A New Bridge, A New Path, A New Beginning

Throughout history, bridges have connected two points and often served as a symbolic marker. A journey from here to there; a time to reflect along the way. This month, as Esalen unveils a new bridge connecting the north and south side of campus, faculty and staff reflect upon what bridges mean to them, the transformational process of creating a new bridge and the positive ripple effects the new structure will create.

Beloved Esalen faculty Chungliang Al Huang, a longtime tai chi teacher and the founder and president of the Living Tao Foundation, has a deep connection to the existing creek footbridge. He has crossed the bridge and meditated underneath it along the running brook for more than a half a century.

“Since I first came to teach here, that sacred place at the bridge represented my life’s work in bridging East/West cultural arts and finding a synthesis of the world’s yin/yang ‘tai ji’ unity,” Al says. “From the early days when Esalen co-founder Dick Price and I shared our kinship of being the perennial students immersed in the Tao, we treaded the path under that special bridge into the ravine and canyon hundreds of times together. It holds significant meaning for me.”

The current bridge was built in the mid-1980s. The genesis of the new bridge emerged as a way to create better access for all between the two sides of the Esalen campus, which a fresh water creek bisects. “The current bridge was at the end of its usable life," says Esalen Special Projects Manager Bruce Christiansen. "While the bridge may have meet the safety standards of the time it was built, there was room for improvement."

The new bridge features a variety of improvements, including:

• Greater access for those with mobility issues including eliminating steps that could prove challenging.
• Allowing for Increased use of electric vehicles for visitors with mobility issues as well as for staff bringing materials to the northside of campus. The new bridge also reduces the need for internal combustion trucks.
• Improved emergency access on property.

From groundbreaking to completion, the construction process took approximately six months. Staff worked with a biologist throughout the bridge’s planning and execution, taking into consideration any and all environmental concerns.

The end result features a 50-foot span across the creek that is 12 feet wide with improved approaches and drainage on both sides. The structure contains a composite beam design consisting of steel I-beams with a reinforced concrete deck and a wooden and metal railing. Material from the old bridge will be distributed throughout the greater community.

"I see the symbolism in the new bridge as we're building a bridge between the old and the new, the past and the future," Bruce says.

"The old foot bridge carried a great many feet, human and beast, and provided as many intimate moments as those feet moved past each other," adds Tim Hulls, Esalen’s Director of Facilities. "The new bridge is a major milestone toward progress and what we at Esalen need to do to provide an experience that is inclusive, safe and a movement to sustainable practices."

Over the decades, many seminarians have experienced the Esalen bridge and have appreciated its placement on campus, including staff who have worked on property for many years.

"For me, the bridge always symbolized 'connection' as it connects both sides of the campus," says Tatyana Sanikovich, Esalen's Director of Human Resources. "I was taught a ritual while crossing the bridge that I enjoy. I was taught to stand on the bridge over the creek while facing the ocean. Next, you close your eyes and think of everything that you want to let go of that does not serve you, and you release it down the stream to the ocean. Then you turn to the canyon and think of everything you want to invite into your life and voice it internally or speak it out loud. As you face the river it will flow into you and your life. And then I would cross the bridge whichever direction I needed to go."

Al echoes Tatyana's sentiments, noting that the bridge evokes a sense of wonder as he recalls many individuals associated with Esalen who have made a difference in his life.

"I think of the bridge — the crossing and coming together of two sides of Esalen — to be my kinship and fortuitous collaborations with Esalen mentors, such as Alan W. Watts, Joseph Campbell, Gregory Bateson, Laura Huxley [wife of Aldous Huxley], Stanislav Grof and Huston Smith,” Al says. “It has been my good fortune to be an integral part of the Esalen family and to continue sharing my belief of this world unity with the importance of East/West cultural arts synthesis. Jointly, we will prevail and wake up the world to realize this 'human potentiality' of peace on Earth through this blessed experience of a utopian living community—Esalen— in which we are blessed to belong and to thrive.”