widening the circle capital campaign green gulch...
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Green Gulch Farm
Widening the Circle Capital Campaign
SAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER 8/5/2012
Green Gulch Farm Bell Tower ProjectGreen Gulch Farm Bell Tower ProjectGreen Gulch Farm Bell Tower ProjectGreen Gulch Farm Bell Tower Project
A temple bell and a bell tower to support it are traditional elements of a Zen Buddhist temple. The sound of
the bell is considered to be the voice of the Buddha, proclaiming peace and compassion as far as it resounds.
When someone strikes the bell—at dawn, mid-day or dusk—he or she bows three times, offering their
practice and deepest intentions with a hopeful prayer that all those who
hear the sound of the bell will be awakened and be freed from all
suffering.
Green Gulch Farm has a large and resonant temple bell crafted in Japan
and brought to America in 1975. For most of its life the bell, called a
bonsho, or obonsho (great sacred bell) was housed in a small shed, as a
temporary location until a proper bell tower could be constructed.
Eventually, the shed collapsed, and the bell remained silent for some
time. One of our Muir Beach neighbors called to see what had
happened: he missed the sound of the bell marking the rhythms of the
day. The Green Gulch residents decided to hang the bell from a very
large tree near the meditation hall—again as a temporary home. For
years now, it has hung from the massive branch of this noble tree.
Green Gulch Farm has always intended to create a beautiful, traditional
house for the bonsho bell, yet there were always pressing priorities in
the community. Last year when Hoistsu Suzuki Roshi (Zen Center
founder Shunryu Suzuki Roshi’s son) visited Green Gulch, he noticed it
hanging from the tree and expressed sadness for the bell’s place in our community. He reminded us of the
importance of the bell and re-inspired us to create a real and enduring home for it.
As a feature of Zen Center’s Long-Term Vision and Restoration Plan for Green Gulch, we are now moving
forward to complete the Bell Tower Project and create a beautiful and functional structure to support the
Green Gulch community as it continues the profound practice of sounding the temple bell.
The Green Gulch Farm Bonsho Bell The Green Gulch Farm Bonsho Bell The Green Gulch Farm Bonsho Bell The Green Gulch Farm Bonsho Bell
In the 1970s, as arrangements were being made with traditional craftspeople in Japan for the custom-made
bell for Green Gulch Farm, the Zen Center community members participated in the traditional practice of
contributing metal objects to the casting, including their own valuable jewelry. The bonsho bell was
decorated with intertwined dragons representing the Farm’s temple name, Soryu-zenji, Green Dragon Zen
Temple. The bell’s inscription, a dedicatory poem written by former Zen Center Abbot Richard Baker
Roshi, reads:
Awakened By this Japanese bell The sky-headed sea-tailed Green Gulch dragon Stirs the fine mists and rains Of right Dharma For East and West
Green Gulch Farm
Widening the Circle Capital Campaign
SAN FRANCISCO ZEN CENTER 8/5/2012
Our ProgressOur ProgressOur ProgressOur Progress
The Green Gulch Farm community has already
engaged with a traditional Japanese joinery
carpenter, Mike Laine, to design and build a bell
tower for Green Gulch. The design that has been
developed is simple, traditional and in harmony
with Green Gulch’s existing temple structures. The
proposed location is on the lawn near the current
zendo (meditation hall) and tea house. This fits well
within the Green Gulch Farm Long-Term Vision
and Restoration Plan, which calls for this area to
function as a central courtyard anchored by the
temple bell and its new home. Once we have
secured the Bell Tower Project funding of $90,000,
we expect to complete the bell tower and install the
temple bell in 2013.
Widening the Circle Capital CampaignWidening the Circle Capital CampaignWidening the Circle Capital CampaignWidening the Circle Capital Campaign
The Green Gulch Farm Bell Tower Project is part of Zen Center’s Widening the Circle Capital Campaign.
Through the capital campaign, the Zen Center community is improving our three practice centers;
increasing our capacity to develop and support outstanding teachers and programs; fostering innovating
projects that connect people with Zen teachers, practice, and community; and establishing an endowment
that will provide a foundation for long-term financial sustainability. All donations will be matched by a long-
time benefactor.
To learn more or contribute to the Green Gulch Farm Bell Tower project, please contact:
Anne-Marie Rosché
415 268-0296
The new Green Gulch Farm Bell Tower will be similar to this one
at Kurimoto Japanese Garden.
Inauguration Ceremony Current Temple Bell Location. Photo by Steven Harper