Big Sur Wilderness Experience

Timber Top high above the fog...

"Stand still... The forest breathes... Listen."

As I sit in my office here in Big Sur breathing and reflect on this last week an easy smile comes to my face. I feel blessed, tired, satisfied, and full of rich experiences (just to name a few things). I am appreciating our collective willingness to soak up and take in so many of the places we journeyed to in such a time-less manner. I am also impressed by how we stopped time in the Little House... the present moment is timeless.

Here are some links:
Photo set of our group
Photo slide show
Warm Springs video

I wish every one an easy transition into the big workshop... may you touch others with a bit of the fresh wildness of the lovely Sur mountains...

Gratefully,
Steven

P.S. Special thanks to Anna and Michael.

The Nature of Zen: Tassajara, July 2010

On the Horse Pasture Trail

What an honor be with you all... walking the mountains around Tassajara, sitting in the Kaisando, hot springs, cold streams, good food, heartfelt conversation, authentic curiosity, and the intimacy of not knowing.

For photos of our group: The Nature of Zen Photos
For the same photos as a slideshow: The Nature of Zen Slideshow
Ron has some photos he took up on Flikr also: Ron's Nature of Zen 
Matt took some short videos also on Flikr: Matt's Nature of Zen Videos 
Julie sent a link to her photos on Picasa: Julie's Nature of Zen 

Special thanks to Abbot Steve Stücky, Michael, Tassajara staff, and everyone else that showed up so wonderfully.

Some of you asked about the online meditation site we have been experimenting with... Click on the link and take a look around. There is a meditation timer, virtual candle site, lectures, instructions, a group that sits daily together at 7:00am, and more: iThou Meditation House

Two claps, One bow,
Steven

Fathers & Sons: Esalen June 2010

Fathers & Sons over the Father's Day weekend in Big Sur

Over the years I have led a number of workshops at Esalen and other venues. Once again I was surprise by how deeply moved I was by this particular workshop.

The power of having a group of all men with life time relationships in the wilds and at Esalen was and continues to be inspiring. Having three generations in our group added a dimension of both depth and breadth. Seeing so many young men stepping into themselves so passionately and so many of our older members gracefully taking the path of being true "elders" touched us all. The collective heart and wisdom of our group was exceptional and gives me hope.

For fathers and sons everywhere... may we continue to grow our relationships—alive.

Click here for photos of our group: Fathers & Sons
Click here to view photos as a slideshow: Fathers & Sons

From the Wilds of the Big Sur with Love,
Steven

Mountains & Waves: Esalen, June 2010

Mountains and Waves on the beach at the meeting of Hot Springs Creek and the Pacific Ocean

What a ride... such a rich heartfelt time together.

View photos of our workshop: Mountains & Waves Photos
View as slideshow of our workshop: Mountains & Waves Slideshow

Collectively we had a hundreds of photos... I narrowed them down a bit, but not in order of how our time unfolded.

So grateful to you all for so many moments. This poem speaks my heart.

At Blackwater Pond the tossed waters have settled
after a night of rain.
I dip my cupped hands. I drink
a long time. It tastes
like stone, leaves, fire. It falls cold
into my body, waking the bones. I hear them
deep inside me, wispering
"Oh what is that beautiful thing that just happened?"
~ Mary Oliver "At Blackwater Pond"

from the wilds of the Big Sur,
Steven

Simply Wild: Esalen May 2010

What a great weekend with you all.

Here is a link to: Workshop Photo Set
Here is a link to see the photos as a: Slideshow
Here is a link to: Trees of Big Sur

We pour over words, and point out this and that,
but if our chest is not soaked dark
with love, then what?
- Kabir The Book of Kabir


Simply,
Steven

The Empathic Civilisation

Worth watching!
Steven

Walk on the Wild Side: Esalen, May 2010

On the beach in Andrew Molera

Closing my eyes I still can hear the sounds and smells of Conoga Falls. In such wildness I feel so alive. It was a great adventure for Michael and I to be able to share with you all the spots we don't get to take groups very often. You now know the wild side of Big Sur better than many folks that live here.

Here are links:
View: Photo Set
View as: Slideshow 
Carol's photos: Carol's Photo Set

Just for fun:
The bonsai redwood forest youtube video: Journey Into the Wilds
The golden staircase and Pico Blanco: Search for the Center
Here is a link to Ann's site: Ann Randolph
Here is a link to Doug's music site: Doug Goodman

And on Ann's suggestion I will be introducing a complete line of collector spoon's featuring the Bonsai Redwood Forest, Pico Blanco, Esalen Hot Springs, and more!

Like Johh Muir, may each one of us be a highly contagious "wild" virus that brings happiness, aliveness, and a call to the wild to all that we come in contact with...

