurie Holmes, Silas Hoadley, Heart Sutra, Tassajara Lane, Pine Room, Stone Room
Bob and Sandy Watkins
Bob Watkins, Sandy Watkins, Dennis Hopper, Frank Sinatra, Mexico, Big Sur
Peter Schneider
Peter Schneider, University of Connecticut, San Francisco, Haight-Ashbury, Jig Schneider, Zen Center, Suzuki Sensei, Sokoji, UC Berkeley Extension, Kalamazoo, India, Yaizu, Rinsoin, Eiheiji, Jean Ross, Spain, England, New York City, Village Community Church, Greenwich Village, Village Voice, Wind Bell, Trudy Dixon
Spring Arrivals
Richard Baker, Ginny Baker, Sally Baker, UC Berkeley, Four Seasons Foundation, Ed Brown, Peter Schneider, Phillip Wilson, San Francisco Art Institute, Paul Discoe, Ruthie Discoe, Joe Droshin, Jeanne Campbell, Howard Campbell, Clarke Mason, Tim Buckley, Loring Palmer
Many Changes
Paul Discoe, San Francisco, Dodge Power Wagon, Toyota Land Cruiser
The Essence of the Grain
Loring Palmer, Gomashio, Portland Mill
Bob Halpern
Taizan Maezumi, Sunset Strip, Satori Shop
Ear Ache
Bob Halpern
Deadly Roofs
Rick, Jerry Ray, George Lincoln Rockwell, American Nazi Party, Stormtrooper, Arlington, Virginia
The Haramaki
Suzuki Roshi, Bob Watkins, Bob Halpern, SK Ueda
Cool Lemonade
Bob Halpern, Suzuki Roshi
The Bishop
Los Angeles, Sokoji, Hui Neng, Shen Hsiu
Food Tripping
Oakland Food Mill, Fred Rohe, New Age Natural Foods, Dos Palos, Organicville, L.A., Hain, Dr. Bronner’s
Taizan Maezumi
Taizan Maezumi, Charlene Maezumi, Nichiren, Dr. Bronner’s, Basic H, Zenshuji, Nyogen Senzaki, Paul Reps, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, San Francisco State, Sokoji, Wind Bell
The Bishop’s Disciples
Stockton, MacDonough, Eiheiji, Zenshuji
Joshu Sasaki
Joshu Sasaki, Myoshinji, UC Berkeley, Tassajara
The Koan
Tassajara, Wind Bell, Maezumi, Eido Shimano, New York Zen Studies
A Reading
Fred Kimball, Glendale, Edgar Cayce, Virginia Beach, Austin, San Francisco Zen Center
The Pinwheel
Chew’s Ridge, Santa Lucia Mountains, Pacific, Milky Way, Bill Lambert, Pinwheel Galaxy
Mysterious Darkness
Robert Beck, Marie Williams, Monterey, Willow Creek, Tony Trail, Los Padres National Forest, Tassajara Creek, Anna Beck, Ralph Burdett
Tresidder Lecture
Bill Shurtleff, Joan Baez, Struggle Mountain, Stanford University, Bob McKim, Esalen Institute, Big Sur, Haiku Zendo, Charlotte Selver, Charles Brooks, Richard Baker, Suzuki, Alan Watts, Sokoji
Car Talk
Suzuki, Carmel Valley, Thunderbird Bookstore, The Prophet, Kahlil Gibran
The Chicken (May 1, 1967)
Ed Brown, Dogen, Buddha, Suzuki Roshi
Exploding Streetlights
Clarke Mason, Coffee Cantata, Union Street, San Francisco
Sharing Tassajara
Robert Beck, Anna Beck, Silas Hoadley, Zen Center, Tassajara, Peter Schneider, Bob Halpern
Nixed Nudity
Suzuki Roshi, Kathy Cook, Narrows
The Legend
Robert Beck, Annemarie Brunken, Monterey Public Library, Fred Nason, Esselen
Old-Timers
