Photography as Zen Practice - Tassajara Zen Mountain Center May 31, 2010

A professional photographer and a Zen teacher team with the class to explore the unknown.

Let’s experiment with what it means to use the visual world as a means of practicing the Zen principles of Not Knowing, Bearing Witness, and Loving Action. So called "Zen photographers" are often imagined as moving slowly, contemplatively through time and space, but as with sitting meditation, time and space can become elastic. Perhaps more like a dancer than a stone statue!

The Baths and Hot Springs
Tassajara’s hand-crafted Japanese-style bathhouse is clothing-optional, and has separate sides for men and women, with co-ed bathing on the men’s side in the evenings. Each side has a tiled indoor hot plunge, an outdoor plunge, steam room, communal showers, and a private bath. There are decks for sunning and yoga, with steps leading down into the creek

About Tassajara Zen Mountain Center:
Nestled deep in a mountain valley, Tassajara is located inland from the Big Sur coast in a remote part of the Ventana Wilderness. For centuries, the native Esselen people have visited here as a place of healing and renewal, and a hot springs resort was built in the 1800s. In 1967, Shunryu Suzuki Roshi and the San Francisco Zen Center established a monastic community at Tassajara, making it the oldest Zen training monastery outside Asia.

Over the years, a rich Zen-inspired culture of living mindfully with the earth and each other has developed at Tassajara. In the winter, Tassajara closes its gates and turns inward, as residents engage in intensive Zen training. During the summer months, our attention turns to welcoming and serving our guests. We warmly invite you to come and refresh yourselves in this very special place.

Tassajara Zen Mountain Center is part of the San Francisco Zen Center, which also includes Beginner's Mind Temple (City Center) in San Francisco and Green Gulch Farm in Marin County, California.

San Francisco Zen Center is a nonprofit organization, and we gratefully accept your donations. You may add a donation directly to your reservation, or please contact us for more information.

Official Website: http://www.sfzc.org/tassajara