I went out for my usual morning coffee on the day I left Durango. I sat outside enjoying the fresh, cool air while sipping my warm drink, and there I found the first treasure of my hunt.
Striking up a conversation, I learned of the Upaya Zen Meditation Center outside of Santa Fe. So I said to myself, what better treasure to seek than those treasures within? Finding peace and harmony from manifesting it – that’s what Zen Buddhism is all about, right? Perhaps I will be more tuned into finding the literal treasures of Forrest Fenn, if I am in tune with the treasure hunter nature with myself. And just like that, I found myself expectant of my arrival there.
Fast-forward to the passing street signs of Santa Fe’s winding downtown. Adobe walls rise out of the ground on both sides of streets without lines. The feeling of getting around by car downtown is like playing hopscotch – none of the lines are too straight, and some blocks you have to skip over because of construction. Luckily, a map of the city from the Visitor’s Bureau helped make sense of the tangled and narrow streets of this 400-year-old city, which I lovingly began to call the gauntlet.
The adobe walls, hand-carved roof beams and murals across the city depict a cultural tradition and distinct design. Even the Upaya Zen Center is constructed with beautiful adobe walls and hand-carved ramparts. During Wednesday evening dharma talks the residents welcomed us as guests, inviting us to help ourselves to tea and explore the grounds before the talk. As we sat quietly in the Zen temple, the rumble of a gong and entrance of a man in a black garment marked the start. On the path to enlightenment, he said, there is one thing that we will be doing all of our lives – work. This can be cooking, driving, building, maintenance, cleaning, etc. Essential tasks that we repeat again and again, we complete them and then we begin it again next year, or next week, or tomorrow – always with the same result. In these tasks we have the opportunity to recognize and value our own feelings through things that we are doing every day. Every treasure hunter might seek that one treasure chest filled with gold and gems. A Zen treasure hunter should look to find each treasure along the way.
Just out of downtown I was drawn into Natural Stones, where I met gemstone dealer Garrick Beck. His abundant helpfulness and deep local roots make Natural Stones an interesting component to the area, as does its proximity to Counter Culture, the groovy café next door, and a blown glass workshop. Beck’s shop was filled with brilliant opals, gems and many more mystery stones – a jeweler’s delight. Walking through here is like a watered-down feeling of the inside of Forrest Fenn’s hidden bronze treasure chest. The great advice from Beck and the beautiful stones there make it a solid place for treasure hunters, jewelers and travelers alike to check into. My treasure trove so far? The café, the gem dealer and the monastery alike.
Next time I’ll talk about Forrest Fenn’s The Thrill of the Chase: A Memoir, and clues for finding treasure. Till then, happy hunting.
David Strawn is a Fort Lewis College student from Creede. This is the second in a series on the travels of a treasure hunter searching for the riches of humans, nature and human nature.
