Wildfires sweeping Big Sur have threatened Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, a mountain retreat affiliated with the San Francisco Zen Center. Garrett Therolf writes for the Los Angeles Times that the remote Zen center is being threatened by fire on three sides. This morning a blaze jumped a fire line just south of the Zen center and consumed 10 acres before firefighters got it under control.
The San Francisco Zen Center reports on its web site that most of the staff and crew of Tassajara evacuated on Wednesday. However, according to Therolf of the L.A. Times, some monks have remained behind to fight the fire if necessary. You can read updates on Tassajara at Sitting With Fire.
Tassajara is the oldest Japanese Soto Zen monastery in the United States. It was established in 1966 by the San Francisco Zen Center while Shunryu Suzuki was abbott. It is located in the Ventana Wilderness inland from Big Sur.
Photo Caption: Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, steps leading to zendo.
Photo Credit: Surharper/flickr, Creative Commons License Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic