Bell Tower

For forty years, through fog, rain, and clear early morning dark, the sound of the Green Dragon Obonsho has been a daily, faithful companion to our Zen practice, as temple bells have been for centuries in China and Japan. We have all heard it, as it is rung during morning zazen, and for weddings, funerals, ordinations, and other ceremonies. It has become a part of our bodies, our psyches, our lives.

The original home of the bell was a small structure near the maintenance shop. Later, another hut was built for it, behind the zendo. When, after many years, this hut began to disintegrate, we decided to build a proper bell tower, but “temporarily“ the bell was hung from a Cypress tree.

Now, many years later, after much discussion and planning, we have a design for a bell tower constructed using traditional Japanese joinery, bringing the bell from its hidden location behind the zendo out to the “main lawn” and into its proper relation with the zendo and the Green Gulch valley. The design draws on our Japanese heritage, and is in keeping with both the bell’s origin and its present California home. We worked on this design with Mike Laine and his partner Ryosei Kaneko, both carpenters skilled in Japanese joinery. We are confident that Mike and Ryosei’s crew will build a structure that will be an important and iconic addition to our temple complex.

With the great and generous support of many Sangha members, through donations large and small, through donations made in gratitude for the Triple Treasure and donations made in loving memory of Daigan Lueck (1931-2015), Steve Stucky (1946-2013), Michael Sawyer (1942-2008), and other Sangha members, the project is fully funded.

A model of the bell tower, from the front. There will be a gentle curve at the eave line and in the structural roof, which will be covered in cedar shingles.

The model from below, showing the fan rafters and the underside of the eaves.

The sound of the great bell includes the voices of all our ancestors, blending them with the vows and aspirations of those practicing now at the edge of this continent. It extends to the endless future, encouraging all who hear.

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

Farming and greeting guests

The pre-voice of this old bell

Is not hindered by the wind.

— Richard Baker, 1975