The Shasta Abbey monks at a festival ceremony
Shasta Abbey is a monastery for Buddhist monks and a place of practice for lay people located in Mount Shasta, California. The monastery is part of the Order of Buddhist Contemplatives (OBC), an international monastic order of groups practicing Soto Zen. Both OBC and Shasta Abbey were founded in 1970 by Reverend Master Jiyu-Kennett, a British woman who was first introduced to Rinzai Zen Buddhism by D. T. Suzuki and then trained in Japan by her master, Keido Chisan Koho Zenji, for several years. OBC’s teachings revolve around the Eightfold Path and belief in non-self. Shasta Abbey claims that Keido Chisan Koho Zenji specifically wanted a Westerner to bring Soto Zen teachings to the West, which is why Rev. Jiyu-Kennett established the monastery, as well as the OBC. The current Abbess is Reverend Master Meian Elbert, who received Dharma Transmission in 1979 from Rev. Master Jiyu-Kennett.
Lay people cooking a festive meal
Shasta Abbey’s sangha consists of about twenty-six vegetarian male and female monks, plus its lay members, who offer alms in return for lessons on the Dharma. The sangha is predominantly made up of mid-aged white individuals from the nearby Mount Shasta region. Friends of Shasta Abbey (FOSA), an organization of lay Buddhists, serves the monastery by offering help with maintaining the logistical aspects of the monastery, like accounting, plumbing, shop management, electrical work, organizing the library, and driving monks to meditation group meetings. Additionally, FOSA hosts fundraising events and runs the Shasta Abbey gift shop in order to collect revenue for the monks in return for their generosity in offering the Dharma. Shasta Abbey attributes this exchange to the spirit of dana, or generosity. In addition to FOSA, Shasta Abbey accepts donations and alms from those who wish to give food and money.
Monks and lay people at an Avalokiteshwara Ceremony
The fundamental teachings taught at Shasta Abbey come from the Mahayana tradition, as well as the Soto Zen tradition. Soto Zen Meditation is at the center of practice, with the Buddha Nature as the primary focus of meditation. The purpose of Soto Zen meditation, according to Shasta Abbey, is to know and live from the true Buddha Nature that exists within all beings. Meditation, mindfulness, and staying true to the Precepts are believed to benefit not only the practitioner, but also their extended families, friends, and acquaintances. The sangha emphasizes the use of mindfulness in daily life for monks, as well as lay people, because it aids in seeing the Buddha Nature in all existence. Shasta Abbey also mentions the role of home alters in the practice of lay people, as they serve as the point of focus for one’s daily practice.
A monk giving a tour of the monastery
The Shasta Abbey articulates the process by which one may formally take the Precepts and become a Buddhist. Shasta Abbey holds a week-long Precepts Retreat, during which the participants take the Precepts. This traditional way of taking the Precepts is a rarity in the West and points to the efforts to preserve authenticity in Soto Zen practice. In addition to the Precepts retreat, Shasta Abbey offers introductory retreats, continuing practice retreats, celebratory retreats, meditation retreats, week-long retreats, and extended stays, and residential training several times a year. On a more regular basis, the Abbey holds ceremonies and festivals each month, like the Transfer of Merit Ceremony and the Festival of Buddha’s enlightenment, both being held this December. Every Sunday, Shasta Abbey hosts a ceremony that involves the offering of incense, chanting of scriptures, and singing invocations. The ceremony is followed by a Dharma Talk and sometimes a joint meditation with the monks. More specifically, meditation instruction is taught every Saturday, and Dharma Talks for children are offered a couple times a month.
A monk and lay person at Wesak
Due to its association with the OBC, the Shasta Abbey partners with several Soto Zen temples and meditation groups across the United States, Canada, and Europe. This coalition was made in attempt to unite its members and cultivate a supportive religious community. The organization also maintains connections with its Dharma relatives in Malaysia and Japan, although it functions independently from them. Its primary concern is with how to apply the mind of meditation to activities in daily life, and how to make this mindset a continuous refuge in the midst of a world of material flux. Together, the monks and lay people form an alliance in the pursuit of knowing this Buddha Nature in all existence. In addition to Master Jiyu-Kennett, the OBC attributes Reverend Keido Chisan Koho Zenji, Keizan, Dogen, and Shakyamuni Buddha as its founders. By naming these foundational ancient Buddhist figures as “founders” of the OBC, the OBC firmly roots itself in Asian Buddhist traditions, as opposed to more westernized forms of Buddhism. However, at the same time, D. T. Suzuki, a popularizing translator of Buddhist texts, is mentioned as one of Jiyu-Kennett’s first exposures to Buddhism. Given that Suzuki often westernized Buddhist concepts, this brings into question how the Abbey is marketed and presented to an American audience.
Lay people listening to a Dharma Talk
The Shasta Abbey appears to cultivate an authentic practice of Soto Zen Buddhism, as it is rooted in the Dharma, emphasizes the role of meditation and the observance of the Precepts, and seeks to unveil the Buddha Nature in everything. The Abbey often quotes directly from the teachings of Dogen and the Buddha himself and adheres to the traditional aspects of the monastic code. However, as mentioned above, the sangha is overwhelmingly white, which seems odd, given the careful adherence to Dogen’s teachings and Asian Buddhist traditions. The Abbey is not shy in advertising its deep association with Asian Buddhist traditions, values, and ethical codes, and its practice of the Dharma runs congruent with the scholarly consensus of Soto Zen practice. Therefore, the Abbey represents Buddhism in the sense that it accurately practices the religion and is knowledgeable about its roots, however, the sangha’s demographics do not represent the cultural and ancestral realities of being Buddhist. This raises the questions of how much of the Buddhist experience is cultural, how much of it is religious, and what types of Buddhists are being represented in American Buddhist sanghas.
Prasanna Patel ’24
RELG 214
December 7, 2021
Work Cited
Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery, Shasta Abbey Buddhist Monastery, 28 Nov. 2021, https://shastaabbey.org/.