Holiday Greetings

Sunset Christmas Day at the Baths

Holiday Greetings

With heartfelt appreciation we send our wishes of peace and happiness to you and your loved ones. May the journey ahead bring the finest of your heart’s desires. May we all know the spirit of aliveness and gratitude in every moment.

with love,
Steven Harper & Family

Return to Steven Harper

Integration and Inspiration

Poet and farmer Wendell Berry feels it is not enough to ask, "What can I do with what I know? without at the same time asking, How can I be responsible for what I know?"

The experience of wilderness can be a powerful one. How we bridge the experience of wild nature and our daily life is a critical inquiry. Our willingness to bring back from wilderness more than ideas and philosophies is vital to this bridging of worlds. We can look to the example of the natural world to see that plants and animals must practice their lifestyle. It would do little good for a plant or animal only to know theories about the niches it fills or where on the food chain it is. It is the lifelong practice, the active living and being what it knows, that keeps it alive and thriving. It is in practice and embodiment of what we discover that we humans find integration.

I am currently working as a facilitator of a strategic planning process with a group engaged in deeply inspiring work. This group has been earnestly asking both of Wendell Berry's questions. Last year this group won the California Governor’s Environmental and Economic Leadership Award for excellence in children’s environmental education. They are at the leading edge of teaching students of all ages about the environment and how we can live in a more balanced sustainable way. They are the Hilton Bialek Habitat at the Carmel Middle School. Here is a link to their website: Hilton Bialek Habitat

Taking inspiration from Wendell Berry and groups like the Habitat each of us, I believe, must ask ourselves, individually and as a collective, both of these questions in a sincere and compassionate manner… "What can I do with what I know?” and "How can I be responsible for what I know?" Then as the answers come, the sometimes challenging and almost always enlivening, work of responsibly practicing what we know comes.

Happy trails to you,
Steven

The Art of Pilgrimage: Fall 2007

For workshop photos click here: Workshop Photos

At the beginning of our retreat I gave a short talk about what pilgrimage has been and is for many cultures and religions. I was asked by the group to share in written word some of what I spoke about on Saturday morning. The following is loosely drawn from my notes.

I have a long standing fascinated by practices and rituals that occur in many cultures. When practices occur across culture boundaries they perhaps speak to the larger human condition and are greater than the culture itself. It is interesting to me that most religious traditions have some form(s) of pilgrimage.

As a general statement, we contemporary westerners living in the United States don’t have a great deal of pilgrimages that emphasize our relationship to our spiritual journey. This opens the question of how we might create and participate in the practice of pilgrimage in a manner that is both skillful and has meaning. Most forms of pilgrimage that I have studied share these characteristics and outcomes:

• A physical journey through time and space
• Leaving home (leaving what is known)
• Simple lifestyle during pilgrimage: e.g. simple clothes are worn that do not reflect status, simple diet, etc.
• Special rituals and/or prayers that marks significant milestones along the journey
• Circumambulation: moving around a sacred temple, object, mountain, and the like
• Pilgrims return with objects (water, statues, talismans) and/or special knowledge from a sacred site
• Pilgrims return with something for the community, family, as well as self
• Emphasize the journey itself as much as or equal to the goal
• Emphasize the merging of inner and outer (e.g. climbing the Mt Fuji inside as I am climbing the physical Mt. Fuji)
• Encourage a relationship to and deep knowing of a geographical place
• Timed with the seasons, sun and moon cycles, or some other natural rhythm

Usually pilgrimage is never just one of these things, but a constellation of many things and experiences woven together to create the pilgrimage. With this background knowledge it is now important that we drop our ideas about what pilgrimage is or might be as we step on the path of pilgrimage. In each step we have the opportunity to discover what pilgrimage is.

Here's the Zen story from the "Book of Serenity" the Owl told the group:
Zen Teacher Earth Treasury asked the monk Dharma Eye as he was leaving the monastery, "Where are you going?"
Dharma Eye said, "I'm going on pilgrimage."
Earth Treasury asked, "What is the purpose of pilgrimage?"
Dharma Eye said, "I don't know."
Earth Treasury said, "Not knowing is most intimate."
Dharma Eye was greatly awakened at these words.