Love to you all,
Steven

Wild Mind, Zen Mind: Tassajara, May 2010

Wild Mind, Zen Mind

Maybe we should have titled the retreat: Wild Flowers, Zen Mind... I am still struck by the abundance and diversity of wild flowers we pushed our way through on the trail.

Here is a link to a photo set of our group: Photos
Here is a link to view the photos as a slideshow: Photo Slideshow
Here are some of Henry's photos: Henry's Photos

Even though the fires of 2008 burned so much of what I knew of the wilds of Tassajara, I am once again amazed and inspired by the regenerative power of nature. Such a profusion of new life after so much fierce change caused by the fire.

We simply stepped into the finest of Tassajara—Buddhist practice, wilderness walks, wonderful meals, hot springs, and silence. Thank you all for sharing the experience with Leslie, Michael, and me.

Gassho,
Steven

Celebrating Earth Day, Big Sur

Wishing for us all that we find a way to make this and everyday an "Earth Day." May we know our belonging to this earth and find our unique ways to be, act, and live on this amazing watery third planet from the sun.

Prayers for the planet,
Steven

Big Sur Wilderness Experience: Esalen, April 2010

On the Golden Stairway... looking for a bit of heaven and the center of creation

For more photos: Big Sur Wilderness Experience: Springtime, April 2010
And, to view as a Slide Show

Back home after our workshop I am touched by the beauty of the wilds and the beauty of the group that came together. We come together, share simple things (walking, food, breath, a dip in the hot springs, stories, kindness, and more). We weave together a community of strangers sharing intimate moments, beauty, tears, wisdom, laughter, wonder, and our individual uniqueness.

I sit here a bit struck by the unusual "job" I have. Somehow I play my part in co-creating with the group, wild nature, and the "powers that be" an experience in which I and others are touched deeply by courage, more beauty, and the collective wisdom of all the animate beings that decided to show up for the unfolding moment of our week together.

What more can I say... I feel blessed, in awe, and hopeful when I feel how we can choose to show up in life—individually and collectively—with a little bit of grace.

Putting my whole self in,
Steven

Middlebury Fellowships In Environmental Journalism

Bill McKibben, Chris Shaw, and the Middlebury Fellowships In Environmental Journalism at Esalen Institute. For their third year this group of up and coming environmental journalist come to Big Sur with their mentors to work of articles they have been developing. I take them on a hike each year to give them the opportunity to step out of their heads and into the wild beauty of Big Sur... hopefully more deeply informing their thinking, feeling, and writing.

Bill McKibben's work has been influential in my way of thinking about nature and our human relationship to wild nature. His most recent project can be found here: 350.org

For more about Bill and his recent new book: Bill McKibben

from the Sur,
Steven

Workshop Schedule to 2010

I have my entire workshop schedule for 2010. Here is a link to my website where you can read more: Steven Harper Workshops 2010.


I look forward to sharing the wild trails with you again soon.

Warm regards from the Big Sur,
Steven

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George Leonard Memorial

 George Leonard 1923-2010

A celebration of a life well lived at the Mill Valley Community Center, Feb. 28th 2010.

On Sunday I traveled up to Mill Valley to honor and celebrate the life of a man that influenced my life through his writings, workshops, and modeling. George was a life-long learner. He had a passion for learning and exploring the possibilities of this human life.

George was one of the authors that I had read that led me to come to Big Sur. During my early years at Esalen I took numerous workshop with him and his partners in Aikido (Wendy Palmer and Richard Heckler). Wendy Palmer and I began to co-lead workshops at Esalen each year. Through my friendship with Wendy I got to know George better over the years. I am deeply grateful for all he brought to me and the world.

I recall being both honored and terrified when George and his wife Annie signed up for a workshop I was co-leading at Tassajara Zen Center with the head abbot. Some of what I planned to do with the group was directly or indirectly borrowed from the work of Wendy and George. The thought of "teaching" to George what I had, in part, learned from him seemed overwhelming. To George's credit, he showed up fully as a "student." I was impressed by his gracious and genuine willingness to learn as though he was hearing what I was presenting for the first time. This is rare. My appreciation and respect for George grew from that experience.

For a few photos of the event: Memorial.
For more on his life: George Leonard.

In gratitude,
Steven

The New Year: 2010

In gratitude and love we send our many appreciations for how you uniquely touch our lives. In the spirit of the season we wish you and your loved ones abundant peace and happiness. As we journey into the new year, the new day, and new breath of every moment may we all know our heart’s song, the vitality of aliveness, and heartfelt gratefulness.

with love,

Kes, Kai, Janna, & Steven

Celebrating the Season

Looking north to the Big Sur River mouth and headlands

What better way to celebrate the day than a good hike along the Big Sur River out to the Pacific Ocean. Connecting and reconnecting to that which is beyond words.

