Sunset as seen from the back deck of Panther Branch Zendo.
|
Windhorse
Zen Community is a group of Dharma practitioners dedicated to a dynamic,
engaged Zen practice, on the mat and in the world. The Windhorse
is an ancient symbol of the boundless freedom and energy of our own intrinsic
nature, and the fundamental perfection of all existence. With the
Three Jewels of Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha on its back, the Windhorse
carries this teaching of Original Perfection to beings in all directions.
At Windhorse, located in the Asheville area of North Carolina, we work to support each other in the challenging task of
bringing this teaching to life in the midst of our daily lives.
Read more about our community...
Recent months have seen many changes on the Windhorse
property, but regrettably our communications have not kept pace
with the work. We hope this overview and the new
collection of photos will help to give people a sense of what
we've been doing and where we're heading.
The Foundation
Day-to-day Zen practice is, of course, the heart and soul of all
our activities, with morning and evening sittings at the core of
it—both in town at the city zendo and also at the main center on
Panther Branch Road. Regular sesshin play a central role in the
training, as do dokusan, weekly teisho, ceremonies and celebrations.
Construction Projects
 Most
of the work these past months has been focused on getting the new
residential structure up and out of the ground (View
Photos). The project is going very well overall, with near-perfect
siting, and a fine integration of space between the two buildings
(the existing main house and the new one under construction). In
coming months we'll be posting more details about the unique design
of this new residential space and the training aspects of its construction.
We've also dug down beneath the back deck to expose the southern
wall of the existing basement (View
Photos), and in coming months we'll be cutting a door and window
into that wall. This will make the whole basement brighter and more
livable, and will open up the house to a terraced area connecting
and unifying the two buildings. Sculpting the yard in this way has
also created a cool, quiet patio spot under the back deck, and in
the process we've collected truckloads of excellent soil and several
tons of beautiful white quartz, all of which will be used in the
gardens and retaining walls.
Heating System
We're also in the process of putting in a Tarm wood-fired furnace,
a hot-water system that will meet our heating needs in a much more
efficient manner. As part of this centralized system we've dug out
a new utility room beneath the back deck to house the controls and
hot water tank, and to give us some additional work and storage
space. It's heartening to see all these different construction projects
converging so neatly!
Complications
It hasn't all been rosy though; we've run into a number of significant
problems. First of all, as a non-profit corporation we're required
to uphold the ADA guidelines, and provide the county with stamped
plans for each stage of building. Last spring, after months of careful
design and research, we turned our set of drawings over to the engineers
only to be told they wouldn't do. Instead, the engineers came up
with a much more heavily reinforced structure. From our side it
felt like we were being asked to build something like a one-story
skyscraper—with a price tag to match.
To make a long (and painful) story short: after many months we've
finally come full-circle and essentially are back to our original,
simpler vision. So now we will wind up with a building that is simple
yet elegant in design, one that will fulfill our many and diverse
housing needs, and that is very energy efficient. In this tedious,
patience-testing process, however, we have lost several precious
months of construction.
And we've had even more problems actually getting the funds for
the 1%-interest loan approved by the North Carolina State Energy
Department in June 2006. (Yes, 2006.) Although we seem to be inching
our way through this bureaucratic molasses, the cash itself is still
not in hand.
Gardens & Yurts
Elsewhere on the property, however, things are growing well. The
earthen yurt in the woods, fashioned out of our own red-orange clay
and all local materials, is close to completion (View
Photos). We're also eyeing the west side of the main house as
a great place to put up more yurts in a semi-circle of informal
housing for all sorts of visitors. Still other yurts and huts will
eventually be planted more deeply in the woods, to serve the community
as places for solitary retreats.
In recent months much work has also gone into improving the organic
vegetable garden, and it has responded generously. The hardy fall/winter
crops were planted and are growing green under their frost-protective
coverings. In the garden, yurt and elsewhere we've had significant
help from local college and high school students, who volunteer
time as part of their work-service commitments. And in the front
of the property, closer to the road, we've created a grass parking
lot, one that will help keep cars away from the living/practice
areas and that will also give us a second, safer exit onto Panther
Branch Road.
Article, Website Revival, New Computers
On other, more ethereal fronts: Some months ago Lawson completed
an article on Zen and the Unconscious. If it isn’t published soon
in a Dharma magazine, we’ll be posting it on this website.
Our website has long needed an overhaul, and we're working on that
now with the help of Sangha Member Lisa Fernandez, who lives in
Florida and who helped us get the site started some years ago. We
intend to update it far more regularly, and firmly resolve to post
more timely calendars.
And as part of our communications upgrade, one of our founding members
has donated funds for two new Macintosh computers. They've just
arrived, so we're in the process of changing over from our old,
moody and frequently malfunctioning PC's to a new Mac system. Mike
Conley, our local sangha Mac-expert, is pulling the system together,
and has kindly agreed to work with us on an on-going basis. With
deep gratitude for all this good fortune, we're looking forward
to a brand new start in 2008, in every aspect of our communications
and record keeping.
Gratitude
We wish the photographs could more clearly convey how much we've
benefited from the on-going support of Sangha and the larger community
as well. We've gotten excellent and truly generous design support
from architect Chris Larson of Architectura, from Tim Callahan and
Clarke Snell of Think Green Builders, and so much hands-on expertise
from contractor Sam Karahalis, as he has guided us through the site
prep and foundation work. Then there are all the other bodhisattvas
not shown in these photos: those who take care of flowers and food
and bookkeeping and bee keeping, who help with cleaning and maintenance
and zendo tasks. Deep bows to all.
And Finally . . .
Admittedly, we've taken on more than we can always gracefully handle
here at Windhorse. And yet, given our present global situation,
with the looming threat of upheaval and widespread suffering, a
great effort is clearly called for now. We feel this urgency and
also a strong, positive momentum toward helping to establish a sustainable
and vibrant Dharma training center and community, a place of practice
that will support this most radical work of true healing and transformation.
 |
