Book: Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara
Basic Information : Synopsis : Characters : Expectations : Thoughts : Evaluation : Book Group : New Words : Book References : Good Quotes : Table of Contents : References
Basic Information:
Author: Colleen Morton Busch
Edition: ePub on Libby from the Los Angeles Public Library
Publisher: Penguin Pres
ISBN: 1594202915 (ISBN13: 9781594202919)
Start Date: June 29, 2021
Read Date: July 7, 2021
272 pages
Genre: History, Fire
Language Warning: None
Rated Overall: 3 out of 5
History: 3 out of 5
Religion: Buddist
Synopsis (Caution: Spoiler Alert-Jump to Thoughts):
Lightning storm hits the Los Padres National Forest around Big Sur in 2008. A Zen retreat area called Tassajara is in the vicinity. It has fought two major fires in its history. But things have changed. The US Forest Service mission on fighting forest fires takes into account the safety of the firefighters.
This enhanced concern leads the Basin Fire’s Incident Commander to not put resources in harms way to protect Tassajara.. As the fire closes in on the Zen Center, the residents create fire breaks and make the grounds as fire resistant as they can. They are given orders to evacuate, but five of the monks decide to stay and fight the fire.
The
book describes the tension and the fire fighting. Also the lessons
which being Zen got applied to this exercise.
Cast of Characters:
The following list is taken from the front of the book:
- Tassajara Monks
- STEVE STÜCKY—San Francisco Zen Center abbot Dharma name: Daitsu Myōgen, Greatly Pervading, Subtle Eye
- DAVID ZIMMERMAN—director Kansan Tetsuhō, Perfection Mountain, Complete Surrender
- MAKO VOELKEL—head cook Unzan Doshin, Cloud Mountain, Path of the Heart
- GRAHAM ROSS—plant manager Unzan Etsudo, Cloud Mountain, Joyful Way
- COLIN GIPSON—head of shop Shikan Zenka, Determined to See, Completely Burned
- SHUNDO DAVID HAYE—former resident, fire scout Shundo Gennin, Way of the Fleet Steed, Manifesting Virtue
- DEVIN PATEL—student fire marshal Kakusei Yushin, Jewel Stillness, Fearless Heart
- LESLIE JAMES—senior practice leader, Jamesburg resident Sho Sai So Kan, Settle/Finish, Encourage, Original Mirror
- JANE HIRSHFIELD—former resident, poet So Kai Un Go, Source Servant, Cloud Abode
- Firefighters
- STUART CARLSON—CAL FIRE station captain, Soquel Station, Santa Cruz County
- JACK FROGGATT—Kern County Fire Department battalion chief Basin Complex fire branch director
- Recommendation: Heard about the book from an APNews report on a current (2021) fire around Big Sur
- When: June 2021
- Date Became Aware of Book:June 2021
- How come do I want to read this book: Sounds like a light book about fire fighting. We volunteer at a fire lookout.
Prologue
The basic premise of this book is: What was it like to meet a wildfire with minimal training in firefighting but years of Zen practice to guide you. The question which I have throughout the book is, are these practices enough to go where experienced firefighters will not go?
On June 21, 2008, lightning strikes from one end of drought-dry California to the other ignited more that two thousand wildfires in what became known as the “lightning siege.” A similar thing happened on August 15th and 16th, 2020 when thousands of strikes happened throughout California, igniting several hundreds, if not a million of acres of fires throughout the state.
According to Wikipedia, there have been three fires which have threatened this center:
the Basin Complex Fire (2008) reached the monastery; some monks stayed and successfully protected it from the fire, after which the San Francisco Zen Center organized a trained group of firefighters to defend its three monasteries, known as "fire monks" after a book about the 2008 events. An external sprinkler system was also installed on buildings, called "dharma rain".
Soberanes Fire (2016) escaped damage but was closed to guests for the remainder of the year.[ Willow Fire (2021) threatened the monastery.
1 Lightning Strikes
Lightning started hitting on June 20/21st, 2008. Indians Fire had already been going since June 8th. This was in the middle of a severe drought. Colin Gipson goes to a high point to scout out if a fire may be coming there way-it is. Describes various characters who will be involved with saving the Zen monastery. Also describes Tassajara Zen Center.
Lime Point-This is a local name. There may be a Lime Creek within about 10-15 miles
Junipero Serra Peak
2 Fires Merge
A mandatory evacution was ordered. Guests were moved out of the Center. Residents were asked to stay to help prepare to fight the fire. Three fires had started from the lightning strikes-growing rapidly. Jane Hirshfield had been through the 1977 fire. Assumption was that there would be fire crews coming to help defend the Center.