Robert Beck, Grasshopper Flats, Bill Parker, Jack Daniels, Hogback Trail, Tassajara Creek, Los Padres National Forest, Esselen, Church Creek Ranch, Junipero Serra, Carmel Mission, Quilty, San Quentin, Helen Quilty, Pete Stolich, Watsonville, Ralph Myers, Church Family, Joan Crawford, Sappoks, Hudsons, Admiral Hudson, Margaret Hudson, Point Lobos, San Francisco Zen Center, Shunryu Suzuki, Richard Baker
Monterey Pop (June 18, 1967)
Monterey International Pop Festival, Jimi Hendrix, Big Brother and the Holding Company, Janis Joplin, The Who, The Mamas and the Papas, Simon & Garfunkel, Otis Redding, Grateful Dead, Eric Burdon, Jefferson Airplane, Ravi Shankar, Richard Baker
Poets Visit
Michael McClure, Love Lion Book, Freewheeling Frank, San Francisco Hell’s Angels, Richard Brautigan, Trout Fishing in America, Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Daniel Moore, Heart Sutra, Floating Lotus Magic Opera Company, Jean Ross, Grahame Petchey, Phillip Wilson
The Bauls
West Bengal, Baul Music
The Philosopher and the Gardener
Paul Lee, UC Santa Cruz, Paul Tillich, LSD Conference, Alan Chadwick, Rudolf Steiner, Richard Baker
Banana Split
Tim Burkett, D.T. Suzuki, Buzz Inn, Gilroy
Our New Friend (June 23, 1967)
Kobun Chino Otogawa, Los Altos, Haiku Zendo, Eiheiji, Jean Ross, Grahame Petchey, Phillip Wilson, Paul Discoe
Chapter Three - Opening
Zenshinji Prep – July 3, 1967
Tassajara, Zen Mountain Center, Zenshinji, Jamesburg, Paul Discoe, Japan, Kobun Chino, Shumucho, Soto Zen Headquarters, Shunryu
Another Gift
Ejo Takata, Mumon Yamada, Mexico City, Erich Fromm, Oaxaca, Suzuki, kanji
Planting a Seedling
Suzuki, Bishop, Kobun, Maezumi, Los Angeles, Kazemitsu Kato, Sokoji, Jean Ross, Claude Dalenberg, Phillip Wilson, Richard Baker, Zentatsu Myoyu, shuso, Zen Center
No Big Deal
Sokoji, Kato, Bishop, Ed Brown
Richard and Shunryu
Robert Beck, Baker, Anna, Silas, Zen Center
Tangaryo Daze
Suzuki, Richard, Ed Brown, Eiheiji, Ryutakuji, Rinzai, Bay Area
The Schedule
Suzuki, Diamond Sutra, Heart Sutra, George Allen & Unwin Ltd, Edward Conze
Taking Care
Suzuki, Paul, Ruthie, Wajima, Noto Peninsula, San Francisco, Navy, U.S. Navy
Ango Samu
Suzuki, Bob Halpern, Kobun, Phillip Wilson, Roshi, Eiheiji, U.S. Forest Service, Grasshopper Flats, Pulaski, McLeod, Tony Trail, Hogback
Hard Practice
Tim Burkett, Linda Burkett, Suzuki, Zen Center
Suzuki the Alchemist
Ejo Takata, Suzuki Roshi, Rinzai, Soto, Keisaku, Kyosaku
Peanut Allergy
Ed Brown
First Sesshin
Suzuki, Maezumi, Mickey Stunkard, University of Pennsylvania
Axes and Saws
Bob Watkins, Nelda Foesta, Grasshopper Flats, Swedish saw, U.S. Navy
A Scolding
Richard Baker, Silas, Dan, Zen Center, Sokoji
Village Voice
Jack Goddard, Big Sur, Village Voice, Peter Schneider, Ginny Baker, Dan, Louise
Liz Wolf
Paul Lee, UC Santa Cruz, Richard Baker, The Three Pillars of Zen, Pasadena, Martha Rose Bode, Vedanta
