As it happens it was today, the 2nd of December, 1961, that the San Francisco Zen Center published the first issue of Wind Bell. An unsigned article at 50years.sfzc.org tells us: “From its humble single-sheet newsletter beginnings on December 2, 1961, prior to San Francisco Zen Center’s incorporation, over the decades Wind Bell has grown into a much admired chronicle not just of Zen Center but of emerging Western Buddhism. Library Journal has praised Wind Bell as... Read more
Today, as it turns out, is Rex Stout’s birthday and therefore, of course, Nero Wolfe’s. While I missed noting this last year, mostly I try to observe this date. I reprint my thoughts updated each time around… Rex Todhunter Stout was born on the 1st of December, 1886. He was a writer, best known for his mysteries. I’ve read, I’m moderately confident, every one of his Nero Wolfe mysteries. Certainly all thirty-three novels, and probably all forty novellas... Read more
Two noted Christian writers were born on this day. Clive Staples Lewis was born in 1898 & twenty years later in 1918, Madeleine L’Engle was born. C. S. Lewis was a member of the Inklings, an informal Oxford literary group with wide ranging influence. His books included popular apologetics such as Mere Christianity and Surprised by Joy. I remain particularly fond of his Screwtape Letters. But he may well be best remembered for his children’s series the Chronicles... Read more
I’ve just learned that David Loy’s monumental study Nonduality will be released in a second edition next year. It’ll be issued by Wisdom Publications, which devotes its entire list to the propagation of Buddhist insight in the English language. I’m very excited. His Nonduality has been very important to me as I’ve tried to understand the way of the wise heart that I entered into some fifty years ago. Like most people who stumble into a spiritual... Read more
Stop that Distant Temple Bell Miscellaneous Zen Koans A friend recently posted on Facebook a quote attributed to a favorite author, Jorge Luis Borges, “Don’t talk unless you can improve the silence.” This is one of those really interesting quotes that seem to have several mothers. These include Confucius (of course), Mark Twain, (again, of course), and Abraham Lincoln (one more of those of courses…). I’ve also seen the assertion that the phrase about keeping silent unless... Read more
BUDDHISM & POVERTY David Loy Does Buddhism have anything special to contribute to our understanding of poverty, and how to alleviate it? Like other religions, Buddhism is sometimes criticized for its idealism: for encouraging a non-materialistic way of life that goes against the grain of our main desires and motivations. If we want to reduce poverty, we are referred instead to the science of economics, which has discovered the laws of economic growth that promote worldly... Read more
The oldest text attributed specifically to the Zen schools is the Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices. Sometimes it is shortened to the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices. And, sometimes simply to The Two Entrances. It is attributed to the semi-mythical Bodhidharma. Some argue his disciple Huike compiled his teacher’s message as an early version the treatise. And then it was edited more or less into the document... Read more
I’ve been invited by the good folk at Two Truths to provide a series of talks and conversations on Zen meditation with an emphasis on koan introspection, as well as guiding experiences of actual Zen practices as part of a larger experience of Buddhist Asia. Along with an investigation of Zen’s teachings and spiritual practices, we’ll also explore the culture and spirituality of Bhutan. Me, I’ve never been to Bhutan, and am very excited. At the Two... Read more
“Yunmen asked his assembly, ‘I don’t ask you about before the 15th of the month. Tell me something about after the 15th.’ No one spoke, so he responded himself, ‘Every day is a good day.’” Blue Cliff Record, Case 6 The 22nd of November is one of those all too rich dates. This year the 22nd marks our American Thanksgiving. According to Wikipedia this is actually the earliest possible date for this movable feast. For years I’ve... Read more
“The autumn breeze of a single night of love is better than a hundred thousand years of sitting meditation.” Ikkyu Ikkyu Sojun died on this day, the 21st of November in the year 1481. He was one of the singular figures of Japanese Zen. Ikkyu was born in the suburbs of Kyoto in 1394. He possibly was an illegitimate child of the emperor and a courtier. At the age of five he was placed in a Rinzai monastery.... Read more
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