Green Gulch Farm Zen Center

About

Green Gulch Farm Zen Center, or Sōryu-ji (蒼龍寺 Green Dragon Temple), is a Soto Zen practice center located near Muir Beach, California, that practices in the lineage of Shunryu Suzuki. In addition to its Zen training program, the center also manages an organic farm and gardens. Founded in 1972 by the San Francisco Zen Center and Zentatsu Richard Baker, the site is located on 115 acres (0.47 km2) in a valley seventeen miles (27 km) north of San Francisco and offers a variety of workshops and classes throughout the year. The land is an inholding of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area and has much wildlife within its borders. In addition to meditation retreats, offerings include classes and workshops on the Japanese tea ceremony and gardening. While Green Gulch Farm has a residential monastery and retreat center, guest house, and conference center, it has also become recognized as a place where organic farmers can come to learn the tools of their trade. One of the original architects of the gardens at Green Gulch was the horticulturist Alan Chadwick, who had introduced the biodynamic farming techniques influenced by Rudolf Steiner on the farm. Chadwick's grave is marked by a stupa on site. Author Fenton Johnson writes that Green Gulch Farm, "...serve[s] as a model for living on the land in the context of a Zen Buddhist practice."