"O Waters! Wash us, me..." As soon as you arrive at the farm, your busy thinking mind will be halted by the sound of waters and your heart will be glad to be here.

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Spring Wind farm was purchased November 2019 by the Buddhist Society for Compassionate Wisdom (BSCW), a North American Buddhist Order founded by Korean Zen Master, the Venerable Samu Sunim. The farm, located in Clermont, New York, is a very auspicious place with 114 acres of woods, fields, pastures, a large creek (Roeliff Jansen Kill), streams, ravines, barn buildings and a farmhouse. Its name comes from the name of our community [Spring Wind Sangha] of the BSCW.  Just as the winds of spring invite the flowers to bloom, the water to flow, and the birds to sing, so do compassionate Buddhas and Bodhisattvas help all sentient beings discover peace and happiness. May Spring Wind carry the Way of Buddha joyfully to the ten directions!

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The farm used to be a place for dairy cows and Black Angus cattle, and its fields were conventionally used many decades to grow feed corns, soybeans and alfalfa. Now the farm serves as a rural retreat for our teachers, training students and members. We meditate and chant in the mornings and evenings. Vigorous work practice is required to look after the land, animals and gardens.

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Since the formation of the BSCW in mid-70s, establishing a rural place was envisioned to live a Zen life of manual work and spiritual awakening. Sunim had a vision to build a rural Zen community. He wrote in c. 1976 :

 "At such a time through wet snow and frozen rain you walk placid and unbounded. You raise your hand, and what a miracle it is! You lift your feet, and what a wondrous function that is! Like a spring that never dries up you will use your mind, unexhausted and always fresh. Like a jade that shines more with each polishing, it will shine brighter and brighter with each use. Mother Earth brings all things into the world but she is silent. Father mountain breathes life into them but he just towers there without words. Two eyes are set in, nose rises above and mouth opens but cannot speak. Brothers and sisters, just come, laying down the cares and worries of the world, for going to the land is going homeward." (click to read this wonderful vision letter)

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Also, our wonderful publication on Zen & Community Life.