Sending a little encouragement and nudge to get out in wild nature somewhere sometime soon — alone and/or with friends and family. Let your self touch and be touched.

Wishing everyone a Happy Holiday Season.

Gratefully,

Steven

Search for the Center

Once a year a group of long-time heartfelt friends and I get together to spend the weekend. We take a day long hike somewhere in the Big Sur. Our friendships go back more than 30 years and includes the full range of life's experiences. Simply being in wilderness, having the shared experience each year in the raw beauty of wild nature deepens our relationships.

Who is it you might want to share a hike with? Nature is calling... your friends and family may be calling... and as John Muir said, "The mountains are calling, and I must go."

Wildly,
Steven

Esalen Office Goes Wild!

Esalen Office Gets Wild in Big Sur

Once a year I get the office crew from Esalen out of the office and into rarely visited parts of Big Sur.

Thanks to the Esalen office staff for all that you do!

Gratefully,

Steven

The Way of Nature: Esalen 2009

The Way of Nature (click on photo to enlarge)

The last Esalen workshop of the year! ...and what a way to finish the year. A weekend of high adventure and immersion (literally in the creek).

To experience the photos (click on thumbnails to enlarge): Way of Nature Photos
To experience as slide show: Way of Nature Slideshow

To experience the 350! performance art: 350! on YouTube

Gratefulness to each of you and to the group as a whole for making our timeless time together so rich.

Love,

Steven

Belonging to Earth: Esalen 2009

Cone Peak, 5155 feet high (click on photo to enlarge)

Diversity... this is the word that comes to mind as I reflect on our rich time together. From the Pacific Ocean to the top of Cone Peak; from Redwood forests of all sizes to the rare Santa Lucia Firs; from varied life experiences, physical abilities, and ages to the shared awe in the beauty of nature as it unfolds. I so appreciated how easily we came together and held space for each person in our group.

To view photo of our group: Belonging to Earth Photos
To veiw as a slide show: Belonging to Earth Slideshow

And, just for fun... to watch a YouTube video I made with some friends about the Pygmy Redwood Forest click here: Journey Into the Wilds (click on the HQ icon to watch with better resolution)

We packed a lot into our week. I hope that the richness of our experience lives on in your heart of hearts. You now know the Big Sur in ways that many long-time residents do not... I hope we all deepen our belonging to ourselves and this earth.

With love,
Steven

P.S. Here is a link to an experiment I spoke about our last evening at ithou.org: Meditation House. Both George (from our group) and I are often “there” in the mornings.

Art of Pilgrimage: Green Gulch Zen Center 2009

Art of Pilgrimage at Pirates Cove

Here is a version of the Zen story that Jeremy told 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 am going on pilgrimage."
Earth Treasury said, "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.

Here are links:
Photos of our day
Slideshow of our day
Retreat Description
Green Gulch Zen Center

Thanks for coming together at this auspicious time near or on the new moon, fall equinox, Rosh Hashanah, EID, and of course... International Talk Like a Pirate Day.

Gratefully,
Steven

Here are a few of the quotes that we drew from the bag...

Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the men of old,
Seek what they sought. ~Basho

Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished. ~Lao Tsu

As I make my slow pilgrimage through the world, a certain sense of beautiful mystery seems to gather and grow. ~ Arthur C Benson

Simply Wild: Esalen 2009

...how to stroll through the fields

"I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into 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."
~Mary Oliver

I appreciate how the thick fog keeps the coast mysterious... at times hiding the view and keeping our visual attention close... and at other times partially revealing the steep mountains meeting the sea letting our sight roam farther in the distance. This weekend the we dance in and out of the fog — getting above it, in it, and under it. Tell me... what else should we have done?

View: Photos
View as: Slideshow

Wildly,
Steven

Big Sur Wilderness Experience: Esalen 2009

Part of our group on Boranda Ridge high above the fog

Show Up: Choose to be present...

A simple enough sounding thing to do, a challenge in daily practice... yet deeply fulfilling when we can. Here is a poem that I shared one evening...

Lost
by David Wagoner

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 made this place around you.
If you leave it, you may come back again, saying Here.
Not 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.

Here is a link to photos: Big Sur Wilderness Experience Photos
Or view as: Slide Show

I hope your the "seeds" of our experience are finding roots and being nurtured towards growth.

Gratefully,
Steven

Sitting with Fire: Tassajara 2009

Coulter Pine seedling near Tassajara

What a remarkable journey this fire from last year has led us on. I continue to be amazed, in awe, and inspired by the variety and resilience of nature.

We went out hunting for Coulter Pine seedlings. On first look none of us were seeing any. Once we saw one, we suddenly saw many... How often do I not see that which is in front of me because of my own habits of attention? How enlivening when I do perceive something new and out of my habitual range!