One of the rhythms established for the Center during normal times was a “commitment to completely follow the zendo schedule. This is the communal meditation time at the beginning of each day. Be on time for things.
There was a change of activity, but not rhythm.; Instead of a time of quiet and reflection, those times became a time of focus on the work of making the Center defendable.
Schwarzenegger said There is no fire season anymore. The fire season is really all year round. This was 13 years ago and the really bad fire times had not started yet. It would be another ten years of steady expansion of fire season.
Despite the preparations, fire had entered the Tassajara basin. Also two of the first had joined. They were being ordered out. Fire crews were gathering to come in. The Center would be allowed eight people to defend it. David would keep fourteen. But this meant many were told to leave.
Communications between the Incident Commander and the Center broke down when not as much help arrived and they were only there temporarily. Also the priorities were changing. Various people with various experiences were hearing different things.
The mind of a beginner is as open and receptive as a tilled field in spring. The mind of a beginner doesn’t know. It assumes nothing; it tests everything. It asks of all it encounters: Is that so. In this case, those at the Center were the beginners in the fire fighting business.
3 The Three-Day-Away Fire
June 26th. Works through the thoughts of the evacuees. Many of the thoughts throughout this time were published on the blog, Sitting with Fire.
To some, how the Incident Commander was attempting to fight the fire was to do nothing. What he wanted to do was to use old fire lines to box in the fire. At 178,000 acres burned, it was the biggest fire the state of California had ever seen. Estimates of the combined acreage for the 2008 Basin Complex and Indians fires were approaching that record figure. While large this fire today would be about the third or fourth largest in the State currently burning. Many fires have so far passed this number.
The residents had constructed a roof sprinkler system for the buildings which was called Dharma Rain. A CalFire captain, Stuart Carlson, was brought in to advise the residents on what they should do to save the Center. He was going to go on a week-long backpack trip.
Busch explains the differences in missions and thinking from the eyes of the CalFire Captain: The Forest Service is a land management agency, a resource management agency. We’re a resource protection agency. We’re [CalFire] a fire department. Structure protection is what we do. This sometimes ends in conflict about what should be done, but it depends on who “owns” the fires-whose land the fire started on.
If you want to live here [in the forest], you’d better learn to live with fire. Having said this, Busch also talks about the fuels which govern how a fire acts. But learning to live with fire is tricky, because there isn’t one kind of fire. There are crown fires, slow creeping fires, wind-driven fires, stand-replacement fires, smoldering fires.
Describes the work a prison crew did on the fire.
Fenner Canyon-must be a local name
4 In The Shadow of Esperanza
June 29th. Weather makes or breaks fires. Busch talks about a 2006 incident where a fire turned on a truck causing a fire of 1,200F to sweep over it. The firefighters’ Nomex, flame- and heat-resistant clothing that chars at 824 degrees Fahrenheit, disintegrated. Incidences like these govern how the Forest Service will approach a fire. Five firefighters died.
Situational awareness needs to be in every firefighter’s consciousness. How do I escape if things go south. Where are the danger points? The Zen folks call it mindfulness. Working through each of the gates of perception—the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, body, mind—and the fires at each gate, the Buddha taught that “disenchantment” is the path to liberation. SOme of the Zen teaching is impermanence—the fact that there is nothing fixed and unchanging in the world to rely on. Busch notes there is a difference between approaching this involuntarily vs having it being thrown at you.
July 2, Steve Stücky who is the senior abbot at the San Francisco Zen Center, which Tassarjara is a daughter of, came to Tassarjara. He had a Mennonite background and had said no to becoming the SF Center’s abbott, before saying yes. He joined the peace movement. But was disenchanted with how there seemed to be a spirit where you were either totally with them or not. Even though we had high ideals, we couldn’t seem to get out of our own narcissistic way
Some say that Zen is not a religion. But the residents do this: He offered incense and made three bows in front of the altar.
Tony Trail
Hawk Mountain-Maybe this is Fremont Peak
5 Great Faith, Great Doubt, Great Effort
July 3, 2021. Drilling for fire. Lots of problem solvers in the group. There was tension among the married couple. By July 5th, some of the fire was crowning-jumping from the top of the tree to the top of the next tree.
a pliant, nongrasping mind is the hallmark of insight. This was said in relation to finding ways to problem solve. I can attest to this as many times during work settings I would get ideas in the shower or in the middle of the night.Busch statement is said in relation to an incident during the Mann Fire where a fire boss lit a fire to create a burnt out area. Those who went into the burnt area survived, those who tried to outrun the fire died.