With two claps and a deep bow,
Steven

P.S. Special thanks to Luminous Owl, Michael, and the Green Gulch staff for their support and work!

The Nature of Intimacy at Esalen

For more photos of our group click here: Workshop Photos

Incredible fall weather graced the week. We played big and went deep. And by now we all know the lines...

"The breeze at dawn has secrets to tell you.
Don't go back to sleep.
You must ask for what you really want.
Don't go back to sleep.
People are going back and forth across the door sill
where the two worlds touch.
The door is round and open.
Don't go back to sleep."
Rilke

May we all stay awake for the fullness of our lives. I am grateful to you all for showing up so tenderly, so fully, so alive... Steven

The Art of Pilgrimage at Green Gulch Zen Center

An invitation for anyone in the extended San Francisco Bay Area (or further away) to come join us for a day at the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center.

My hope with this particular retreat is that it becomes a regular way for folks that have done programs with me in the past, new folks, and iThou community folks get together at Green Gulch for a day of contemplative walking. The fee is minimal, the venue is great, and the opportunity to more deeply understand contemporary pilgrimage together on a seasonal basis is exciting to me. Here’s the retreat description.

The Art of Pilgrimage: Walking the Wild Path
with Steven Harper and Luminous Owl
Saturday, Nobember 3, 2007, 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.

For a complete workshop description click here: The Art of Pilgrimage
Please call the Green Gulch front office at 415.383.3134 to register.

From the Good Earth: Reclaiming Our Relationship with the Land

For more photos of our group click here: Workshop Photos
For photos the Peter took of our group click here: Peter's Photos

What an exceptional week walking in wilderness of Big Sur and working in the Esalen Garden and Hot Springs Farm. Personally, it was good to get my hands and feet back in the soil. The first workshop I offered at Esalen some 29 or 28 years ago was about gardening and took place primarily in the Esalen garden. In 1979, with Bruce Neeb, we started the Hot Springs Farm at the northern end of the Esalen grounds. It was both nostalgic and gratifying to be back working the land at Esalen. Michael Ableman's gift of knowledge, wisdom, and presence with gardening and farming is inspiring. I hope each of you cultivate the abundant seeds of the week and grow them to fruition.
Here is a link to see the workshop description: From the Good Earth
Here is a link to Michael Ableman's site: Fields of Plenty
Love to all,
Steven

Simply Wild: Experiencing Nature Fall 2007

Click here for more photos of our group: Workshop Photos

First rain of the year blessed us with just the right amount of rain. The day cleared and the air sparkled. We could hear the plants saying, "yes." So many simple blessings.

Inspiration from the quote bag:
"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler."
Henry David Thoreau
"Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple."
Dr. Seuss
From the wilds of the Sur,
Steven

Envisioning Our Lives

Click here for photos of the week: Workshop Photos

This portion of the David Whyte poem "What to Remember Upon Waking" speaks so well to our week and time together...

What you can plan
is too small
for you to live.

What you can live
wholeheartedly
will make plans
enough
for the vitality
hidden in your sleep.

To be human
is to become visible
while carrying
what is hidden
as a gift to others.

To remember
the other world
in this world
is to live in your
true inheritance.

I feel so grateful to each one of you for our time together as students of nature. Wishing you fluidity and courage as you transition to the "other" world. Two Claps, One Bow, Steven

Contemplation

www.stevenkharper.com

For some time I have been curious about the open question of... "What is it that walks with us from the experience of wild nature into our other lives?" Each of us answers this question in their unique way. The following insight is from a recent workshop participant.

The Abiding Spirit of Hospitality
by Martha Dahlen

What if, when visiting the woods, I think of the forest as my host, and of me as a simple guest?

