Shasta Abbey
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Shasta Abbey, located on sixteen forested acres near
Mount Shasta Mount Shasta ( Shasta: ''Waka-nunee-Tuki-wuki''; Karuk: ''Úytaahkoo'') is a potentially active volcano at the southern end of the Cascade Range in Siskiyou County, California. At an elevation of , it is the second-highest peak in the Cascades ...
in northern
California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
,
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
is a training
monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...
for
Buddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist c ...
and a place of practice for lay Buddhists and interested visitors. It was established in 1970 by Reverend Master P.T.N.H.
Jiyu-Kennett Hōun Jiyu-Kennett (Japanese: 法雲慈友ケネット, 1 January 1924 – 6 November 1996), born Peggy Teresa Nancy Kennett, was a British roshi most famous for having been the first female to be sanctioned by the Sōtō School of Japan ...
, who was Abbess and spiritual director until her death in 1996.


History

A monastery of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives (OBC), it was established in 1970 by Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett, a British woman, on behalf of her teacher
Keido Chisan Koho Zenji
her Master in Japan. In November 1969, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett came to San Francisco on a lecture tour and stayed on in the United States to establish Shasta Abbey the following year. Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett served twenty-six years as Abbess and spiritual director of Shasta Abbey, ordaining and teaching monks and lay people. She founded
Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey Throssel Hole Buddhist Abbey is a Buddhist monastery and retreat centre located in Northumberland, in northern England. The monastic order is equally for men and women. It follows the Serene Reflection Meditation Tradition, similar to the ...
in England in 1972. She also founded th
OBC
to establish a framework within which the temples she founded could come together. The second Abbot was Rev. Master Eko Little, a Dharma Heir of Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett and her assistant for 20 years. He succeeded Rev. Master Jiyu after her death and served as Abbot until 2010. He maintained his Master’s wishes for, and legacy to, Shasta Abbey in the 14 years following her death. In his time as Abbot, he continued to unfold Rev. Master Jiyu’s teaching, strengthening the fabric of the monastery, and enhancing the spiritual life of the Sangha, both monastic and lay. There were also some serious problems that came to light towards the end of his Abbacy, and in May, 2010, he left the Abbey and returned to lay life. The third, and current, Abbess is Rev. Master Meian Elbert, who was ordained in 1977 and received Dharma Transmission in 1979 from Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett. She was named a Master of the Order by Rev. Master Jiyu in 1989. She was chaplain to Rev. Master Jiyu for more than 15 years and has served the community as Vice Abbess, Chief Cook, Chief Precentor, Prior and Novice Master. She also served as Executive Secretary of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives. Rev. Master Meian was elected Abbess by the resident Shasta Abbey monastic community on June 17, 2010.


Training

Buddhist training at Shasta Abbey is based on the practice of Serene Reflection Meditation (
Sōtō Zen Sōtō Zen or is the largest of the three traditional sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism (the others being Rinzai and Ōbaku). It is the Japanese line of the Chinese Cáodòng school, which was founded during the Tang dynasty by Dòngshān L ...
) and the keeping of the Buddhist Precepts. The resident monastic community includes approximately 26 vegetarian, celibate male and female monks. The daily schedule is a kaleidoscope of seated meditation, ceremonial and working meditation in all its various forms in order to cultivate the mind of meditation in all aspects of daily life. The schedule flows through the day from the wake-up bell to lights out, and provides opportunities “…to do what needs to be done…”. A typical day’s schedule is hard to define, but most days start with meditation and Morning Service. The day is then filled with the normal activities of daily life: Meals eaten together, individual monastic office tasks and tasks done together for the benefit of the whole community, time for individual spiritual practice and time for common ceremonial and practice, rest and renewal time including community tea and tea with the laity. Lay residents staying at the Abbey for an extended period of time, and visitors participating in retreats are asked to follow a similar schedule to that of the monks. Both monks and laity observe the practice of The Middle Way as far as possible in the daily schedule. The Abbey is a place of silence and serenity for the local congregation, lay friends and interested visitors. Practitioners strive to follow the Buddha's Teachings wholeheartedly, giving up what seems important from the point of view of the self to follow the Way of the Buddhas and Ancestors. This is reflected in their attitude of faith and practice of
Dāna Dāna (Devanagari: दान, International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: Dānam) is a Sanskrit and Pali word that connotes the virtue of generosity, charity (practice), charity or giving of alms in Indian philosophies. In Hindui ...
(mutual assistance): :There really can be no price put on the Buddha Dharma. Thus, we at Shasta Abbey have chosen not to have fees or even suggested donation amounts. We make an offering of the teaching, and provide a training refuge, putting our faith in the practice of dana.About: Shasta Abbey
/ref>


Publications

Shasta Abbey Press publishes Buddhist books, including the writings of its founder, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett, and translations of many Buddhist texts. Among these are the master works of Soto Zen patriarchs Dogen Zenji (
Shōbōgenzō is the title most commonly used to refer to the collection of works written in Japan by the 13th century Buddhist monk and founder of the Sōtō Zen school, Eihei Dōgen. Several other works exist with the same title (see above), and it is som ...
) and
Keizan Keizan Jōkin (, 1268–1325), also known as Taiso Jōsai Daishi, is considered to be the second great founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan. While Dōgen, as founder of Japanese Sōtō, is known as , Keizan is often referred to as . Keiza ...
Jokin Zenji (
Denkoroku is a kōan collection written in 1300 by Keizan Jokin Zenji, the Great Patriarch of Sōtō Zen Buddhism, based on approximately a year of his Dharma talks. The book includes 53 enlightenment stories covering 1600 or more years based on the tra ...
). Many publications can b
accessed free of charge
via the Shasta Abbey Website. The translations of Buddhist texts and scriptures at Shasta Abbey are particularly useful for practitioners of Buddhism in the West, as the translations are done from the mind of meditation and by actual Buddhist monks, as opposed to the worldly, literal-minded viewpoints of many scholastic western translators of the past. The translations are less esoteric and thus easier to understand from the point of view of Buddhist practice in a western context.


References


External links


Official site
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