by Bill Kigen DelaneyOriginally published in Mountain Record journal: "Fear and Fearlessness" (1992) At the very un-monastic hour of seven AM, in the basement of a house in the hills outside the Chilean capitol city of Santiago, the South American branch of the Mountain and Rivers Order begins the day. The ringing of a bell, forty-minutes or so of zazen, chanting the Heart Sutra. Zazen again in the evening, ending this time with the Four Vows. Continue reading “Lone Zen” »

by Robert Genjin Savageoriginally published in the Mountain Record journal on Compassion (1991) Before I discovered Zen, week-long solo backpacking trips were my sesshins. The absence of human references in the blank stare of nature can either quiet the mind or drive it crazy. I’ve experienced both. Continue reading “Wilderness Camping as a Retreat” »

by Maureen Jisho Fordoriginally publishing in Mountain Record journal: Wellness (1990) It was in the fall of 1985 that I first came to Zen Mountain Monastery. What had brought me here was the same search that, 25 years earlier, had taken me to the Novitiate of the Sisters of Mercy. The decision to be a nun had been made in early childhood, and, in retrospect, I realize that it arose from a desire to experience God. As a child I had been fascinated by the stories of the saints and mystics, and although many of the stories had an almost...