Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara

by Colleen Morton Busch

The "vivid" and "electrifying" true story of how five monks saved the oldest Zen Buddhist monastery in the United States from wildfire ( San Francisco Chronicle ).

When a massive wildfire surrounded Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, five monks risked their lives to save it. A gripping narrative as well as a portrait of the Zen path and the ways of wildfire, Fire Monks reveals what it means to meet a crisis with full presence of mind.

Zen master and author of the classic Zen Mind, Beginner's Mind , Shunryu Suzuki Roshi established a monastery at Tassajara Hot Springs in 1967, drawn to the location's beauty, peace, and seclusion. Deep in the wilderness east of Big Sur, the center is connected to the outside world by a single unpaved road. The remoteness that makes it an oasis also makes it particularly vulnerable when disaster strikes. If fire entered the canyon, there would be no escape.

More than two thousand wildfires, all started by a single lightning storm, blazed across the state of California in June 2008. With resources stretched thin, firefighters advised residents at Tassajara to evacuate early. Most did. A small crew stayed behind, preparing to protect the monastery when the fire arrived.

But nothing could have prepared them for what came next. A treacherous shift in weather conditions prompted a final order to evacuate everyone, including all firefighters. As they caravanned up the road, five senior monks made the risky decision to turn back. Relying on their Zen training, they were able to remain in the moment and do the seemingly impossible-to greet the fire not as an enemy to defeat, but as a friend to guide.

Fire Monks pivots on the kind of moment some seek and some run from, when life and death hang in simultaneous view. Novices in fire but experts in readiness, the Tassajara monks summoned both intuition and wisdom to face crisis with startling clarity. The result is a profound lesson in the art of living.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Spirituality, Religion, Buddhism, Philosophy, Biography

272 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2011

About the author

Colleen Morton Buschs nonfiction, poetry, and fiction have appeared in a wide range of publications, from literary magazines to the San Francisco Chronicle and Yoga Journal, where she was a senior editor. Busch has been a Zen student since 2000. She is the author of Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara.
"

Reviews

[Jack Young · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm a Buddhist, an avid long trail backpacker, I've lived almost all my life in the western US and I've read a lot of books about wildfire. Zen Mind, Beginner Mind is probably the most important book I've ever read in my life and a friend of mine use to be the Tenzo at Tassajasa. So naturally I was primed to like this book after a friend of mine who does fire mgt for the USFS here in CA was reading it. I was soo disappointed. The author has an ill-informed agenda and it's clear that she ins't going to let the facts get in the way.

1) The author missed a great opportunity to discus the complex issues of fire in the west from a place of "don't know mind." She admits that the landscape at the site is made to burn but fails to go anywhere with that fact. Instead she rants about the USFS not wanting to protect buildings and on a RED FLAG day. Meanwhile she spends a lot of time chattering away about what's for breakfast. Fire is a key part of this western landscape that we have removed. As a result we are creating a time bomb. Tassajara is physically sitting right in the middle of this dilemma...let's talk about that.

2) There is a sense of glorification about the monks walking back into the site on a RED FLAG day. Let's talk about attachment! The place could easily have blown-up (and with a little more wind probably would have) on that day and they just got lucky...no zen super hero stuff pa-lEAzzze. It was a very stupid thing to do and any attempt to remotely suggest that it was in anyway honorable lacks understanding about what could have happened. Tassajara will be threatened by fire again...is there now a precedent for a core group to stay behind should another RED FLAG day occur? It's like surfing a category 5 hurricane.

3) I wish the story could have been told without the drama and the emotional load. The author takes on a retail pop-Buddhist tone that seems very common in these days when everyone is writing a book on some angle of Buddhism. Fire is just fire. The Dharma is just the Dharma. Creating stories and fabrications to intertwine the two is made for retail consumption...it certainly isn't very Buddhist. Buddhism is about letting go...this book is about attachment to a story.

I recently ran into a good friend who is a Zen priest and who spent about 3 month at Tassajasa a while back. I asked him what he thought of the book in question. He reiterated almost word for word what I wrote above. The whole stunt was attributable to a superman complex and extreme ignorance of the possible risks by a few. I asked my friend why Tassajasa continues to promote the book and he said that answer is very simple. Tassajasa has made a huge amount of money from the publicity provided by the book. The insurance Co. paid out for all the losses and a huge amount of donations continued to roll in. Meanwhile Tassajara is supporting a model for extremely irresponsible behavior. Very sad to see this type of retail pop Buddhism.

In Summary: This book manages to be both a poor introduction to Buddhism and a poor introduction to fire mgt issues in the Am. West.

