It occurred to me as I’m now writing a blog it might be a good idea to actually read some. Up until this point the only blog I’ve in my “favorites” file is Philocrites by Chris Walton, the erudite and generous editor at UU World.
This morning I thought I’d begin exploring some of the sites I’d dug up for links at this site. Here I’d like to briefly mention the three blogs I’ve found (so far) written by authentic Zen teachers. There are a batch of Zen oriented or focused blogs by others, but these are all I’ve so far been able to find by people formally trained and acknowledged in this ancient tradition.
I’ve always liked Brad Warner. I was told by his publisher I was the only formally authorized Zen teacher who was willing to blurb his Hardcore Zen. But then I suspect only a strangely hybridized Zen/Unitarian Universalist doesn’t have a reputation to damage by raving about a Zen teacher who originally was a punk musician who traveled to Japan primarily to be closer to the workings of his favorite monster movie creators. Brad writes about Zen at full shout and seems to have a taste for the flame. But his Zen sure looks real to me.
Lew Richmond is a Berkeley Zen Center priest and one of those wise and solid teachers I would like to be when I grow up. (By the bye Lew’s son Ivan Richmond wrote a delightful memoir Silence and Noise: Growing Up Zen in America.) It is completely in character for Lew that his blog also hosts others.
I’ve been a fan of Norman Soketsu Fischer for just about forever. A former abbot of the San Francisco Zen Center, he’s a poet of considerable skill, has a profound interest in the education of youth, and takes advantage of standing within a conservative tradition to break out and try new things on.
Reading these three I’m beginning to get a sense of what might be a useful, and importantly, readable blog, not to mention learning about Zen as it takes its North American shape.
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