Size: About one square mile. A guess would be that 100 people are here at any one time.

Architecture: Worthy of note. Originally built in the 1930's as getaway 'honeymoon cottages', this facility is spread wide among ancient sequoias in Northern California on the western flank of Mt. Shasta. In wintertime there is a hushed, reverent, silence over blinding white snow. The rustic cabins sit among newer cedar buildings, including a zendo, chicken coops, dining hall, admin center, and various other support facilities.

(Zen) Amen Factor: 10. You only know it 'cause of the utter silence in the zendo during meditation. The silence is more than the absence of sound; it is a presence one is constantly aware of.

Slickness Factor: 0. These folks, Americans all, are the real deal insofar as sincerity and a complete lack of pretentiousness goes.

Diversity Factor: 0. Not even one Japanese or Chinese or Indian national found. Not surprising.

Order of service: This place has two functions. The first is the training of Zen monks. The second supports the first, and is a sort of dude ranch for the spiritual city slicker, a destination resort for the restless or for the committed Buddhist. Anyone can come to spend a weekend, a week, a month, or any other length of time negotiated with the Guestmaster. Prices are more than reasonable: $75 for a three-day weekend, including vegetarian meals prepared mostly from food grown by the monks. Not even the monks can live a cloistered life here indefinitely, as one can in many Catholic monastic orders, however. Zen practices action, and they want to get you out in the world working for the 'salvation of every sentient being.' (This sounds vaguely familiar....)

Ah, but there's another price, or gift, depending on your dedication and point of view. You buys your ticket and you takes the whole ride, meaning that during your stay you follow the normal ritual of the day. This consists of getting your sorry butt out of bed at oh-dark-thirty in the AM, and immediately doing 45 minutes of sitting meditation in the zendo. This is followed by an hour of work, one-half hour for clean-up, then breakfast. This is followed by a work period, more meditation, lunch, more meditation, more work, and then a communal time when everyone gathers in the center of the compound and enjoys one another's company for about a half-hour. After this is dinner, followed by an evening service and more meditation. Depending on weather this may be kinhin, or 'walking meditation,' the purpose of which is to train one to live in the moment while doing everything, not just at services. (Hmmm, this is starting to sound real familiar....)

Personal notes:

The western mind cannot easily come to grips with silence, particularly focused silence, where you are acutely aware of each thought that comes to your brain. Five minutes seems at first like forever, and you despair at the realization of how much pointless, raw static most of your daily thoughts are. Man, try it for five minutes and you'll see. The brain just clicks merrily along its rails as you listen to the chattering, constant monologue going on upstairs. Try it again with a marshmallow-size pillow wedged between you butt cheeks at 5AM, and, well, let's not go there......After some practice, the best description I can give is that you feel like you're going home. This is prayer to the Buddhist until you are praying unconsciously 24 hours a day. 'No holiness, vast emptiness' is what they call it, meaning, in Zen fashion, the emptiness becomes holiness once you stop labeling it.

Enough digressions. If there is a more tranquil pace on earth than the abbey, I haven't seen it. But, it gets old after a short time. You begin to long for a struggle, to see people working out their problems in some recognizable fashion. And, to get that hated pillow out of your butt.