Meanwhile 19 fire fighters now dead in the Yarnell Hill Fire in AZ doing exactly what the author glorifies in her book, protecting structures that are built in the wrong place AKA the "stupid zone" as my friends at the USFS call it.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give a book 10 stars, this would be it. Non fiction, about how the monks at the Tassajara Zen Monastery in California prepared themselves and the monastery for the great fire of 2008 and how Zen prepared the monks to meet the fire, it is a compelling and thoughtful book. I read it in 24 hours - could not put it down.

The author's close familiarity with Zen Buddhism is clear in the skillful way she introduces the reader to elements of Zen Buddhism that made the monks uniquely qualified to protect their monastery.

Highly, highly recommended.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Look up at the night sky. Blackness, and fire. The Vedic tribes knew not only of how fire burns in the forests, creating pasture, but of how it burns in the body: digestive fire, sexual fire, emotional fire, spiritual fire, lightning bolts of illumination. The Buddhists borrowed this lightning-vajra image and also the important word loka(heaven, realm), originally meaning 'a clearing in the forest.'

For those engaged in nomadics, clearings are good. Grasses, flowers, the light of heaven shining down. For those who came later, those in fixed dwellings, fire became a threat.

The monks dwelling deep in the heart of the forest at Big Sur's Tassahara Zen Monastary as a massive wildfires approached, were reminded that fire is a relationship.

This book is their own story of that relationship.

[RH Walters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Morton Busch quotes the Buddha, who said "the world is on fire," and this steady meticulous books charts the decision-making process of a Buddhist community in California preparing for and meeting a wildfire. I was sometimes impatient with the names and opinions of the many local officials and firefighting experts, but I appreciated the back-stories of the Zen residents and the sense of communal Buddhist living. By no means is it a romantic telling of saints in the woods; it's a book about people making hard decisions and working together in the anticipation, danger and aftermath of a fire. I was genuinely moved by the accomplishments and insights of the people in this book, and I think it will stay with me for a long time.

[Duff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surprisingly, it is a page-turner. I learned not only about the event, but much about how individuals practiced their beliefs by responding to the situations, both physical and personal. I do agree with other reviews that question the decision of the monks to stay and try to save the Tassajara, but the book is about the reasons for their decision, what happened and how they viewed it post-fire. It definitely is not a manual for how to go against the advice of the "authorities", but it does have elements of the long-shot quest. I found myself admiring their tenacity and dedication, if not quite agreeing with their decision to stay and deal with the fire--they would not say "fight".

[Patty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was drawn to this book for two reasons - I live with a Buddhist and fire is a big, big issue in these parts. In the summer it sometimes surrounds us. When you live in the forest you learn to live with fire. Hubby is going to read it now that I'm done.

The book tells the tale of the big California wildfires in 2008 that were all over the news. I remember watching them from here and thinking there but for the grace of God and all that. Lightening strikes and a dry forest and all hell breaks loose. Deep inside the Ventana wilderness lies the Tassajara Zen Mountain Center and the fire is coming towards it. The monks have some gear and minimal training; can they meet the fire?

Ms. Morton Busch tells the story of the Fire Monks through interviews with people who were there before, during and after the fire. The reader meets the monks of the center and learns how zen philosophy can be useful in life and dealing with the onslaught of a massive wildfire.


The story unfolds as the monks first learn that the fire might impact the retreat. The summer visitors are just starting classes but soon have to evacuate. The monks then set about making the place as fire safe as possible before an evacuation is called. Most leave but a core group stays. As the fire gets closer they are ordered to leave since the state will not send trained firefighters in to help them. As they leave a core group decides they are going to go back and defend the retreat no matter the consequences.

The individual stories are interesting and desire of the monks to save their retreat makes for a very compelling read. Five monks risked everything and put their practice of focusing on the
now into very real use.

[Nick Klagge · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw this on the $2 shelf at a bookstore, and couldn't pass up getting it. It is the story of the defense of the Tassajara Zen monastery, which is near us in northern California, from wildfire in the summer of 2008--primarily by non-professionals, mainly the monks themselves. I didn't love it at first, but it really grew on me. The author is herself a student of Zen, and often tries to draw connections between Zen practice and the events of the story--with mixed success, I think. But I really ended up liking the book for two reasons: first, simply because I didn't know much about the practice of fighting wildfires and it was interesting to learn about it; second, as a detailed portrayal of organizational decision-making in a crisis environment. I often felt while reading the book that certain sections would make for excellent case-studies in a management class. (I think it was also enjoyable that the author was not focused on drawing conclusions about organizational behavior as such.) But the sequence of events involves a bunch of very interesting dynamics: the role of specialized knowledge and the amateur/professional divide, the organic formation of "in-groups" and "out-groups," the effectiveness of pre-commitment, the role of "gut feelings," the effects of shared vs. sole responsibility. It was fun to try to think through these issues without having them presented as such.

[Janta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Narrative and photos took up 94% of the book, remainder was the usual nonfiction stuff.