Well, then: Before entering, I naturally pause. Gathering my wits about me, or perhaps letting my heart catch up, as nomadic Indians were said to do. I announce my presence: two claps! and a bow. “I am here; may I be welcome!” I walk. Attentive, observant, appreciative. But then mind slips, like eyes at a cocktail party, roaming for something more interesting than what is around me. I smile, refocus, walk. The ground is resilient, dainty leaves of understory herbs coyly brush rugged trunks. Ah! What can I take back of this deep experience? I stop abruptly. Take back? As in grasp, snatch, steal? Oh! Not that! But what else is there? A response comes from nowhere, or everywhere: “Just be with us.” Just BE? Is it enough? What a relief. But if I am to just be, then I should just be my best, whatever that is. I consider. I walk. It occurs to me that any good guest brings a gift. What can I give the forest? Ah! I pour a libation from my water bottle, and hope the chlorine is not offensive. Another smile. Upon leaving, I give thanks for impeccable hospitality. Two claps! And a bow.

But the memory of that experience lingers. When I see city plants--shrubs, grass, flowers, in pots and yards and highway meridians, I know all of them come from some plant community somewhere else, some close-knit ecosystem where they feel at home and thrive in splendor. Now, here in the city, they are my guests, and I must remember to host them well.

Nature and Contemplation: August 2007

photo by Flowers
For more photos click here: Workshop Photo

Sacred Bird Bath
by Molly Rockey

Under the sun of a hot day,
We take the long flight down the mountain
Soaring back and forth
Circling down
We fly into the trees, down
Through the branches
Owl, hawk, hummer, quail, eagle, together
We descend
Until we reach the sacred waters.
Some of our flock stay up in the branches
Observing, singing, watching out for the others.
Some birds, stripped of their hot outer feathers
Dip into the sacred bird bath
Slowly, then fully
Playfully, joyfully
Splashing, floating, being.
All of us together, above and below
Entering this healing, sacred place
Each in our own special way.

Thank you for the poem Molly! Grateful to to you all for your willingness to step on the path of doing and being.
Steven

Adventures in the Wilds of Alaska

For more photos click here: Alaska Photo Journal

I took my family up to the wilds of Alaska. We had many great adventures. To see more check out the photos of our trip at the above link.

Big Sur Wilderness Experience July 2007

Fluidity

For more photos of the group click here: Workshop Photos

Life should NOT be a journey to the grave
with the intention of arriving safely
in an attractive and well preserved body,
but rather to skid in sideways,
Champagne in one hand –
strawberries in the other,
body thoroughly used up,
totally worn out and screaming
"WAA HOO - What a ride!"
(author unknown)

Grateful to you all for the many special moments on the trail and at Esalen. What a blessing. Wishing us all well growing our essential "seed" qualities all the way to fruition in our "other" lives. May your paths be filled with beauty. Warmly, Steven

New Drawings

Pico Blanco by Steven Harper (graphite on paper)

I have added a page to my art site, Bear Creek Studios, to include some of the many graphite on paper drawings I have in my sketch books. Both drawing and painting have been important ways for me to more deeply engage with the wild nature of Big Sur.
This view of Pico Blanco is looking north from the Golden Stairway (a ridge that runs up to Post Summit). Old-timers reportedly called it that, "because if you climb up there you'll find a bit of heaven." I tend to agree. Some accounts of the Esselen Indian's creation story has Pico Blanco as the center of creation... where everything came into being.
For more drawing and painting click here: Bear Creek Studios Big Sur

The Nature of Zen

For more photos of the retreat click here: Retreat Photos

"Our way is to practice one step at a time, one breath at a time, with no gaining idea."

Shunryu Suzuki-roshi

The first day of our retreat was HOT! As the days passed it grew cooler each day. We went out on walks each morning and returned to Tassajara for lunch each day. In the afternoons we had dharma discussions in the Kaisando (founders hall) with a short meditation period.
The incredible gift of the natural hot springs (the hottest in the mountain range) along with the delicious meals makes it a good place to "practice" waking up to our lives.
Deep Bow, Steven

"The secret of Soto Zen is just two words: not always so."

