Photo by Jeff Miller
Tucked away in the northwest corner of Arkansas, right on the edge of the Ozark National Park, there is a small Sōtō Zen monastery called Gyobutsuji. Founded and led by Shoryu Bradley in 2011, it described itself as a contemporary Sōtō Zen practice place, shaped by the teachings of Kosho Uchiyama Roshi and Shohaku Okumura Roshi. Gyobutsuji has received some praise for its attention to its environmental impact. It operates off the grid, relying on solar panels, a rain-water collection system, and a wood burning stove. Shoryu Bradley has written about this aspect of Gyobutsuji in the journal Ancient Way, where he discussed the paradox of thinking about some sort of “Zenvironmentalism” as a distinct or modern phenomenon, rather than an essential fact of a tradition which understands the interconnected nature of the world in which it exists. “Our sangha,” he writes, “is the community of all life, and our practice temple is the entire earth and sky. The “food” we offer is our practice of nurturing and supporting other things and beings, as they support and nurture us.”
Founder
Shoryu Bradley (Photo by Jeff Miller)
Shoryu Bradley, Gyobutsuji’s founder, was educated in the American Zen tradition. He was ordained as a Soto Zen priest in 2002 by Seirin Barbara Kohn at Austin Zen Center. He studies at the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington Indiana, under the guidance of Shohaku Okumura Roshi, a Sōtō Zen priest ordained at Antaiji, who moved to the United States to found Massachusetts’s Valley Zendo and later, Sanshin. After his time in Indiana, Shoryu Bradley moved on to Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, where he studied with Tenshin Reb Anderson Roshi, Jiko Linda Cutts, Setsuan Gaelyn Godwin, Zenkei Blanche Hartman Roshi, Myo Denis Lahey, and Kosho McCall, all prominent American Zen teachers who converted to Buddhism as adults. In addition to his BUddhist training, Shoryu Bradley has degrees in psychology from Texas A&M University and in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Texas at Austin.
Tradition
Gyobutsuji is a Sōtō Zen monastery, following the tradition first brought to Japan in the 13th century by Dōgen, who had studied with Cáodòng masters in China. As a Sōtō monastery, its practice is mainly focused on zazen meditation: “just sitting.” Rather than meditating on anything in particular, zazen practitioners emphasise that the key to “silent illumination” is allowing your mind to become quiet, to cease all of the other activity it is usually occupied with. By just sitting in the Buddha’s posture, the practitioner is enabled to see their own Buddha nature.
The tradition was brought to America by Japanese immigrants, and supported in the 20th century by a number of notable teachers, who spread Zen Buddhism across the country, and popularised it among non-Buddhists and converts. Among these teachers was Shunryū Suzuki, a monk educated in Tokyo who founded Tassajara Hot Springs, where Gyobutsuji’s leader, Shoryo Bradley, studied for a time.
Gyobutsuji traces its lineage to the Antai-ji Monastery, where Shohaku Okumura Roshi, Shoryu Bradley’s teacher, was ordained by Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, who was part of Kōdō Sawaki’s lineage.
The kitchen/dining area altar
Practices
Gyobutsuji hosts a week-long retreat monthly, which practitioners can join either in person, by traveling to the monastery, or online. During the five days of these sesshins, practitioners awake at 4:40 am to begin a fifty minute rotation of sitting meditation, walking meditation, and vegetarian meals. The days before and after sesshins are dedicated to work, study, and dharma talks to prepare for the week. This is the core of Gyobutsuji’s calendar, complemented by less rigorous meditation, study, and work during the rest of the month.
In describing their practice, Gyobutsuji emphasises that it is not “a means for individual spiritual attainment.” It is about developing a true understanding of reality beyond the self. Personal development and individual action are undertaken as part of the path necessary to fulfill one’s vow to free all living beings, one of the fundamental concepts highlighted in the monastery’s “Basic Zendo Etiquette At Gyobutsuji.”
Relationships
Gyobutsuji has a close relationship with the Hot Springs Buddhist society, a small group located about three hours away in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Hot Springs society has hosted a number of Dharma talks and visits from Shoryu Bradley, and their members are frequent visitors to the monastery. The Conway Buddhist Society (Conway, AR), seems to have a similar relationship, having hosted talks from Shoryu Bradley on several occasions.
Gyobutsuji also seems to maintain relationships with the communities where their leader, Shoryu Bradley, trained. These include the Sanshin Zen Community in Bloomington, Indiana, Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, the training monastery of the San Francisco Zen Center, and the Austin Zen Center.
Likely owing to their very divergent traditions, Gyobutsuji does not seem to have a significant relationship with its other geographically close Buddhist neighbors, a Thai community in Fort Smith.
Demographics
Monty, border collie and potential Bodhisattva
The monastery’s only permanent inhabitants seem to be its abbot, Shoryu Bradley, who maintains a regular monastic schedule at the monastery for most of the year, and a rescue border collie, Monty, who simply turned up at the monastery and decided to stay. It has, in the past, hosted other long term residents, but it is unclear if there are any at the present time. Visitors to the monastery, sometimes pictured on Facebook, are mostly white, and vary in age from young adults to retired couples. The Gyobutsuji community is largely made up of a number of frequent visitors, who come for a variety of retreats, practice work days, and more casual visits. They mostly reside in Arkansas or other nearby states, but some have traveled from as far away as Florida to practice at Gyobutsuji. In addition to the in-person community, Shoryu Bradley hosts zazen and kinhin meditation as well as dharma talks online nearly every day. Because these activities are hosted online, it is difficult to judge the demographics of the attendees. Dharma talks, which are available as recorded videos on Gyobutsuji’s Facebook page, are given in English, suggesting that English speakers are the target audience.
Events
In addition to their regular practice, Gyobutsuji hosts and participates in a number of special events. In 2017, they hosted a Dharma talk by Zen Master Shohaku Okumura at the Kingston Community Library, a public library in the small town closest to the monastery. Shoryu Bradley regularly gives Dharma talks online, and also travels across Arkansas and the country to teach in other Buddhist communities, some specifically Sōtō Zen, and others which are not affiliated with a particular denomination.
Funding
The original source of funding for Gyobutsuji is unclear, but it is maintained through donations and the work of Shoryu Bradley and other community members, who contribute labour at regular “practice work days.” There is no fee for participating in any of the monastery’s events or retreats, but visitors frequently bring gifts to support the monastery and its residents.
Gyobutsuji is led by a board of directors, including Shoryu Bradley and a number of lay-practitioners who make frequent visits to the monastery. Kirk Rhoads, a long-time Zen practitioner and Mountain Home, AR resident is one member. The treasurer, Lacey Canon, is a significant contributor to Buddhism in Arkansas more generally through her work as founding member of the Hot Springs Buddhist Society and in establishing the Conway Zen Center
Gyobutsuji, “About,” “Lineage,” “Practice Schedules,” “Dharma Talks,” “Calendar,” accessed 4 December 2024 https://gyobutsuji.org/
Shoryu Bradley, Gyobutsuji and the Environment: Practicing With All Beings, October 15, 2015. https://ancientwayjournal.wordpress.com/2015/10/15/gyobutsuji-and-the-environment-practicing-with-all-beings/
“Gyobutsuji,” Facebook, accessed December 4, 2024 https://www.facebook.com/Gyobutsuji/