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Art Exhibit: David Silva, photography

January 8 - January 31
In the City Center Art Lounge

Reception on Friday, January 8, 6:30 pm

Artist's statement: The impetus for this photography show is two-fold. One is my own personal relationship with the arid, rugged, fire-formed chaparral ecosystem of the Ventana Wilderness. Between the ages of 6, when I first hiked Mt. Tamalapais, and 28, when I helped defend Tassajara from the Marble Cone Fire, I had lived in, hiked, backpacked, and studied this landscape. Thus, I feel this landscape was, and still is, a powerful force in defining who I was, and who I have become.

The other source of inspiration for the exhibit is my past history of studying and practicing Zen. Zen is constantly looking at what is real, and that all reality changes. This is especially true in terms of birth and death. When I visited these mountains after the Basin Complex Fires, what kept arising in my mind was the Genjo Koan, especially this passage:

Firewood becomes ash, and it does not become firewood again. Yet, do not suppose that the ash is future and the firewood past. You should understand that firewood abides in the phenomenal expression of firewood, which fully includes past and future and is independent of past and future. Ash abides in the phenomenal expression of ash, which fully includes future and past. Just as firewood does not become firewood again after it is ash, you do not return to birth after death.

Such inquiry becomes more central to me, also, as I age, and reflect on my own true nature.

David Silva studied and practiced Zen in the Suzuki-roshi lineage from 1969 to 1979 with Jean Ross-sensei, Katagiri-roshi, and Richard Baker-roshi. He lived at Tassajara in 1970-71, and has returned innumerable times since in various capacities. He helped protect Tassjara from the Marble-Cone Fire in 1977.

EVENTS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS SHOW:

A talk by Diane Renshaw: California Chaparral—A Fire-adapted Ecosystem: Friday, January 8, in conjunction with the reception.

The public dharma talk at City Center on Wednesday, January 20, 7:30 pm, by Abbot Myogen Steve Stücky, who was at Tassajara during the fire.


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