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![]() Gate in Palo Alto, designed and built by Paul Discoe in a style being considered for the Tassajara Gate. Photo: Roslyn Banish Oakland & Tassajara This page provides the basic information about the Tassajara Zen Joinery Apprenticeship program which will take place in Oakland, CA, for eight months and conclude with installation of the new gate at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center over a period of two weeks. Before applying, please read the information on this page thoroughly. To be considered for this program, you must complete and submit the Zen Joinery Apprenticeship Application, available online at the link below:
The closing date for applications is July 1, 2012, or when the program becomes full. Feel free to contact us with any questions you might have about the program (see below). ProgramThe Zen Joinery Apprenticeship program (ZJA) offers the opportunity to train in the art of Japanese joinery with master craftsman Paul Discoe. We invite you to join us in rebuilding the main entry gate to Tassajara, the first Zen monastery outside of Asia. A new gate will be designed and built in Oakland, CA, over nine months by a small group of apprentices working in the traditional manner under the tutorship of Paul Discoe. Shunryu Suzuki Roshi, the founder of the San Francisco Zen Center, ordained Paul Discoe as a Zen priest and sent him to Japan to study Japanese carpentry in the 1960s. This is a unique opportunity to study in-depth with master craftsman and Zen priest Paul Discoe on a project to rebuild the front gate at Tassajara, his spiritual home. The program, every other Saturday in Oakland, will offer invaluable hands-on training to those interested in learning all aspects of traditional Japanese joinery. The final assembly of the gate will take place at Tassajara, east of Big Sur, CA, during a two-week intensive work period. ContentThe program will teach students the philosophies and methods of Japanese joinery under the tutorship of Paul Discoe. It is a project-based class that will collectively build the new main entry gate for Tassajara Zen Mountain Center.
![]() Paul Discoe. Photo: Joinery Structures Paul DiscoePaul Discoe is a formally trained widely recognized master of Japanese joinery as well as being an ordained Zen Buddhist priest in the Soto Zen lineage of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi. He studied art history and philosophy as an undergraduate in the United States and Buddhist temple design and construction in Japan. He became a student of Shunryu Suzuki Roshi at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center in California, and, after four years, Suzuki sent him to Japan to train under a traditional master builder for five years. Upon his return, he founded Joinery Structures in 1988. His projects include the Kojin-an Zen Temple in Oakland for Akiba Sensei, the founders hall and kitchen at Tassajara, the Lindesfarne guesthouse and Wheelwright Center, and the abbot’s house at Green Gulch, as well as several prestigious homes and projects internationally. His current project is a system of prefabricated building parts, made of salvaged and recycled materials, that can be assembled in many forms. ScheduleThe training will take place in Oakland in the form of a full Saturday, 8:00 am to 5:00 pm, every other week from the end of July 2012 to late March 2013. The final assembly of the Gate will take place at Tassajara during a two-week intensive work period from April 6 to April 20, 2013. In order to be considered for the apprenticeship program applicants will need to commit to the full program including one week of the construction work period in April 2013. Calendar![]() Gate in Palo Alto, designed and built by Paul Discoe in a style being considered for the Tassajara Gate. Photo: Roslyn Banish
CostsThe cost of the Zen Joinery Apprenticeship program is $1,400. This includes:
The cost does not include:
Application ProcessIn order to apply for the ZJA program please fill out the [online application form] - NOTE: The program is full as of June 15, 2012; the application is no longer available. If you have any difficulties with this process, please contact simon.moyes@sfzc.org. Applications are due by July 1, 2012. The application will be reviewed and you will be contacted within two weeks. Upon notification that you are eligible for the program a $300 deposit will be required to be accepted into the program. The program is limited to around 10 people. Limited scholarships are available for this program. Please contact simon.moyes@sfzc.org if you would like to apply for a scholarship. Thank you for your interest. ![]() Traditional Japanese construction details. Drawing: courtesy Joinery Structures |
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