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
John Steinbeck’s novel the Grapes of Wrath was published eighty years ago, on this day, April 14th, 1939. It was wildly successful. He won the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book award for it. And later when Steinbeck received the Nobel Prize in literature Grapes was mentioned as principal among his writings. The following year John Ford’s masterwork film based on his novel put the story and its themes out to an even larger audience. Woody Guthrie then... Read more
A couple of years ago I wrote a reflection on Zen’s precepts as koans. Okay, it’s a subject I return to with some regularity. And the subject has come to mind, or, maybe has come to heart again. We are talking about the mysterious matter of who and what we are. And, well, with that some thoughts, a few well rehearsed, some brand spanking new… As most who read my blog posts or read my book on... Read more
“Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present.” Marcus Aurelius “For there is but one essential justice which cements society, and one law which establishes this justice. This law is right reason, which is the true rule of all commandments and prohibitions. Whoever neglects this law, whether written or unwritten, is necessarily unjust and wicked.” Cicero “That... Read more
First wrote a version of this this a couple of years ago. It’s a small celebration of one of the founders of the American Unitarian movement. Today, on the one hundred and forty-ninth anniversary of his birth, it seems worth reprinting, slightly polished from that earlier version. William Ellery Channing was born on this day, the 7th of April, 1780 in Newport, Rhode Island. He is one of the more important people in my own spiritual life. William... Read more
It is true that I do not believe in a deity with some human like consciousness messing about in history. And, at the same time, throughout my life I’ve stumbled into such serendipitous events that calling those moments evidence of a good god is totally understandable. At least if you’re not holding too tightly on to what is being proved. It turns out I’m not alone in having these experiences. And with that a small anecdote from noted Buddhist scholar,... Read more
Your Moment of Zen Exploring the Meaning of a Word James Myoun Ford A Talk Delivered at the Inaugural of the Anaheim Zen Sangha A member community of the Empty Moon Zen Network 6 April, 2019 As is my wont I was rummaging around the interwebs exploring how people use and, okay, sometimes abuse the word “Zen.” At a delightful webpage, “Pain in the English,” I ran across a query from someone using the handle “vindibul2” saying, “I recently had... Read more
I love, love LA. It is a world city. It is decadent, holy, dirty, visionary, mean, and glorious. Trying to find the beginning of a city is an impossible task. Los Angeles is a perfect example. Humans have been in the area for the last eleven thousand years. Give or take. The Chumash, for instance, were principally in the Santa Barbara area ranging down to modern day Ventura. But they well may have had an outpost or two... Read more
You find yourself in a stone crypt. There are no windows. The sole door is locked from the outside. How are you free? Miscellaneous Koans of the Harada Yasutani Curriculum I find myself thinking of Herschel Schacter. He was a leader of the Modern Orthodox movement who died in 2013. But we mostly recall him for an incident at the close of the second world war. It was the 11th of April, 1945. He was a Jewish... Read more
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In
Knowing is not the way: A Small Reflection on a Zen koan
The Case Nanquan said, “Mind is not Buddha; knowing is not the way.” Gateless Gate, Case 34 On Facebook I find myself confronted with a lot of knowing. Especially when it comes to politics. People speak with absolute certainty. And it usually drips with various forms of hostility toward those with whom that person disagrees. These hostile reactions manifest in ways from condescension, to mild antipathy, to outright hostility. These “discussions” around politics quickly move... Read more