Come, Thief Telling & Retelling of a Story of a Zen Life James Myoun Ford A Preface In my adolescence I stumbled upon Journeys on the Razor-edged Path. It was written by Simons Roof. I never learned much about him beyond how in the first half of the twentieth century he traveled to India and studied with several prominent gurus. After that he may have had some connections to Western theosophical communities. Or, maybe not. Details are misty. He… Read more
March 20, 2019
Come, Thief: Telling & Retelling of a Story of a Zen Life
March 20, 2019 By James Ford
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March 19, 2019
Librarians as Guardians of Civilization: Recalling Clara Breed
March 19, 2019 By James Ford
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Clara Estelle Breed was born on this day, the 19th of March, in 1906, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. At her father’s death when she was fourteen the family located to San Diego. After she earned her master’s in Library Science she began a more than forty-year career within the San Diego library system. She started in 1928 as a children’s librarian and eventually spent twenty-five years as the City Librarian. Known as “Miss Breed,” she had a storied… Read more
March 18, 2019
Bhutan Adventure with Zen teachers James Ford & Gaelyn Godwin, and Others
March 18, 2019 By James Ford
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March 17, 2019
All Hail St Gertrude, Patron of Cats
March 17, 2019 By James Ford
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Another under appreciated saint due to having to share the date with a super saint, is St Gertrude of Nivelles, whose feast is today, the 17th of March. Gertrude was a seventh century nun and abbess, and has become the patron of gardeners and most importantly of cats. Be sure to scratch a cat’s ears in her honor… Read more
March 16, 2019
Four Central Texts of Soto Zen Buddhism
March 16, 2019 By James Ford
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I was wandering around the interwebs when I found myself returning once again to the Sotoshu website, the site for the Japanese Buddhist church from which my own practice and ordinations derive. In the section titled “What is Sotoshu” I found an interesting summation of spiritual texts upon which the school relies. They state: “We recite various Buddhist sutras, including the Meaning of Practice and Verification (Shushogi), the Heart of Great Perfect Wisdom Sutra (Hannya Shingyo), The… Read more
March 15, 2019
La Fe de un Unitario Universalista Budista
March 15, 2019 By James Ford
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Por Pablo Correa para IGC. Esta es una traducción del volante “The Faith of a Unitarian Universalist Buddhist” de James Ishmael Ford, quien sirve actualmente como ministro de la Iglesia Unitaria Universalista de Anahein en California, y profesor acompañante de Empty Moon Zen Network. James recuenta su historia cristiana, budista y unitaria universalista, y cómo existen coincidencias históricas y en su camino de vida sobre estas tradiciones espirituales. Este maestro zen y unitario universalista nos introduce al mundo del budismo,… Read more
March 15, 2019
Noting the Birth of the Notorious RBG
March 15, 2019 By James Ford
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As it happens today is Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s eighty-sixth birthday. Not one of those days normally celebrated. But, that acknowledged, a day I hope we will take note of. And a life, I for one, hope is extended for years to come… Joan Ruth Bader was born on this day, the 15th of March, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the second child and second daughter of Nathan & Celia Ginsburg. Her father was a… Read more
March 13, 2019
A CELEBRATION OF COMMUNION (For Unitarian Universalists & Other Religious Liberals)
March 13, 2019 By James Ford
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A Celebration of Communion for Unitarian Universalists & Other Religious Liberals Preface Since first celebrated for Maundy Thursday in 1995, versions of this service have been used within Unitarian Universalist communities across the North American continent. All are welcome to adapt it and use for their communities. Acknowledgements are appreciated. The sources upon which this service are based are many and varied. But grateful acknowledgment must be given especially to the Anglican liturgical scholars Dom Gregory Dix and… Read more
March 12, 2019
Hitting the Road With Jack Kerouac
March 12, 2019 By James Ford
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Jean Louis Kerouac, or maybe it was Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac was born to a French-Canadian family in Lowell, Massachusetts, on this day, the 12th of March, in 1922. Of course, we know him as Jack Kerouac. The Wikipedia article on Kerouac gives us a pretty good summation of the person and his legacy. “He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is… Read more
March 11, 2019
Zen Master Soen Nakagawa
March 11, 2019 By James Ford
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It was on this day, the 11th of March, in 1984 that Rinzai Zen master Soen Nakagawa died at Ryutakuji monastery in Japan. I shared this last year. Felt appropriate to offer it again. In my study of Zen come West, Zen Master Who? I wrote about him. Through his regular visits, his Dharma heirs, and others he taught, Soen Nakagawa would become one of the most important figures shaping a Western understanding of Rinzai… Read more
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