Shunryu Suzuki-roshi

The Nature of Contemplation

For more photos click here: Workshop Photos

Con•temp•(l)atio(n)

First off, many thanks to you all for your leisurely presence and balanced walk between being and doing... heaven and earth... play and work... meaning and purpose... vision and action...
Second, thanks to Jud, Tanja, and Kai for their support in assisting through the weekend.
Third, gratefulness to wild-nature-as-teacher for the simple and wondrous gifts we experienced.
May we all walk the contemplative path toward greater aliveness...
Wildly, Steven

P.S. Mitch posted a slide show of the photos he took and is willing to send out a DVD to anyone that wants it! Click on this link for the slide show: http://surflounge.com/esalen/
You can email Mitch at: utopiaonthebeach@yahoo.com

Mountains and Waves: Wilderness & Continuum

Click here for more photos of our group: Workshop Photos

Each year for 22 years I have co-lead a workshop at Esalen with my sister Susan Harper (seated front 3rd from right). Each year it is such a gift to be able to work with her... this year was magical. I want to personally thank each of you for the manner in which you participated. We were blessed with so many special moments... sounding in the big redwood, condors out of the fog, deep dives into the inner world as somanauts, solstice ceremony made genuine... "Thank you for being here... Thank you for being here..."
Gratefully, Steven

Walk on the Wild Side: Hiking the Big Sur Country

photo by Danny Bianchetta
For more photos of our group click here: Workshop Photos

"Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature’s peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves."

John Muir

A week filled with walking, silence, conversations, new friendships made, old friendships deepened and renewed. Walking with the words and inspiration of John Muir's life we stepped for a moment into wilderness for as Muir says, "Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in, where Nature may heal and cheer and give strength to body and soul,"
We were touched by beauty, and certainly had chances to play and pray. I hope we were at least touched by some essential "seed" moments that will continue to grow and nourish our body and soul. With Gratitude... Steven

Wild Mind, Zen Mind: Tassajara Zen Center

At the Wind Caves near Tassajara Zen Mountain Center
For more photos of the three-day retreat click here: Workshop Photos

The retreat simply offered the finest of Tassajara— Buddhist practice, wilderness walks, wonderful meals, hot springs, and silence. We explored Zen practice and the natural beauty of Tassajara through daily meditation, group discussions, and day hikes on wilderness trails. We were blessed by near perfect weather and only a few bugs. During one of the talks Leslie told a version of this Zen story...

Is That So?

The Zen master Hakuin was praised by his neighbors as one living a pure life.
A beautiful Japanese girl whose parents owned a food store lived near him. Suddenly, without any warning, her parents discovered she was with child.
This made her parents angry. She would not confess who the man was, but after much harassment at last named Hakuin.
In great anger the parents went to the master. “Is that so?” was all he would say.
After the child was born it was brought to Hakuin. By this time he had lost his reputation, which did not trouble him, but he took very good care of the child. He obtained milk from his neighbors and everything else the little one needed.
A year later the girl-mother could stand it no longer. She told her parents the truth—that the real father of the child was a young man who worked in the fishmarket.
The mother and father of the girl at once went to Hakuin to ask his forgiveness, to apologize at length, and to get the child back again.
Hakuin was willing. In yielding the child, all he said was: “Is that so?’

From: Zen Flesh, Zen Bones compiled by Paul Reps

Simply Wild in Big Sur

With wild nature as our primary teacher we went simply and wildly...
I am certain that the weekend was much longer than a weekend. From our sensory walk with eyes closed to the smells of the many herbs; from butterflies to four-leaved sorrel... we had many magical moments. It was a good reminder for me to remember the importance in creating and appreciating the simple moments of life. May a little bit of wildness make its way into each of our daily lives. Two claps one bow... Steven. For more photos click here: Workshop Photos

Here is the poem that I read and used to begin the workshop description.

The Summer Day
by Mary Oliver (from New and Selected Works)

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean—
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
in the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?


