Along for the ride: Tassajara Guest Practice

My friend Rossana and I like to participate in a Guest Practice at Tassajara Zen Mountain Retreat Center during early summer. An earlier blog posting for a previous trip has more information about visiting Tassajara. This posting is more about my experience of Tassajara, besides I've just read a book about natural light in photography and want to try some things out.

We start out by driving east on Carmel Valley Road from the coast and then turn right onto Tassajara Road.

Carmel Valley Road

Tassajara Road.

Tassajara Road is paved until Jamesburg, then becomes a gravel/dirt surface which gets narrower and rockier the closer to Tassajara. Sure glad Rossana's driving a AWD. Actually, with the drought year and a recent grading the road is in good shape. We make the trip in a record 45 minutes... but make no mistake about Tassajara Road. It's basically a Forest Service road which can be impassable.

Hey - it's not too bad - yet

No guard rail and steep drop offs

The road snakes through the Saint Lucia Mountains

It's always a treat to finally arrive at Tassajara. After checking in at the Registration Office we use one of the work carts to gather our things out of the car and set up our cabin for the next few days. This year we are staying in the Courtyard. The temperature is hovering in the low 90's by the time we finish lunch so we decide to rest in our cabin.

Work cart

Our home for the next few days

Nap time

After a refreshing nap, we head to the pool to cool off.

Pool entrance

Pool reflections on a shade umbrella

Ahhhh - this is more like it

Memorial Day weekend is a busy time at Tassajara and some of the weekend guests are still at the pool Monday afternoon before heading home. We get a kick out of watching the kids playing with a foam water gun that can shoot water clear across the pool.

Boy demos his foam water gun as his father and sister look on

As the afternoon cools off we wander through the grounds to the Bath House. Along the way, we pass the Registration Office and the Stone Rooms, where Steve Jobs liked to hang out when he visited. Staying in one is on my bucket list.

Garden by Registration area

Stone Rooms

Ahhh - the Bath House

Altar at Bath House

Entrance to Women's side

Inside the Women's Bath

Hot plunge

Weathered wooden door to steam room

Outside warm pool

Path to Tassajara Creek

Cool creek water

Fishes give a free pedicure

Reflections in Tassajara Creek

Good place to chill out

We call it an early evening because 5:30am Zazen is required as part of the Guest Practice.

New low voltage path lighting

Kerosene lamp at night in cabin

Steps to Temple for Zazen

It's common to hear various bells, chimes, and drums at Tassajara. Each sound has a special meaning. For example, the day starts with a runner ringing a cow bell for the 5am wake up call, then the steady "thock!" of the Han starts, slowly at first, then faster finishing with a final roll down which signifies students should now be sitting on a cushion in the Temple for Zazen. At morning work meetings, I get a giggle out of the fact the morning wake-up bell not a favorite task amongst Zen students. Still, volunteers are always recruited and it gets done. Other sounds summon students to meals, work meetings, Dharma talks, etc.

Alarm bell

Zazen drum

Han

One evening, Rossana and I wander through the grounds and gardens as the golden hour approaches.

On this visit many of the local Century Plants are blooming. After a magnificent bloom, the plant has done it's job of producing seeds for the next generation, so it literally curls up and dies.