Bulgarian Salt Loaf
Mike Daft, Wolf oven, muso, umpan
Four and Nine
Kobun, Sokoji, Dr. Bronner’s Castile Liquid Soap, Basic H, Fels Naptha
Kobun to the Narrows
Bob Halpern, Kobun, samue, samu, urushi, yerba santa, Horse Pasture, century plant
A Late Call
Maezumi, Zenshuji, Bishop
Like a Rolling Stone
Tim Burkett, Phillip, Bob Halpern, Suzuki
Second Sesshin Approaching
Bill Kwong, Marian Derby, Norman Stiegelmeyer, Mike Dixon, Trudy Dixon, George Ohsawa
The Big Pain
Suzuki, Richard
Deflecting Angry Birds
Silas, Norman Stiegelmeyer, Phillip
Notable Visitations
Prajna Paramita, Heart Sutra, Tassajara Creek, Grasshopper Flats, Hogback
Sesshin Song
Sangha, Tassajara Creek, manzanita
Mantric Awakening
Tim Burkett, Suzuki, Gyate gya te, Heart Sutra
Shosan with Suzuki
Shunryu Suzuki, Dogen Zenji, Prajna Paramita Sutra, Docho Roshi, Bill Kwong, Mill Valley Zendo, Kathy Cook, Mike Dixon, Peter Schneider, Silas, Marian Derby, Ed Brown, Ruthie Disco
Great Treasure
Maezumi, Bob Halpern, Tim Burkett, L.A.
Chapter Four - Resuming
Noah the Noble
Big Sur, Noah, Nancy Lay, Grasshopper Flats, Putsy, Tony Trail, Willow Creek, Tony Trail, Pacific, Dryden Phelps, China, Baptist, Highway 1
Dining Room
Club House, Paul Discoe, Farmer Brothers, San Francisco, Avery Removable Labels, Ginny Baker
Fly Herding
Robert Beck
Routines and Surprises
Ed Brown, California, Anna Beck
Dharma Combat
Bill Kwong, Richard Baker, Kobun Chino, Wind Bell, Trudy Dixon, Sokoji, Mill Valley, Norman Stiegelmeyer, Almonte Improvement Club, Katagiri, Marian Derby, Mel Weitsman
The Clattering Generator
Clarke
Charlotte Selver
Charlotte Selver, Charles Brooks, Esalen Institute, Alan Watts, Diane di Prima, The Floating Bear, LeRoi Jones
The Levitskys
Melissa Levitsky, Charles Levitsky, Nepenthe, Bill Fassett, Lolly Fassett, Japan, Lou Harrison, Bill Colvig, San Jose State University, Santa Cruz, John Cage, Sokoji
Other Guests
Grasshopper Flats, Monterey County Rough Riders, John Stace, Watsonville Domino Club, Bud, Topless Vegetables, Burt, Granite Construction, Mr. Porter, Safeway
The Outside World
Stuart Brand, NASA, Portola Institute, Whole Earth Catalogue, Sterling Bunnell, Scientific American, Death Valley, Salt Creek, Alan Watts, Timothy Leary, Richard Alpert, Gary Snyder
The Roscoes
Anna Beck, Nancy Roscoe, Robert Beck, Maxine Peterine, Lafayette Escadrille, France, North Beach, Discovery Bookshop, City Lights
Robert Remembers
Frederick, Admiral Hudson, Rolls Royce, Chinatown
The Zapper
Tim Buckley, Padma Sambhava, Suzuki Roshi
Pecking Pigeons
Robert Beck, Herb Caen, Koda Brothers Farm, Dos Palos, Los Banos
Aphids and Ruthie
Ruthie, Kobun Chino, Robert Beck
Esalen Institute
Michael Murphy, Dick Price, Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Pondicherry, Aldous Huxley, Frederic Spiegelberg, Alan Watts, American Academy of Asian Studies, Gerald Heard, Gregory Bateson, Abraham Maslow, Gai-fu Feng, Fritz Perls, Langley-Porter Neuropsychiatric Institute, Dainin Katagiri, George Leonard, Lillie Leonard