For the original workshop description click here: Simply Wild: Experiencing Nature

Big Sur Wilderness Experience: Springtime

What a week of walks... Such a variety of wild flowers and experiences. From our journey to the "springs" to the condor we were blessed with many moments of magic. I have posted photos and will add others as I can. Click here to take you to the photos: Workshop Photo Gallery. In the meantime, here is the poem I read the last evening. I wish you all an easy transition into your "other" lives... remembering you may come back again saying, "Here." May we all integrate the richness of what we were gifted into our daily lives. May we recognize the moments we are lost and have the wisdom to "stand still."
Gratefully,
Steven

Lost

Stand still. The trees ahead and bushes beside you
Are not lost. Wherever you are is called Here,
And you must treat it as a powerful stranger,
Must ask permission to know it and be known.
The forest breathes. Listen. It answers,
I have make this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
No trees are the same to Raven.
No two branches are the same to Wren.
If what a tree or a bush does is lost on you,
You are surely lost. Stand still. The forest knows
Where you are. You must let it find you.

David Wagoner
1976

The Art of Pilgrimage: Notes

Click on this link to see more photos of the retreat: The Art of Pilgrimage

pil•grim•age
a journey to a place associated with someone or something well known or respected

At the beginning of our retreat I gave a short talk about what pilgrimage has been and is for many cultures and religions. I was asked by the group to share in written word some of what I spoke about on Saturday morning. The following is loosely drawn from my notes.

I have a long standing fascinated by practices and rituals that occur in many cultures. When practices occur across culture boundaries they perhaps speak to the larger human condition and are greater than the culture itself. It is interesting to me that most religious traditions have some form(s) of pilgrimage.

As a general statement, we contemporary westerners living in the United States don’t have a great deal of pilgrimages that emphasize our relationship to our spiritual journey. This opens the question of how we might create and participate in the practice of pilgrimage in a manner that is both skillful and has meaning. Most forms of pilgrimage that I have studied share these characteristics and outcomes:

• A physical journey through time and space
• Leaving home (leaving what is known)
• Simple lifestyle during pilgrimage: e.g. simple clothes are worn that do not reflect status, simple diet, etc.
• Special rituals and/or prayers that marks significant milestones along the journey
• Circumambulation: moving around a sacred temple, object, mountain, and the like
• Pilgrims return with objects (water, statues, talismans) and/or special knowledge from a sacred site
• Pilgrims return with something for the community, family, as well as self
• Emphasize the journey itself as much as or equal to the goal
• Emphasize the merging of inner and outer (e.g. climbing the Mt Fuji inside as I am climbing the physical Mt. Fuji)
• Encourage a relationship to geographical place
• Timed with the seasons, sun and moon cycles, or some other natural rhythm

Usually pilgrimage is never just one of these things, but a constellation of many things and experiences woven together to create the whole pilgrimage. With this background knowledge it is now important that we drop our ideas about what pilgrimage is or might be as we step on the path of pilgrimage. In each step, perhaps, we have the opportunity to discover what pilgrimage is.

Here's the Zen story from the Book of Serenity:
Zen Teacher Earth Treasury asked the monk Dharma Eye as he was leaving the monastery, "Where are you going?"
Dharma Eye said, "I'm going on pilgrimage."
Earth Treasury asked, "What is the purpose of pilgrimage?"
Dharma Eye said, "I don't know."
Earth Treasury said, "Not knowing is most intimate."
Dharma Eye was greatly awakened at these words.

The Art of Pilgrimage

The Art of Pilgrimage
Originally uploaded by surharper.

On Saturday April 21st a group of 20 of us gathered at Green Gulch Zen Center to sit and walk together on a pilgrimage into the Marin hills. We started the day in the Green Gulch Library to introduce ourselves and meditated together. We then started out on a pilgrimage climbing Coyote Ridge to the south of Green Gulch. We had incredible wild flowers, birds, and silence along the way. At the top we enjoyed the diverse views that range from ocean to urban to wild and stood in the middle of this beauty. After lunch we worked our way down to the coast trail and headed north to Muir Beach. A gentle rain joined us for the last part of the day. Hot tea at Green Gulch warmed the body and tasted great. As we returned from out circumambulation of the Marin Hills the words of TS Elliot rang true.
"We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time."
Deep Bow to all of you that chose to show up!
Gratefully,
Steven
If you click on the photo it will link you to more photos of our pilgrimage

iThou.org

There is an internet community called iThou that I have been participating in that you might find interesting. Those of you that have taken workshops at Esalen will find aspects of the site familiar. The site was started by a man that worked for 5 years at Esalen and bases his creation of the site in part on replicating parts of the Esalen experience in this internet community. Here is a quote from the Esalen group on the site:

