Green Gulch Farm and the Expression of Zen Buddhism in America

I first visited Green Gulch Farm in the winter of 2016— it was my first experience with a residential Buddhist practice. This experience of living in a monastic setting was a stark comparison with my idea of Soto Zen—from which the San Francisco Zen Center lineage sprung. I quickly realized how different Green Gulch Farm was from its progenitor and sought to examine the ways in which Green Gulch was changing and modifying the Japanese tradition to fit an American “spiritual but not religious” context.

At the same time, I found myself becoming fascinated by the people of Green Gulch and the community they were making. In a mix of confusion and admiration, I found myself able to think of little else but “Why are these people here?” What was it that was attracting all these people to Green Gulch Farm? Why take months or years out of one’s life to work for no pay and to spend one’s precious free time sitting silently and staring at the wall in a converted barn for hours on end? Why chant long passages in a language even modern Japanese speakers would barely understand? Why live at Green Gulch Farm at all?

In between all these swirling thoughts, I experienced daily life at Green Gulch. The beautiful and quiet mornings in the zendo have, to a certain extent, receded into the background of my memory. I will document them here.