April 29, 2022
Tassajara’s Gate Opens for the Guest Season!
Tassajara gate-opening

Altar at Tassajara gate-opening ceremony. Photo by Shundo David Haye.

On April 28, 2022 Tassajara reopened for the Summer Guest Season after being closed for two summers. During the traditional gate opening ceremony, statements were offered.

From Linda Galijan, the tanto/head of practice Tassajara:

It has been three years—1095 days—since this gate has been opened. And 958 days since it was closed.
Today we open this mountain gate …
We are the host, and we are the guest.
May the healing energy of this valley, and the transformative power of practice, nourish and sustain all of us, and all who enter this gate.

From Lauren Bouyea, the director of Tassajara:

A suffering, dying world
Seeking healing
Seeking wholeness
Meets our suffering
Right where we stand
Sometimes open-hearted
Sometimes exhausted
Often both
We open the gates
We meet what arises
Who is the giver? Who is the receiver? What is the gift?

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On Forgiveness

In this letter to the sangha, Central Abbot Tenzen David Zimmerman writes about forgiveness and repair in his own life, and how SFZC is working with former Abbot Richard Baker to reconcile a difficult past and move forward together.