Stuart met the new IC. They bonded. The country which the new IC usually staffed told Stuart a lot about the man.
Discussion about when is it good to have a resident stay or go? Most residents are a hindrance. One set a backfire on his property to create a space. But the residents, particularly the older ones know where the water sources are, where there is danger and where there are places which can be defended.
In meeting with the IC, there was the thinking that there might, but probably would not be any help coming their way. There was hope that CalFire would come through even though USFS would not.
Each day there was the practice of what to do, but then everything would need to be put away. As with Zen practice, the point wasn’t to create some static state of permanent perfection. The point was to be perfectly ready for whatever comes.
According to Abbott Steve: Faith in Zen Buddhism is being willing to live face-to-face with the unknown and have confidence that however that goes is your true life.
This is cooped with: Great faith, great doubt, great effort—the three qualities necessary for training.” The phrase points to the dynamic interplay of mind-states and action at the core of Zen practice. It takes a certain kind of faith just to practice Zen. Not faith in something. Faith alone. Faith in groundless, shifting, unpredictable reality. This does not sound very good to my ear.
Firezat - just recently saw a video about this stuff. USFS provided this stuff to wrap buildings and to put it on by firefighters from Indiana. But there would not be enough to wrap all the buildings.
There was starting to be discussions on the wisdom of the residents staying.
Firefighters Ten Standard Orders From NWFC (There are also 18 Watchout situations)
6 Fire in the Confluence
July 9th. The fire was now threatening Tassajara Road-their only road out.
Shundo could see that the fire was a field test for Zen practice. There is a line of thought throughout the book about Zen and fire. In some ways fire both in thought and reality is a high place in this tradition. Such as this Zen teaching: Calm meditation doesn’t require peaceful surroundings. If the mind is clear, fire itself is cool.
As destructive as fire is, it has its place in re-creation: Creation and destruction are not leagues apart
Interesting: Abbott Steve says that nonattachment does not mean you are separating yourself away from things. Another interesting thought, this time about zazen: where you clear the mind from external thoughts burning through. This was said in relation to clearing brush to make a fire line.
Running in a fire means that you are either in a bad situation or about to be. So always walk.
People in fire management are constantly assessing what the fire is doing and how to respond. Also what the status of their crew is.
7 Buddha in the Bocce Ball Court
July 9, afternoon. High temps, high winds, and red flag warnings.After looking over the situation, Stuart said they have to leave. They were going to lose the road. The core got together and quickly met. They were to evacuate. Abbott Steve agreed, but was plotting trying to find a way not to. They buried the Buddha. They evacuated.
8 The Last Evacuation
July 9, Evening. Abbot Steve had realized through Zen—“Every act is the last time this happens” Steve and David make the decision to go back. They gave others that decision. Did not sit well with the fire people that they had sent aircraft in to have safe passage through the fire zone only to have a group decide not to go. There were five of them. five was a solid, manageable number. Though the abbot didn’t know this, five was the maximum number of firefighters on one of Stuart’s engines—more than that, and you risk losing track.
The question: could Zen training make up and surpass what is needed in a firefighter? That is in essence the core of the book’s thinking. I think they were very fortunate not to have died or at least be seriously injured. To Stuart the change in weather to hot, dry and windy said this is no place to put humans into. Even if the place is special.
One thing which the story did not impress on me was that Stuart’s girlfriend was with them at Tassajara. I wonder what kind of influence that had on him saying it was time to leave. Was he concerned about her? Was he looking at the situation and then thinking there was twenty people like her?
9 No Leaving, No Going Back
July 9, a little later. People's thoughts about going on and turning back. There were five people who went back.Logistics of what to do with twenty more people at the Jamesburg house. David wanted a few more people to sneak back down the road.
Interesting discussion about Stuart having the interests of keeping people safe, while Abott Steve on the wellbeing of the Zen Center. In some ways, this is the same discussion which got carried on during the COVID pandemic. Do we keep people safe at the expense of the church’s well-being? Are there things which will happen to people if the church does not operate well?
The five are stretched thin-they need to patrol 24 hrs a day. They are now cut off as the road is close to the fire. Also the CHP is stopping everybody from going through.
10 Ring of Flame
July 10. Some people were going to try to make it to Tassajara, through the roadblock. They were stopped. The people at Jamesburg were given a briefing: there were fires at three places on the east side of the road now, and said it would be four days minimum before anyone went in.
Shundo had been one of a select few inside events at Tassajara. But now, back in the Bay Area fog belt, he was also outside. And he had to imagine, to worry. Interesting, you cannot be both in the know and not in the know. Either side breeds anxiety.