“Greetings. Welcome to the group, "Esalen" -- for people who have lived, worked, and/or studied at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California.

For many of us who lived there, the time was rich, full, and extraordinary. For all people who have been touched by the spirit of the place, it is sometimes challenging to keep that spirit alive in the world outside the support of the container of Big Sur and Esalen.

This place is intended to become that supportive ground for people who have been moved by the spirit of the place, but who no longer, possibly, have immediate access to the special and sacred space of Esalen.

Everyone who has been moved by the spirit of Esalen, I believe, becomes, in their own way, an ambassador for a new way of thinking, feeling, and being in the world. May we carry on the torch and help bring truth, authenticity, love, and light for now and future generations.”

At the end of a workshop a common desire for many participants is having a way to stay connected both to the people in the group and the experience. While it is clearly not the same as a workshop experience there is a genuine attempt at creating aspects of the “Esalen experience” in a web community. The site could be good for supporting integration of what you learned in a retreat setting like Esalen into your daily life at home. Check it out, it’s free, and unlike Esalen it is not by reservation only. Click here to visit: iThou

The Art of Pilgrimage Retreat

An invitation for anyone in the extended San Francisco Bay Area (or further away) to come join us for a day at the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center.

The Art of Pilgrimage: Walking the Wild Path
with Steven Harper and Luminous Owl
April 21
Saturday, 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m.
Most of the world’s spiritual traditions include some form of pilgrimage. Although not often taught in the West, Buddhism also has many forms of pilgrimage. This retreat will be a contemporary pilgrimage, exploring the ancient art of walking. While pilgrimage is often from one place to another, we will end at the very place we begin, celebrating the sacred aspect of the journey itself. We will begin at Green Gulch with an introduction to the basic principles of sitting (zazen) and walking practice (kinhin). Much of the day will be spent mindfully wandering trails in the wilds of Marin, moving between silence, instruction, and informal discussion. This is a contemplative journey where each step is the goal. Please bring a bag lunch. Further information will be sent upon registration. $45, $40 members, $35 limited income.
Here is a link to the Art of Pilgrimage at the Green Gulch Farm Zen Center.

Esalen Hot Springs

Esalen Hot Springs
Originally uploaded by surharper.

I thought I would post a reminder of the "Baths" at Esalen for all those that have enjoyed the healing warmth of the natrural hot springs that bubble up from deep in the earth. Historically known as "Slates Hot Springs" after Thomas Benton Slate, they have been and are a blessing to all the hikers that have returned from a day out in the wilds to being greeted and held by these waters. Gratitude to the gift of the earth...
Click on the photo for a larger version.

Wave: oil on canvas 48"x48"

I have a new website that has some of my paintings. It is exciting for me to make my art work more public. I hope you enjoy...
There is a link in the right side-bar, "Art by Steven Harper" or you can go to
www.bearcreekstudiosbigsur.com

Dick Price co-founder of Esalen Institute

Dick Price co-founder of Esalen Institute.jpg
Originally uploaded by surharper.

Richard Price co-founder with Michael Murphy of the Esalen Institute. This is a graphite on paper sketch by me, Steven Harper, of Dick from a Joyce Lyke photo. Dick loved to hike and explore the inner and outer reaches of wilderness. He was a gifted practitioner of what he called Gestalt Practice, a one-of-a-kind human being, and a great friend. When I did a recent search of the internet and found few images of him, I decided maybe it was time to change that... although I imagine Dick would have been please to have no images of himself on the internet as he liked to keep a low profile.