To see a slide show of our group: Slideshow
To see the photos of our group: Photos

Nature & Contemplation: Esalen 2009

Nature & Contemplation at Esalen

"Nature is never spent: there lives the dearest freshness deep down things," writes the mystic poet Gerard Manley Hopkins.

One word: Gratefulness

Gratefulness for the many opportunities to touch the dearest freshness deep down things.

Gratefulness for Brother David, everyone in our group, Big Creek Reserve, Esalen, Partington Cove, Slates Hot Springs, good food, perfect weather, mountain lion scat, condor feathers, deep pools of clean fresh water, waves, poems, redwoods, The Hermitage, silence, a fuller breath, soft eyes, the more and ever more, Gravity, belonging, the sponge, dialogue, wholeheartedness, fearlessness, and to doing the next right thing...

"When we re- move the world from our shoulders we notice:
It doesn't drop. Where is the responsibility ? "
~ John Cage

Love,
Steven

Links:
Nature & Contemplation Photo Collection or as Slideshow
Gratefulness.org
Steven K Harper
iThou.org
New Camaldoli Hermitage

Mountains and Waves: Esalen 2009

Mountains and Waves... on the edge

For more photos: Mountains and Waves Or as a Slide Show

What words can come close to touching upon what we touched. I find myself in awe of the courage to step out of the known and into the mystery of the unexplored. I will be integrating the experience of the week for weeks to come.

"Such richness flowing
through the branches of summer and into

the body, carried inward on the five
rivers! Disorder and astonishment

rattle your thoughts and your heart
cries for rest but don’t

succumb, there’s nothing
so sensible as sensual inundation. Joy

is a taste before
it’s anything else, and the body

can lounge for hours devouring
the important moments. Listen,

the only way
to tempt happiness into your mind is by taking it

into our body first, like small
wild plums."

Mary Oliver “The Plum Trees” American Primitive

With Hearfelt Gratitude...
Steven

P.S. Wishing us well in planting and tending of the essential seeds we are growing in our lives... may they benefit all our relations.

Fathers and Sons: Celebrating Father's Day in the Tradition of the Old Ways at Esalen 2009

Fathers and Sons on Father's Day 2009

It is a wise child that knows his own father.
-Homer
It is a wise father that knows his own child.
-William Shakespeare

I have led many weekend workshops in my years at Esalen. This coming together of fathers and sons was among the most potent of them all and much more profound than I had expected. I continue to be moved by our collective and family time together. I am deeply grateful for this gathering of fathers and sons and our time spent on the path in the wilds.

For more photos of our group: Fathers & Sons Or as a Slide Show

With Love,
Steven (and for Kes, Kai, and Kenneth)

Walk on the Wild Side: Esalen 2009

Walk on the Wild Side on the Big House Beach

"The sun shines not on us but in us. The rivers flow not past, but through us, thrilling, tingling, vibrating every fiber and cell of the substance of our bodies, making them glide and sing."
~John Muir

My first words go out to Michael and his family wishing them peace. My next words go out to Stacy for how wonderfully she showed up for all of us. My heartfelt gratitude goes out to all of our group for being here.

Even after all these years I continue to be amazed how simply spending time on the path together in wilderness can create connection and depth with one another.

For more photos of our group: Walk on the Wild Side
You can view them individually or as a slide show.

"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

Wildly,
Steven

Wild Mind, Zen Mind at Tassajara May 2009

Wind Caves

For more photo of our group: Wild Mind, Zen Mind

Spectacular wildflowers and the awe in the amazing ability of nature to regenerate after fire... I have never seen such a display of wildflowers around Tassajara as this year in both quantity and diversity.

It was a joy to share this with others as we walked along the paths, sat in meditation, and let our curiosity wonder in discussions at meals, on the trail, and in the Kaisando. Gratitude to all of you for so generously participating in our time together.

"The secret of Soto Zen is just two words: not always so."
Shunryu Suzuki-roshi

Wildly,
Steven

P.S. Those of you that are interested in the online Meditation House (which is part of iThou.org) can visit by clicking here: iThou.org. You can sign in by typing "here" and check-out the meditation timer, candle site, meditation instructions, and more all in the right hand sidebar.

Big Sur Wilderness Experience: Springtime 2009

Tip toe through the lupines...

High in the mountains of Big Sur

Here is a link photos of our hikes: BSWE Photos
Here is a link photos of our hikes as a slideshow: BSWE Slideshow

"There are two ways to live your life.
One is though nothing is a miracle.
The other is as though everything is a miracle.

The most beautiful and most profound emotion
we can experience is the sensation of the mystical.
It is the sower of all true science.
In this emotion you dwell in wonder
and stand rapt in awe."
-Albert Einstein

Thank you all for your "Showing Up... and choosing to be present."

Steven