Firefighters can die because they didn’t get a weather report. This is the reason why each of the agencies gives weather reports, even if they are just reading the report for the area from NOAA.
Interesting that the Zen people were advocating to politicians to divert resources to protect Tassajara. I wonder where they thought the resources were going to come from? They could only come from letting something else burn or the fire getting further out of control. Or even worse, that firefighters would be put into great danger.
Firefighter Blog - looks like it is now dead and unaccessible
Preparations for the fight. The fire arrived a little after noontime. They were pretty much surrounded.
In Zen, you can’t really make a “wrong” decision. But you can’t make a “right” decision, either. You can only respond moment to moment in a way that feels the least harmful and deluded, the most compassionate and true.
11 Meeting Fire
July 10, early afternoon. The fire was on them. Being untrained as firefighters, they did not follow the Ten Firefighter Rules. But as Abbot Steve said: We didn’t set up a command structure,.... We set up a communications structure. They were in contact with each other, but not with those who could see the overall picture. Description of them fighting the fire.
12 Unburying Buddha
July 10th, Evening. Joy as the news breaks that Tassajara has been successfully defended with no injuries. There is an examination of the area surrounding them. They see the fire has opened up the area, exposing things they had not realized before.
But even after the fire had gone through, there was still fire which sprouted up which needed to be taken care of.
Like most things in life, particularly when there is significance, the Sitting with Fire blog elicited both sympathetic and vindictive comments.
Stuart was relieved that they were OK and Tassajara had escaped with only some minor buildings burnt. He also thought they were extremely lucky. For a firefighter, the only fire that really matters is the one right in front of you. From those who evacuated, there was a mixture of feelings.
A bond that was already there before, from having lived and worked side by side for years, was now reinforced with the strongest material available: human connection through adversity.
The last part of the chapter starts to question, why was resources not given to save Tassajara when other places did receive help? Why did they save the Boy Scout camp and not the Zen Center? It sounds like to me that much of the reason was the geography which Tassajara has-one way in or out with little possibility of taking care of your firefighters.
Key Decision Log
Do this all with your own hands. Take care of what is yours to take care of. But the Zen folks should know that they are part of a larger task-to stop the Basin Fire. It is not only taking care of your own, but also letting others help and you helping others.
For Jane Hirshfield, the question of authority and leadership in a crisis was one of the most interesting aspects of the fire’s unfolding. There is a discussion about who the Zen Center associates would follow more willingly. Dave was the director of Tassajara, but Abbot Steve was a more powerful figure in the hierarchy.
Even as he [Abbott Steve] could imagine the infinite ache of losing a son or daughter, brother, sister, or friend, he said, “It’s not so helpful to judge it good or bad. Was it an appropriate response? I will admit this is totally foreign to me. As a manager after incidence evaluations were a time to reflect and to improve. Not a time of judgement, but a time to ponder what went right and what could have been done better.
In August, guests started arriving. Things seemed as they were before, but different.
What’s truly essential cannot be defended. Vulnerability is the only solid ground beneath one’s feet.
I wonder if any of them had been exposed to poison oak smoke? No mention of it.
Cabarga Creek-Must be a local creek
Afterword
May 2010.
Meaning exists only in relationship—to the storyteller, the listeners, the moment within which the story is told.
Notes
Jamesburg: An unincorporated community named for the man who founded it in the 1860s, John James—of no relation to Leslie James
Evaluation:
Fire Monks is an interesting book, talking about how five Zen monks in 2008 fought a fire to save the Tassajara Zen Center close in the Los Padres National Forest. It goes through why these five people were left to their own resources and not aided by the US Forest Service.
To me the one big question I was left with after reading this book was, should these five inexperienced Zen monks have disobeyed the evacuation orders to save this retreat house? Did they feel the lose of their lives would be worth the saving of the buildings? Did they have that kind of confidence in their abilities to stop a fire which professional firefighters felt the situation was too dangerous? What does this say to others whose property is threatened? Is the book advocating they stay and fight the fire? (Right now the Caldor Fire is threatening South Lake Tahoe.)
Fire Monks is an interesting and easy read. Busch is definitely a person writing from the Zen perspective and telling the monk's side of the story. On the other hand, it is not a great read, just one which is worth reading if you want to understand a bit more about how to fight a fire.
Notes from my book group (No book group reading):
What does the term evacuation mean to you? Would you follow an evacuation order if your property was threatened?
What is the mission of CalFire concerning fighting fires? The Forest Service? How does ownership of the fire take place? Why does the differences in mission matter? Why does ownership matter?