An interesting account, but it often felt like a long-form magazine article that had been padded out to book length. Some details that didn't really add much to the narrative, a bit of repetition, that sort of thing. When they finally had to fight the fire, the narrative didn't give those moments the weight/urgency they maybe should have had. I did find the Zen philosophy and how it applied to fighting fires (and other stuff, too!) interesting.

[Elise · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting account of how a Zen monastery in coastal California fought wildfire in the summer of 2008. But the writing just wasn't very good.

[Mark Oppenlander · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Tassajara Mountain Center, a Buddhist retreat, sits in a secluded canyon in the wilderness east of Big Sur. It connects to the outside world through a single, unpaved road. In 2008, when wildfires threatened the area, the monks who maintain and care for Tassajara decided to defend it against the approaching flames. This book, pulled together from firsthand accounts, is there story.

I don't know why this book wound up on my reading list, nor what drew me to it in the first place, but as I dove into it, I thought perhaps I had made a mistake in picking it up. The first half reads like a journalistic account of impending disaster, with a lot of relatively dry descriptions. Busch, herself a Buddhist practitioner, introduces us to the various characters who populate the Center, including the director, David Zimmerman, the site's cook, Mako Voelkel,and the abbot, Steve Stucky to name a few. The stories of these folks, and how they each came to be Zen Buddhist monks gives some life to the first half of the book. Still, the fire of the title seems a long way off.

When the conflagration finally arrives, Fire Monks actually becomes something of a page turner. Understaffed, ill equipped, and inexperienced, five monks battle the flames for hours, and the drama is gripping stuff. Busch continues to tell the tale with a matter-of-fact quality, which only heightens the tension.

Still, the book only really coalesced for me in the section after the fire. Busch interviews the various players about how their Buddhist beliefs manifested in their encounter with the wildfire. To me, these last few chapters are worth working through the rest of the book. The mindset of constant readiness, a heightened awareness of ones surroundings, and the willingness to see all things in an interconnected way, allows these novice firefighters to be successful. They also learn new things about themselves and the world around them, and these spiritual lessons are, for me, the core of the tale.

This book wound up being a fascinating read, and is probably suitable for anyone who enjoys natural history, stories of humans surviving natural disasters, or those merely intrigued by Buddhist philosophy and practice.

[Gary · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fire Monks is an interesting book, talking about how five Zen monks in 2008 fought a fire to save the Tassajara Zen Center close in the Los Padres National Forest. It goes through why these five people were left to their own resources and not aided by the US Forest Service.

To me the one big question I was left with after reading this book was, should these five inexperienced Zen monks have disobeyed the evacuation orders to save this retreat house? Did they feel the lose of their lives would be worth the saving of the buildings? Did they have that kind of confidence in their abilities to stop a fire which professional firefighters felt the situation was too dangerous? What does this say to others whose property is threatened? Is the book advocating they stay and fight the fire? (Right now the Caldor Fire is threatening South Lake Tahoe.)

Fire Monks is an interesting and easy read. Busch is definitely a person writing from the Zen perspective and telling the monk's side of the story. On the other hand, it is not a great read, just one which is worth reading if you want to understand a bit more about how to fight a fire.

For more of my notes and thoughts, please see my book blog.

[Karen W · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read for a number of reasons. In the last 7 years I have gotten to know the Big Sur area through someone who spent some of her formative years growing up there, who's family homesteaded and was an integral part of the history of Big Sur. Not just from the "tourist" perspective I had had before that. So I learned about the wildness of the place, the difficulty of navigating the local roads and driveways on good, clear weather days, let alone when dealing with fire or rain. So reading this book with it's description of the ruggedness of the terrain they were dealing with, it was easy to picture their difficulties as the story went along. I appreciated and enjoyed the customs, beliefs, and routines of the Buddhists way of life interwoven through the tale of their dealing with the fire. The backgrounds of the various monks that lived there, there came a point however when it got to be a bit much, strayed away from the story of the fire and those who lived it, bringing in those on the far edges of the story. At points I found myself speed reading through parts as they felt extraneous and not part of the story. If you know and love Big Sur at all, or are interested in fire management, you will find this book of interest.

[Ronald Schulz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book to learn what became of a friend from back in our communal days in Wisconsin. Steve Stueky was heavy into "Be Here Now" and Zen meditation, and he is mentioned here as becoming a Zen abbot. I'd wondered what became of him and here learned that he'd stuck with Zen to become promoted and also gotten married, which didn't surprise me because I remembered that he struggled with celibacy. He had passed through our group of nature-loving, would-be organic farmers before he moved to the San Francisco Zen Center by 1972 where I visited him while hitchhiking through the west that year. Although I was more into the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, I did get some insight from practicing Zen "sitting," and I intended trekking up to Tassajara too, but the rides didn't take me that way. Aside from catching up on what became of Steve, I enjoyed reading about the mix of personalities involved in living and firefighting in that high mountain area, especially as fires have been more in the news as our planet goes through climate change.

