I've passed it more than a dozen times, peering into the valley below from the perilous coastal Highway One heading down into Stinson Beach. It beckoned like a beautiful quilt. This is Green Gulch Farm at the San Francisco Zen Center in Muir Beach. I will write more about it soon, but right now, words fail me. (Click to enlarge: I am making the thumbnails very big deliberately.)
This is the farmer, Matt Vivrett, who works with seven or eight
apprentices who are also Zen students. They come to live at the center
for two weeks as a trial, and then must apply for acceptance. Days at
the farm begin with Zen sitting at five in the morning.
I couldn't figure out how to put the rest of the photos in this post, so I'm adding them to the Beautiful Farms Gallery. That will take a few minutes.
Green Gulch Farm is a peaceful place. It is a meticulous place. It is a joyful place. Cynthia Sandberg (walking in one of the photos above) said, "This place makes me smile."
That's all for today.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: “Zen is not some kind of excitement, but concentration on our usual everyday routine.” — Shunryu Suzuki
Thanks for visiting.
Healing comes to mind. Just breathtaking.
Posted by: Jenny | 18 July 2006 at 03:13 PM
Tana (See I got it right!!), reading that citation above I realize that maybe I should start study Zen so that all these everyday life things would become a question of concentration and get done instead of me practicing the 'religion' of procrastination that has it's advantages but right now is overwhelming!
Posted by: ilva | 18 July 2006 at 09:31 PM
Tana,
Your words, photos and actions are inspiring. Thanks for sharing them with us.
Posted by: Joe Fish | 21 July 2006 at 10:00 PM