I have a friend. Sometimes I refer to him as a Dharma Bum. What he really is, is a spiritual pilgrim. A little like Elijah he often appears when he is needed, shares a word, often a just right word, and is gone.” He is one of the wisest of my friends. And he writes like an angel. I’ve called him our own prose Han Shan, well, with a dash of Ikkyu. If that doesn’t convey information,... Read more
With all his heart Zhaozhou asked his teacher Nanquan, “What is the way?” Nanquan replied, “Ordinary mind is the way.” Zhaozhou pushed, “Should I direct myself toward it, or not?” Nanquan responded, “If you try to turn toward it, you betray your practice.” Frustrated, Zhaozhou asked, “How can I understand the way if I don’t turn toward it?” Nanquan explained, “The way does not belong to the realms of knowing or not-knowing. Knowing is delusion. Not-knowing is blankness. When... Read more
Alan Watts is one of the most interesting of people. He was one of the principals introducing Zen Buddhism to the West in the first half and a bit beyond of the Twentieth century. He nearly single handedly introduced a vision of Zen that reinterprets the original of East Asia, ignoring, downplaying, and once or twice wildly misrepresenting critical aspects of the tradition. It should not be surprising he is in equal parts appreciated and castigated by advocates of... Read more
Once Upon a Time There Was a Queen Named Love James Ishmael Ford I’ve been thinking a lot about stories as windows into the spiritual life. One that is terribly important to me is the story of Gautama Siddhartha. It is a story that has been told and retold. What follows is a version of my retelling of that story. A slightly different version of this telling was included in my book Introduction to Zen... Read more
“Once there was a disciple of a Greek philosopher who was commanded by his Master for three years to give money to everyone who insulted him. When this period of trial was over, the Master said to him: Now you can go to Athens and learn wisdom. When the disciple was entering Athens he met a certain wise man who sat at the gate insulting everybody who came and went. He also insulted the disciple who immediately burst... Read more
One of my favorite books is the Wisdom of the Desert by Thomas Merton. That slender volume recounts some of the teachings of the desert fathers and mothers, Christian monastics in the fourth and fifth centuries within the Egyptian deserts. These are stories that on occasion recall the sayings and actions of the Chan masters of Medieval China. Discovering this book I was enormously excited at that connection. And so it was a small sadness to see that Father... Read more
As to happens the always lovely Episcopal Church commemorates the life and work of the Scottish-American naturalist John Muir on this day, the 22nd of April. Not precisely sure why this day. He was born the day before, the 21st of April in 1838, and birthdays are not the normative anniversary for commemoration in Christian liturgical calendars. And, as he died on the 24th of December, 1914 we can see why that particular day would be inconvenient for... Read more
Easter as a Zen Koan James Ishmael Ford April 21st, 2019 Unitarian Universalist Church in Anaheim I served most of my years as a parish minister among our New England congregations. They are generally more traditional in their structures. And, frankly, more comfortable with our Christian origins and heritage than are either the majority of our Midwestern or Western churches. Don’t get me wrong, they’re full on Unitarian Universalist as we understand it today, wildly eclectic and in the... Read more
A Zen Priest’s Argument With the Argument from Design A Bit of a Meander on Why I Don’t Believe What I Don’t, and Why I Do Believe What I Do, Concluding with a Call to Something. James Myoun Ford A Facebook friend who I really like is currently on a family trip to Scotland. Today he posted a picture of that statue of David Hume with his toes rubbed shiny from generations of students hoping for... Read more
I find myself thinking a lot about us as human beings. In the great swirl of things, looking at how we exist in this world, and what evils we are capable of, it is hard to see us as basically good. But, also I don’t see we’re unrelentingly evil. Clearly we have two propensities, both on full display to anyone who cares to look around. Maybe to anyone willing to look within. This brings to mind that... Read more
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