Getting the flavor of...A California Zen retreat

A California Zen retreat

People stressed out by today’s “always-on” culture have been finding a reprieve at the 1960s birthplace of Western Zen, said Rachel Levin in Sunset. Looking for a reboot myself, I booked a short stay at Tassajara (sfzc.org/tassajara), a Buddhist monastery in Big Sur that opens its doors to guests from late April through mid-September. Tassajara was the first Zen monastery outside Asia when it was founded, in 1967, and Joan Baez was among the first in a long line of celebrities who visited seeking peace. No famous faces joined me in the meditation circles, but there were plenty of fellow tech-slaves seeking downtime in a place where the occasional toll of a gong marks time. Between meditation sessions, I worked—dusting cobwebs one day, chopping apples the next. Soon, I felt deeply relaxed “for the first time in a very long time.” When I eased into the 100-degree-plus water of Tassajara’s hot springs, my calm “kicked into another gear.”

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