Barry and the Barb
Ernie Barry, Berkeley Barb
Kobun Chino
Kobun Chino, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Monterey, Peter Sellers, The Party
Dealing with Demons
Ed Brown
Dealing with Demons
Suzuki, Kobun, Padma Sambhava
Bookmarked Path
Shakyamuni Buddha, Mahayana, Gospel, Jesus, Emerson, Fort Worth, Paul Reps
Three Scholars
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, Gudo, Huang Po, Alan Watts, Tao Te Ching, Heart Sutra
Margot Patterson Doss
Margot Patterson Doss, San Francisco, Bay Area, Highway One, Green Gulch, Grove Press
Ruth Fuller Sasaki
Ruth Fuller Sasaki, Kyoto, Rinzai, D.T. Suzuki, First Zen Institute, New York City, Sokei-an, Alan Watts
Dorothy Schalk
Dorothy Schalk, Phillip Wilson, Northampton Zen Group, Zen House
Diamond Sutra
Edward Conze, Diamond Sutra, Buddhist Wisdom Books, Mahayana Buddhism, Avalokiteshvara
After the Cadillac
Palo Colorado Canyon, Morning Star, Sonoma County, Big Sur, Tassajara
Elsie Mitchell
Elsie Mitchell, John Mitchell, Harvard, MIT, Huston Smith, Gyuto Monks, Dalai Lama
Grand Occasion
Shunryu Suzuki, Buddhist Association, New England, Tassajara
Landmarks on the Road
Fred Tuttle, Tassajara Creek, Horse Pasture, Wildcat Creek, Black Butte Summit, World War II
Chapter Five - Continuing
Working with Stones (November 1967)
Suzuki, Phillip Wilson, Richard Baker, Paul Discoe, Hamada, Eiheiji, Engakuji, Kamakura, Rinzai, Rinso-in, Yaizu
Building Walls
Harold Doiron, Monterey County, Paul Discoe, Geoffrey Barrett, Mill Valley, Helen Nearing, Scott Nearing, Living the Good Life, Ernest Flagg, New York, Tassajara
Making Robes
Suzuki, Kathy Cook, San Francisco, Tassajara
The Banker
Jack Tjeerdsma, UC Berkeley, Richard Baker, Sokoji, Bank of Tokyo, John Steiner, Pine Room, Heart Sutra
Jane Runk
Jane Runk, Virginia, North Carolina, University of Maryland, Temple University, Brooklyn, Sokoji, San Francisco
A Danish Carpenter
Niels, Denmark, Greenland, Vikings, Europe, Russia, Russian royalty, Fourth of July, Jutland, Santa Claus
Noh Answers
Halpern, Suzuki, Kobun, Fred Stoeber, Sokoji
All Shining
Bob Watkins, Sandy Watkins, Tassajara, Suzuki, Roshi
Evil Desire
Kobun, Suzuki, Sokoji, Peter Schneider
Waterfall Descent
Horse Pasture, Tassajara Creek, Narrows, Niels, Kobun, Halpern
Rohatsu Sesshin
Buddha, Varanasi, Diamond Sutra, Tassajara Zendo, Dan Welch, Docho Roshi
Saying Goodbye
Shunryu Suzuki, Yakusan Zenji, Buddha, Bodhidharma, Magu, San Francisco, Sokoji
Cowtown Holidays
Texas, Fort Worth, Trinity River, New Year’s Eve, Colonial Country Club, Jerry Ray, Warren Lynn, Alden Truesdell, Christ Truth League, Fred Streng
Dawning of 1968
Tassajara, Jane Runk, Kobun, New Year, Paul Discoe, San Francisco