Chapter thirteen of Crooked Cucumber, the Life and Zen Teaching of Shunryu Suzuki - Journeys - with comments at 1:21:18

Draft piece(s) for a work in progress - Tassajara Stories: the Early Years with Shunryu Suzuki. This podcast was originally posted with 12 minutes or so of blank space at the beginning and the end. I have no idea how that happened. So it's being reposted now. - dc

Teresa Rivera started reading books about Eastern religion while living in France. She liked them but they didn't tell her what to do, how to practice. She found what she wss looking for when she started sitting with Taisen Deshimaru's group in France. In 1973 she arrived at the San Francisco Zen Center. Before long she was living at Tassajara She practiced for years at Green Gulch and worked for years at the SFZC's Greens Restaurant all the while raising three kids. She just turned 90 and is living in a retirement home in San Diego. Here about all that and more in this podcast with her.

Myphon Hunt arrived at the San Francisco Zen Center in the early seventies after five years living at The Farm in Tennessee founded by Steve Gaskin. She's now living at the Enso Village retirement community in Healdsburg north of San Francisco along with other senior Zennies, Vipassana Buddhists, and Quakers. Along the way she spent some time in Dharamsala and Tibet, studying with Joshu Sasaki's group in LA and New Mexico, as well as other pursuits. Hear about that and more in this charming podcast visit with Myphon.

Tim Ream came to the SF Zen Center in the nineties. He has continued his Zen practice, alternating between practice periods and periods of environmental activism. He recently published a book Fallen Water: a Novel of Zen and Earth which has an alternate reality Tassajara and the surrounding wilderness as a setting. In this podcast he will talk about the book, his spiritual path and environmental activism and more.

Cindy Beavon came to the SFZC in 2007 going straight to Tassajara. She practiced at Zen Center until 2011 when she had an upsetting experience that made her feel unwelcome. She went back this year for the work interim and once again loved being there. She's a hospice nurse and a professional rock climber which became a deep and fulfilling practice for her. Hear all about it in this podcast with her.

Marc Lesser came to the SFZC in 1974. After ten years with the ZC and being the director of Tassajara, he got an MBA, continued his Zen practice while working with and founding some noble businesses. He founded ZBA Associates to help companies, notably Google, with mindfulness and emotional intelligence training and consultation. He is co-chair of the SFZC Elders Council, is teacher at Mill Valley Zen (millvalleyzen.com). His latest book of five is Finding Clarity. To learn more check him out at marclesser.net and listen to this podcast with him.

Jon Bernie came to the SF Zen Center in 1973 and practiced there for years. In this podcast he talks about his relationships with Richard Baker, Brother David Steindl Rast, Papaji (Punjaji), Adyashanti, Robert Adams, Mike Murphey of Esalen Inst., psychic Anne Armstrong, and others. He was an Alexander Technique therapist for years and now teaches Inspired Aliveness. His website is inspiredaliveness.com. Here about all this and more on his cuke podcast.