[Monical · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who has ever been to San Francisco or baked a loaf of bread knows Tassajara. This book introduced me to Zen practice and how it has developed at Tassajara and its sister institutions. The book goes very long on the Zen part, and got stuck with the (invented) dialogue among the different participants. The fire lurks dangerously through the first 3/4 of the book (which gets a bit tiresome) and the details about forest fires and fighting forest fires were skimpy compared to the long discourse on Zen as developed and practiced at Tassajara. When the fire finally arrives, the reader is prepared for the worst by the foreshadowing-- but still hoping for the best. At the end, the controversy surrounding the decision and actions of the five monks who choose to stay doesn't get enough ink. I also wonder about the repercussions of the fire and those decisions on the community, which is also just mentioned in passing. Book gets top marks for title and cover photo!

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had never heard of the fire monks before - not that I, as a non-Californian, paid close attention to the major storylines of each of that state's wildfire seasons - but this was an enjoyable account, describing the Tassajara Zen monastery and the 2008 wildfire season. Tassajara was founded by Susuki Roshi, author of 'Zen Mind Beginner Mind,' a book I turn to at least once a year. The author did a good job encapsulating some key precepts of Zen practice that the "fire monks" deployed. I have not encountered many other books that even attempt such a thing, let alone do so effectively. Next time I return to 'Beginner Mind' I will think back on this tale.

[Marlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the story of Tassajara Zen Center during the dry summer of 2008 when it was almost destroyed by the Basin Complex fire. The story begins in June of 2008 just before the lightning storm that triggers the fires while normal summer activities are happening and usual guests and staff are present. It describes the people and environment and how they change as the fires approach and ultimately surround Tassajara. The thoughts and feelings of the monks and fire professionals about the event are well described.

[Dawn Woodward · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Even though I knew how it would end (we all do anyway), it was very much a page turner. In addition, I learned a lot and it gave me a lot to think about, and reminded me just how complicated "simple zen" really is. Well written by someone with a good knowledge of both this retreat center and Buddhism. I'm guessing there's more here for Buddhists, or those interested in Buddhism, and that those who just want an account of a California wildfire might find parts of it slow, but for me it was riveting.

[Chuck Steffey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent read. One one level there is the chronological narrative of the cataclysmic fire. The book also has excellent portraits of various members of the Tassahara/SFZen Center Zen Community. Finally the book has insights on the political infighting between federal Forest Service firefighters and Cal Fire firefighters. One would hope that those interactions would be smoother now — an unrealistic hope in the Trump era..

[Julie Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I enjoyed most was that this book was a great, plain-English primer on American Zen Buddhism. It was also a careful and well-written recounting of the 2008 fire and the response of those at Tassajara.

[Naren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astonishing book mixing wildfire, poignant as I live in Southern California and Zen. The mention of the Encino fire was haunting as I remember the hillsides alive with flames and reading about the firefighter deaths.

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one who worked several summers at a different sort of spiritual summer camp that became part of my being, also in a dry wilderness under threat of fire, this book resonated with me. I appreciated the honesty of the story, not just showing the good parts, but the bad and the doubting.

[Michael Perez · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a very interesting story, but the story is so jumbled and hindered by childhood stories, badly organized details and just poor editing in general. This is really a case of a very interesting real life story hindered by an author's choices on how to organize it.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting overall but I would have liked more fire ecology and less emotional drama. Yes, even some Zen practictioners have that drama! Also felt like the Zen community was dismissive of the fire professionals at times.

[kiik · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terribly exciting story about a bunch of Sōto Zen Buddhists on retreat at a historic monastery in California. The telling benefits greatly from the author's own practice, which allows her to draw out the living dharma from the catastrophe that is the present moment.

[Virginia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fire Monks Journey of Acceptance

Remarkable retelling of the process a group of people, eventually down to 5 individuals who chose to stay and defend Tassajara. Teamwork, resilience, intuition and group mind, incredible perseverance. A spiritual journey….well worth reading.

[Korie Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me think about meditation, nature, and the intersection between what we love and what we do. Recommended.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading about their fire safety ideas, such as sprinkler systems on the roofs and burying the ancient statue to keep it safe.

[Sofia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The intensity of the fire, the compelling interpersonal relationships and incorporations of Buddhist wisdom made this a page-turner for me. Powerful and scary and beautiful

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much more interesting writing than I was expecting for this kind of book.

[Paul Triller · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of those times I decided to read about something far out of my usual tastes and interest. Life is too boring to think everyone thinks the same.