Big Sur Fire

The view of the fire out our front door

Thanks to you all for your thoughts, concerns, and prayers during the fire. It has been a long four weeks filled with concern, action, gratefulness, sadness, friendship, frustration, helping, being helped, writing, interviews, phone calls, laying fire hose, sending "special" things away, dinners, story telling, uncomfortable sleep, smoke, wonder, focus, beauty, loss, love, appreciations and more... Some friends lost homes and belonging, no one was seriously injured.

I will post more when I can. For now know that your care and support is felt. If you want to know more, visit my website to link to personal photos of the fire and other links that tell parts of the story: Big Sur Fire

Two workshop were canceled (one at Esalen and one at Tassajara). All the rest of my 2008 workshops will go forward. Many parts of Big Sur have burned in the fire. Many of the places you might have hiked with me look very different. Many of my favorite places to hike did not burn. Many of the areas that did burn will recover fast. The threat to Big Sur has passed. Highway 1 is open in both directions. Esalen is open and offering up workshops. The beauty of Big Sur remains.

Once again, thanks to you all for you support and care during this time.
Gratefully and with love,
Steven

Wild Mind, Zen Mind: Tassajara Zen Mountain Center

For more photos of our time together: Wild Mind, Zen Mind

Every time I journey to Tassajara — by foot or by car — I am taken by how deeply Tassajara is nestled in the folds of the wildly rugged mountains. The encouragement to "show up" through meditation, along with the wholesome food, natural hot springs, and sharing time on the trails all come together to inspire. I breathe easier as I cross the mountains and return home to all the "things" of my life.

I hope we are able to walk into our daily lives with a bit of "wild mind" as we go about the stuff of our lives.

Gratefully and with a deep bow,
Steven (and Leslie)

For paintings of our friend that recently passed click here: Michael Sawyer
For more photo of Tassajara Zen Center click here: Tassajara

Art of Pilgrimage: Green Gulch May 31, 2008

For more photos click here: Art of Pilgrimage

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.

Thanks to each of you that showed up to walk the trails on Coyote Ridge and the Coast Trail. I hope the time we share on the path and in the wilds bring aliveness to you and all those your life touches.

Gratefully,
Steven

For more photos of Green Gulch Farm Zen Center click here: Green Gulch

Walk on the Wild Side 2008

Click here to see more photos: Walk on the Wild Side

"Every body 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." ~John Muir

To all you that dared to walk on the wild side. May Nature continue to heal you... cheer you (we sure laughed a lot)... and give strength to body and soul. I finish the week filled with gratitude and appreciation for how diverse people can come together and support each other so beautifully along the path.

I hope that each of you carry a bit of the aliveness of the wilds back with you into your daily lives. As the poet David Whyte asks, "What shape waits in the seed of you to grow and spread its branches against a future sky?" May that seed grow strong and touch others with aliveness.

Wildly, Steven

P.S. Check out these sites for more photos of our group:
Richard photos
Where is Hello Kitty... look for the Esalen/Big Sur posts

The Way of Nature

The Way of Nature... here is a video (a first) taken with my camera from our walk in Big Creek. For photos and a group shot of our time in the wilds click here: The Way of Nature

What a great weekend. Thank you all for participating so fully.
Here is a Rumi poem:

The clear pool at the center changes everything.
There are no edges to my loving now.

I've heard it said there's a window that opens
from one mind to another,

but if there's no wall, there's no need
for fitting the window, or the latch.

Open Secret Versions of Rumi by John Moyne & Coleman Barks

May the Way of Nature be with you...
Steven

Big Sur Wilderness Experience April 2008

BSWE on the path into the wilds of Big Sur

It never ceases to amaze me how each and every group comes together to form its own characteristics and distinct personality. Each an every individual brings some critical thread to the fabric of our group. This last week our group wove some beautiful fabric.

The start of my 2008 Esalen workshop "season" began with Big Sur Wilderness Experience Description and the group came together in a heartfelt and adventurous way. Spring is in full gear here and it is said that, "Big Sur in not so much a place as a state of mind." We entered "Big Sur Mind" and sprang forth into the trails of the inner and outer wilds.

For more photos of our group click here: Big Sur Wilderness Experience Photos

Here are the first lines of he David Whyte poem I read on our last day...

What to Remember When Waking
In that first
hardly noticed
moment
to which you wake,
coming back
to this life
from the other
more secret,
moveable
and frighteningly
honest world
where everything
began,
there is a small
opening
into the new day
which closes
the moment
you begin
your plans.

