Firefighting Monks of Tassajara
Latest word from California is that wildfire has not yet touched Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, although the threat is still very real.
Tassajara is the oldest Japanese Soto Zen monastery in the United States, possibly the oldest Buddhist monastery in the Western Hemisphere, and for the past several days wildfires have threatened it on three sides. The guests and most of the residents evacuated nearly a week ago. However, a crew of monks, priests and students remain behind to fight fires.
Eric Bailey and Steve Chawkins write in the Los Angeles Times about the firefighting monks of Tassajara. The crew has cut branches, laid out fire hoses, and they are prepared to don flame-resistant fire jackets and helmets and stamp out spot fires if it comes to that.
The firefighting monks are prepared to leave Tassajara if lives are threatened. Even so, local authorities have asked them to provide the names of their dentists, for identification purposes.
Comments
I lived off of Tassajara Road at the edge of the Wilderness in 1976 the year of the Marble Cone fire. The fire crews backfired from my house. All of us in the area had to be evacuated. After the month long fire was put out we went in and helped to rebuild the Zen Buddhist Tassajara Hotsprings monastery. That was about 30 years ago. I wonder if any one who lived there at that time is still around who has experienced this before? It really helps to have previous experience when it comes to dealing with fire. Lives are what is most important everything else can be rebuilt.
my wife and i were the year around managers at tassahara 1964-66 we have fond momories-i rermember suziki roshi and his first trip -he was a person of great forsight–we left hot springs as the zen center took over–moved back to big sur–lived above botchers gap on mescal ridge where my son was born–worked in big sur building houses-many i guess have burned–late 60s–too much drugs and crazziness–moved to oregon–still here–many many good memories-i regret the fires but that what happens in that area