Friday, January 27, 2017

Hodgepodge 90/365 - Green Gulch Farm Zen Center

Earlier this month I posted some photos of Tassajara Zen Center and Mt. Madonna Center, "Spiritual Places of Refuge." Today I'll finish up that series with photos of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, like Tassajara run by the San Francisco Zen Center. It supplies organic produce to the award-winning Greens restaurant in San Francisco (also founded, in 1989, by SFZC). I've been to Green Gulch several times, a couple of times for workshops, once just to enjoy the quiet beauty of the grounds and buildings (which I wrote about here and here). That reminds me: maybe it's time to look at the schedule and see if there isn't an upcoming workshop that might inspire a return visit.

I have only seven photos from Green Gulch in my Flickr archive, which surprises me. But then, I haven't been using Flickr much lately. Which is a shame: it's an excellent place to store photos. I should get back in the habit.

Well, here they are, a couple with captions:


July 11, 2009: I've only been to Green Gulch once before, but then,
too, I was struck by the beauty of stillness, and of the life force.
Today was spent in a workshop called Yoga Body, Zen Mind,
combining yoga practice and zazen. After the workshop
Annie and I walked to the beach, through the farm.
All along the way are little shrines, benches to sit on, and rows and rows
of growing things—some of which (kale, lettuce, broccoli, cabbage) we ate
at our meals. This statue of Guanyin is in a potting shed—the center of
industry at Green Gulch Farm, it would seem.
Someone had placed a broken robin's egg in her hands.


Alcove in a potting shed (see detail above)

 This is the bell that calls the Green Gulch community to zazen each day
—many times a day, starting at 5 a.m. I sat this morning (once, at 9:25),
and after two short sits yesterday, it was relatively easy. Of course, my mind
was everywhere, and I wasn't working too hard at corralling it back in—
but that's okay. Some days are like that. It was just lovely to sit in a large,
beautiful, wood-and-stucco room of breathing, intention-filled people,
giving our energy and focusand loving-kindness to ourselves
and the world. And afterward, to hear Tenshin Reb Anderson
expound on . . . the tango (a.k.a., the dance with the
dependent co-arising of the world).





1 comment:

SMACK said...

beautiful pictures.