Why was there not professional firefighting help sent to Tassajara? Do you think the residents understood the Incident Commanders reasons? Would you send in firefighters into a situation where there was not a way to escape? Does it make any difference that fires can advance at 165’ per minute?
What types of fires are there? Are there different ways of fighting these different types of fire? How did this book help you understand how a fire is fought?
How do you want your life to change because you read this book?
Many of these questions are either from or adapted from LitLovers.
Why the title of Fire Monks?
Does this story work as a recounting of a fire?
Did the ending seem fitting? Satisfying? Predictable?
Which character was the most convincing? Least?
Which character did you identify with?
Which one did you dislike?
Every story has a world view. Were you able to identify this story’s world view? What was it? How did it affect the story?
In what context was religion talked about in this book?
Was there anybody you would consider religious?
How did they show it?
Was the book overtly religious?
How did it affect the book's story?
Why do you think the author wrote this book?
What would you ask the author if you had a chance?
What “takeaways” did you have from this book?
Describe the culture talked about in the book.
How is the culture described in this book different than where we live?
What economic or political situations are described?
Does the author examine economics and politics, family traditions, the arts, religious beliefs, language or food?
How did this book affect your view of the world?
Of how God is viewed?
What questions did you ask yourself after reading this book?
Talk about specific passages that struck you as significant—or interesting, profound, amusing, illuminating, disturbing, sad...?
What was memorable?
New Words:
- Zazen (Prologue): sitting meditation. It's a meditative practice that's meant to give insight into your true nature of being.
- Zendo (1): a Japanese "meditation hall".
- Tangaryo (1): all-day sitting. Or literally, “staying until morning”
- Sangha (2): the Buddhist community of monks, nuns, novices, and laity
- Schist (3): a medium-grade metamorphic rock formed from mudstone or shale.
- Bodhisattvas (6): a person who is able to reach nirvana but delays doing so out of compassion in order to save suffering beings.
Book References:
- Sitting with Fire by blog
- The Practice of the Wild by Gary Synder
- Tassajara Bread Book and Tassajara Cooking by Tassajara Bread Book and Tassajara Cookin
- Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Suzuki Roshi
- Instructions for the Zen Cook by Eihei Dgen
- Essentials of Fire Fighting, 4th edition by IFSTA
- “Control Burn” (poem) by Gary Synder
- “Smokey the Bear Sutra” by Gary Snyder
- Young Men and Fire by Norman Maclean
- Fire and Ashes by John Maclean
- Returning to Silence. The second: You Have to Say Something by Katagiri
- Japan: A Short Cultural History by G. B. Sansom
- Blue Cliff Record by by Yuanwu Keqin
- On the Fireline: Living and Dying with Wildland Firefighters by Matthew Desmond
- Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Trudi Dixon
Good Quotes:
- First Line: What was it like to meet a wildfire with minimal training in firefighting but years of Zen practice to guide you.
- Last Line: All is aflame.
- If you want to live here [in the forest], you’d better learn to live with fire. Chp 3 The Three-Day-Away Fire
- a pliant, nongrasping mind is the hallmark of insight. Chp 5 Great Faith, Great Doubt, Great Effort
- words were just as good at creating distance as intimacy. Chp 5 Great Faith, Great Doubt, Great Effort
- Every act is the last time this happens. Abbott Steve Stücky in Chp 8 The Last Evacuation
- Meaning exists only in relationship—to the storyteller, the listeners, the moment within which the story is told.. Chp Afterwards
- Cast of Characters x
- Prologue 1
- 1 Lightning Strikes 5
- 2 Fires Merge 27
- 3 The Three-Day-Away Fire 43
- 4 In The Shadow of Esperanza 59
- 5 Great Faith, Great Doubt, Great Effort 73
- 6 Fire in the Confluence 99
- 7 Buddha in the Bocce Ball Court 119
- 8 The Last Evacuation 137
- 9 No Leaving, No Going Back 151
- 10 Ring of Flame 163
- 11 Meeting Fire 183
- 12 Unburying Buddha 211
- Afterword 241
- Acknowledgments 245
- Notes 247
References:
- Publisher's Web Site for Book
- Author's Web Site Also Facebook
- Amazon-Book
- Amazon-Author
- Barnes and Noble
- GoodReads-Book
- GoodReads-Author
- Los Angeles Time Review
- SF Gate Review
- Seattle PI Review
- Brevity blog
- Kirkus Review
- YouTube
- Cuke.com - a timeline of Tassajara Zen Center and its relationship with fire
- Sangha News
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