Big Sur fires update

There has been some confusing news today — television items like “Big Sur monastery directly threatened by flames” — and people have called us in Berkeley, anxious about New Camaldoli Hermitage. But the monastery in question is the Buddhist community at Tassajara, up in a valley northwest of us.

From the San Francisco Zen Center website:
 
“At 2:15 today, Director David Zimmerman reported via telephone that everyone is safe at Tassajara and that the fire has entered Tassajara. The crew is putting out spot fires, and they are continuing to water down the buildings and the grounds. The feeling is that with the watering, the riparian valley is defending against the fire. We will continue to update you as information becomes available.”

All but five of the Tassajara people have been evacuated, as have all but four of the Camaldolese, who are still at Saint Clare’s Retreat near Soquel, uphill from Santa Cruz. Tomorrow they will celebrate the feast of Saint Benedict, mindful of our friends at Tassajara, with whom the Camaldolese have often collaborated as part of the “Four Winds Council” of Big Sur, which links the four spiritual communities situated along this part of the coast (the other two being Esalen Institute and the Native American community).