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.

Thanks to each and every one of you... may your transitions into your daily life be full of the aliveness and vitality of our week.

Wildly,
Steven

Earth Day... everyday

Point Lobos State Reserve

Earth Day is approaching April 22nd. Of course once a year is not enough, though it is a good time for all of us to consider again how we personally want to live our lives and reflect on our relationship with this third rock from the sun we call—earth. Here are some links to sites that I have found inspiring and have encouraged me to make more informed, sustainable, and healthy choices in my life.
Earthday Network
We Can Solve It
The Story of Stuff
11th Hour Action

Most of this information is for the head... so equally important, I hope you will take some time to "feed" your body and heart. Get out in wild nature. Simply listen, let your self settle, and be touch by the beauty of this world.

Wishing us all a wild Earth Day,
Steven

Unusual Behavior in the Wild Flamingos of Big Sur

Flamingos
Originally uploaded by surharper

The elusive wild flamingos of Big Sur (Phoenicopterus surianus) are rarely seen in their natural habitat. This photo is one of the few known sightings clearly illustrating the unusual habit of flamingo day-sleeping, otherwise known as Avian Diurnal Narcolepsy. While not completely understood by scientist studying the phenomenon, multiple theories have been put forth. Avian Diurnal Narcolepsy (ADN) is sometimes seen in individual birds, but as far as what has been observed in the field, Big Sur flamingos may be the only bird species to demonstrate flock ADN. The leading theory for the cause of this phenomenon is linked to petrol-chemical polymer structures in the Big Sur flock seen here. This photo was taken using a remote motionless sensor cam at one of the few closely guarded locations where the birds can be found. The story about these elusive birds is unbelievable.

Wishing you a happy first of April!

Celebrating the Equinox

Celebrating the day of equal day and night.

For those of us in the northern hemisphere it is the time of the return of green. The time when seeds that have weathered the winter begin to stir... feeling the pull of gravity to set roots, and the call of the sun to move towards the light...

Here in Big Sur the land is shouting out "green, green, green"

THE SUN NEVER SAYS

Even
After
All this time
The sun never says to the earth,
“You owe Me.”

Look
What happens
With a love like that,
It lights the
Whole
Sky.

~Hafiz

2008 Workshop Schedule

photo by Janna Fournier

My 2008 Workshop Schedule is complete (although I might still be adding one of two). I invite you to join me for one of the workshops I am offering this year at Esalen, Tassajara, and Green Gulch. Please visit my website or contact me for more information. I look forward to seeing you in the wilds soon. For complete descriptions click here to go directly to the: Workshop Schedule

• April 27-May 2 • Big Sur Wilderness Experience
• May 9-11 • The Way of Nature
• May 18-23 • Walk on the Wild Side
• May 31 • The Art of Pilgrimage
• June 5-8 • Wild Mind, Zen Mind
• June15-20 • Mountains and Waves
• June 20-22 • Nature and Contemplation
• July 3-6 • The Nature of Zen
• July 6-11 • Big Sur Wilderness Experience
• August 22-24 • Simply Wild
• August 24-29 • Belonging to Earth
• September 26-28 • Nature and Contemplation
• October 17-19 • Conscious Embodiment
• Check website for additional programs & dates

Thanks to all of you who have attended workshops with me over the last years. I hope to this message finds you happy and peaceful.

Warmly,
Steven

Click here to go to my homepage: www.stevenkharper.com

Google: The Art of Pilgrimage

Google retreat at Green Gulch Zen Center

This Saturday I led a retreat, The Art of Pilgrimage, for a group from Google. I was invited to offer this program to Google employees that are part of ongoing meditation groups and trainings. The experience was very rich. The international mix, depth of knowledge, diversity of backgrounds, and sincerity of commitment to exploring inner/outer reaches of the wilds was both meaningful and inspiring to me. For more photos of the group click here: Google Pilgrimage
And for even more photos of the day click on Ario's collection: More Art of Pilgrimage

2008 Website and Workshop Schedule

Notley's Landing and Hurricane Point, Big Sur

I have recently rebuilt my website: www.stevenkharper.com and updated the 2008 workshop schedule. There are many new features added so I hope you will take a look around. I am always wanting to learn, so if you have any feedback I would appreciate hearing about what you like, don't like, possible additions, etc.
My friend Lisa Goettel built the site with my collaboration. I highly recommend her if you are looking to collaborate in creating a website. You can contact her here: Birdwing Designs
From the Wilds,
Steven

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