Fire Monks: Zen Mind Meets Wildfire at the Gates of Tassajara
Release date: 2011 / 244 pages
Synopsis (from the back cover): In June 2008 more than two thousand wildfires, all started by a single lightning storm, blazed across the state of California. Tassajara, the oldest Zen Buddhist monastery in the United States, was at particular risk. Set deep in the Ventana wilderness east of Big Sur, the center is connected to the outside world by a single unpaved road. If fire were to enter the canyon, there would be no way out…
First Sentence: On June 21, 2008, lightning strikes from one end of drought-dry California to the other ignited more than two thousand wildfires in what became known as the ‘lightning siege.’
Review: If I had to review this work in one sentence, I would write: “A study of tension.” Tension between living in the moment, learning from the past, and preparing for the future. Tension between the value of human life and of impermanent structures. Tension between physical places that change lives and spiritual places that have no physical structure. Tension between individual authority and the authority that comes from experience. Tension between the community and the individual. Tension between choosing to live where fire resides and preserving a beloved home. Tension between saving a 100 year old oak and the rejuvenating effects of wildfire to the ecosystem. Tension between a freely spoken voice and the responsibilities of speaking for a community. Many of these tensions were covered in the following passage:
“A clever Zen teacher might say that standing back and letting the monastery burn belies a kind of attachment to the idea of nonattachment, that trying to save it when it could all burn anyway is true nonattachment. In trying to save Tassajara from the fire — or your own life from disaster — you can’t be sure you will. In fact, you can lose everything you love in a moment. And that’s not a reason to give up. If anything, it’s a reason to turn toward the fire, recognizing it as a force of both creation and destruction, and to take care of what’s right in front of you, because that’s all you actually have.”
While I am quite glad I read Fire Monks and will not soon — if ever — forget it, I was often impatient with narration. The greatly anticipated fire does not occur until page 183 and the build up was slow going at times. While the preparation for the fire was fascinating (especially so since my new home experienced a forced evacuation due to fires in our canyon last spring), the politics between the local and state firefighters was not, nor were the politics inherent in the monastery itself. The telling seemed to jump around quite a bit, and I struggled to keep track of the many individuals included beyond the five who stayed to fight the fire.
The chapter that covered the actual fire was gripping and compelling, as expected. and I found the Afterword to be the most pleasurable prose of the entire work. If I had been Busch’s editor, I would have recommended that she start with her own experiences — whether of Zen or of her husband’s cancer. As a reader who had not heard of Tassajara before this work, I needed a guide or a clearly defined voice to guide me into this world; after reading her Afterword, I am convinced that Busch could have served this role very well. My second recommendation would have been to focus more solely on the five individuals who stayed to fight the fire. I understand that the decision to stay or not might be interesting to the members of the community — or maybe those who left felt the need to justify this decision – but the average reader would have no problem leaving a raging wildfire when ordered to do so and would not judge those who did. Justification seems unnecessary and I would have preferred more time spent on why these five were willing to sacrifice their lives to save structures that truly are impermanent and could be rebuilt. So, I would have focused on each of their journeys more explicitly and then gotten to the fire sooner.
However, Busch’s mission was deeper and more significant than simply covering the excitement and danger of fighting a wildfire. So, while I could have enjoyed this work more than I did, I do recommend it and am glad I now know more about this event.
Sounds like a good book. Even if just to learn how wild fires are fought and how it effects the lives of both human and wild creatures
Sounds interesting. I haven’t heard this side of the fire story before. Thanks for the review.
This sounds like a wonderful book to read. Look forward to reading it soon.
This sounds like quite a suspenseful read.
We may have seen the birth of the “Zen thriller”… This does seem an intriguing read!
thanks for this fascinating books.
I used to live in Southern California where we were constantly getting fire alert and watching fires on the news. I am very familiar with the large Buddist Temple in Hacienda Heights but haven’t heard of the Tassajara before. I am very intersted in this book, want to learn about the Tassajara. I agree that saving the monastery does go against the principle of nonattachment so I was immediately drawn to this book. Thank you for the opportunity to win this book.
Oh oh, I have a recommendation! Have you seen Fire Season by Philip Connors? It’s my best-of-2011(-so-far). Highly recommended by me and others; sounds similar to this one, which also sounds fascinating, but I’m concerned about your caveat about your impatience. None of that with Fire Season, I would think. I found every moment enchanting. Check it out.
Sorry, I also meant to share, in case you’re interested: my review and my dad’s guest review.
Sounds like a fascinating read! Please include me in the Giveaway. Thanks!
tension sounds like a good description of this one.
Thanks for being on the tour.
This one sounds so good, and I’m hearing good things about it!
nfmgirl AT gmail DOT com
Like the idea of “tension” for a book club. Living here in the Black Hills of SD we also have forest fires. Will keep in mind when asked for suggestions… also the Fire Season suggested by Julia.
This is an absolutely fascinating and well written book. Even tho I knew the entire story before reading, I could barely put the book down, it was so gripping.
If you would like to see my photos of the Basin Complex Fire area, taken immediately after the fire, and again in the Spring following the fire, here’s a link:
http://davidsilvaphotography.com/about/book/
I did get a pre-publication copy of the book, but since it is a galley (?) proof, it is not the final version, so I’d love to get a Giveaway copy. How do I enter?
Hi David — Your comment serves as your entry! This weekend I will randomly choose a winner from all the comments. I’m glad you enjoyed Fire Monks — this seems like a work (and event) that people would feel very strongly about. I look forward to checking out your pictures!
Thank you for the additional recommendation, Julia! I will look for that…
I’d like to read this book
I love the sound of this book. I can’t wait to read it.