Shasta Abbey
Encyclopedia
Shasta Abbey is a Zen Buddhist Monastery
Monastery
Monastery denotes the building, or complex of buildings, that houses a room reserved for prayer as well as the domestic quarters and workplace of monastics, whether monks or nuns, and whether living in community or alone .Monasteries may vary greatly in size – a small dwelling accommodating only...

, established in 1970 by Houn Jiyu-Kennett
Houn Jiyu-Kennett
Houn Jiyu-Kennett, , born Peggy Teresa Nancy Kennett, was a British roshi most famous for having been the first female to be sanctioned by the Soto School of Japan to teach in the West. Jiyu-Kennett founded Shasta Abbey in Mount Shasta, California in 1970 after many years spent studying Zen and...

 in Mount Shasta, California
Mount Shasta, California
Mount Shasta is a city in Siskiyou County, California, located at around 3,600 ft on the flanks of Mount Shasta, a prominent northern California landmark. The city is less than southwest of the summit of its namesake volcano...

, in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. It is a training monastery, and is open to visitors who want to learn about Buddhism.

Shasta Abbey emphasizes the shikan-taza ("serene reflection") meditation method of the Soto
Soto
Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...

 Zen school. In this method, one strives to pay attention to one's thoughts without getting drawn into any of them. Shasta Abbey Press publishes Buddhist books, including the writings of its founder, Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett, and translations of Buddhist texts. Among these are works of Soto Zen patriarchs Dogen
Dogen
Dōgen Zenji was a Japanese Zen Buddhist teacher born in Kyōto, and the founder of the Sōtō school of Zen in Japan after travelling to China and training under the Chinese Caodong lineage there...

 Kigen Zenji (Shōbōgenzō
Shobogenzo
The term Shōbōgenzō has three main usages in Buddhism: It can refer to the essence of the Buddha's realization and teaching, that is, to the Buddha Dharma itself, as viewed from the perspective of Mahayana Buddhism, it is the title of a koan collection with commentaries by Dahui Zonggao, and it...

) and Keizan
Keizan
-Biography:Keizan Jōkin 螢山紹瑾 , also known as Taiso Jōsai Daishi, was the second of the great founders of the Sōtō Zen sect in Japan. While Dōgen Zenji, as founder of Japanese Sōtō, is known as , Keizan is often referred to as Taiso , or Greatest Patriarch...

 Jokin Zenji (Denkoroku
Denkoroku
, written by Keizan Jokin Zenji in 1300, is a kōan collection of 53 enlightenment stories based on the traditional legendary accounts of the Zen transmission between successive masters and disciples in the Sōtō Zen Buddhist lineage from Shakyamuni Buddha to Japanese Zen Master Ejō, a first...

). The Abbey belongs to the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives.

External links

  • Official site
  • Mention at dharmanet.org "Order of Buddhist Contemplatives [Mt Shasta, CA] - dedicated to the practice of the Serene Reflection Meditation tradition, known as Ts'ao-Tung Ch'an in China and Soto Zen in Japan. The Order was incorporated in 1983 by Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett to serve as the international umbrella organization for the monasteries, priories (local temples), and meditation groups led by priests of the lineage in the United States, Canada, Britain, Germany, and the Netherlands."
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