When I was notified that my first book, published as This Very Moment, and a second edition, In This Very Moment, had gone out of print I felt a wave of emotions. The book had a long run. It was meant as an introduction to Zen; in the first edition it was aimed at the Unitarian Universalist world, in the second for a broader audience.
I was grateful for the opportunity. And I think it was useful.
And, as I re-read it, I realized it was not the book I would write today.
This is that book.
Officially released on the 27th of May, 2025!
It’s the best I can offer at this moment in my life. The product of an additional near thirty years of practice, reflection, and maturation. Also, instead of my first, it’s now my seventh book.
A friend said his mother has taken an interest in Zen and would like an introduction. This book is for her.
It’s totally a stand alone introduction to Zen and Zen Buddhism.
And.
For me it lays the foundation for what I consider a trilogy, what I think of as the Zen Life Today. The second volume, If You’re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break (from Wisdom Publications) describes how to establish a practice. While the third in the trilogy is Intimate Way of Zen (from Shambhala) where I look at the arc of a spiritual life from its beginnings until one’s death.
I begin the book with a small assertion of my understanding of a naturalistic perennialism. And then from that I offer what I understand Zen is and how it can help in the great matter of healing the human heart’s deep wound especially in our moment.
People have said kind words about it.
More generally, psychologist and Zen teacher Gesshin Claire Greenwood, author of Bow First, Ask Questions Later writes, “When I hear James Ford’s words, something in me wakes up. He has the rare ability to communicate something that is much larger than himself. We are all lucky to be in contact with this gift.”
Zen priest and Unitarian Universalist minister Zenshin Florence Caplow, co-author of The Hidden Lamp: Twenty-Five Centuries of Awakened Women says “James Ishmael Ford has given us the perfect introduction—or re-introduction—to living and practicing Zen Buddhism in twenty-first century America. In turns accessible, direct, and erudite, he plays in the deep waters of Zen with obvious love and delight, born of decades of practice and teaching. This delight is contagious!”
And old Zen hand, journalist, and historian Barbara O’Brien, author of The Circle of the Way: A Concise History of Zen from the Buddha to the Modern World says “James Ford has long been an honest and thoughtful voice on matters spiritual and religious. In Zen at the End of Religion he shines a light on Zen as a path for those who are alienated from religious institutions but are still seeking—something. Something deep, boundless, intimate. Zen at the End of Religion is a clear and authentic introduction to Zen.”
I hope you’ll buy it.
It’s available in a paperback and a Kindle edition from Monkfish Publishing and all your usual book dealers.
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