I’ve just learned the Reverend Kay Jorgensen died today. She had just turned eighty-six. A Unitarian Universalist minister, she was co-founder with a Franciscan nun Carmen Barsody of the Faithful Fools. Drawing on the social justice visions of Unitarian Universalism and Roman Catholicism, then throwing in a more than passing interest in Zen practices, and whatever other foolish wisdom crossed their paths, they created a ministry. The Fathful Fools have proven a blessing to those... Read more
Yesterday evening the Zen priest Gesshin Greenwood and her husband Gensan Thomson came over to our condo where, they, Jan Seymour-Ford and I outlined the schedule for our upcoming inaugural Blue Cliff Zen sangha February sesshin, intensive Zen retreat. Within that conversation I could see some of the broad outlines of what our new community is shaping up to be. Gesshin trained almost exclusively within Soto temples & monasteries in Japan. Gensan is a product of the San Francisco Zen... Read more
I was delighted when I first saw the word “coddiwomple” and its definition “to travel purposefully toward an as-yet-unknown destination.” I liked it so much I decided to look it up. While it is listed in various online references to slang, it isn’t in any standard dictionary. Not even the biggest of them, the ones that do include slang terms. Before long I had to reconcile with the fact it is neologism, despite its antique sound, cooked... Read more
I’m no longer sure. Perhaps the first book on Zen that I read was Alan Watt’s Way of Zen. But equally possible was Nyogen Senzaki and Paul Reps’ wonderful little book Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. Whatever the order, these two books pointed me to the Zen way. I cannot say how important they were to me on my personal journey. I notice both continue in print. The Senzaki and Reps book included a number of stories, some of... Read more
Today, the 10th of January, is the traditional date marking the death of Linji Yixuan in 866 within our common era. Linji is a signal spiritual teacher who gave his name to one of the two principal surviving schools of the Zen way. His precise birthdate is not known, nor, actually, the date of his death. He was born somewhere between the end of the Eighth and the dawn of the Ninth century to the Xing family in what today... Read more
The harsh fact is that nothing attributed to Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha of history was written down before several centuries after his death, no fewer than three, and possibly as many as six. That said the compilations of his teachings collected in Pali (sadly, not the language he actually spoke) which claim to be his authentic teachings, are what we have. And, if we’re hoping to find the person and his teachings presented,... Read more
One of the things I like about social media is that it can in fact generate friendships. For instance thanks to social media and specifically Facebook I have come to know Kat Liu. Kat is a sometime scientist, familial care giver, Unitarian Universalist, and Buddhist. She is also wise. We’ve only met a couple of times in meat world. But, I count her a friend and sometimes a teacher. She recently posted a comment on Facebook about the Buddhist concept of... Read more
I belong to a number of Facebook groups that are concerned with Buddhism and Zen. Largely I enjoy them. And I certainly learn things, both positive and negative. So, for instance, I was just reading a note from someone who has found a Pali text that he seems to think is more important than all the others. In fact as he lays it out against other Buddhist texts he discerns an ill he names syncretism. And from there, well,... Read more
Of late I’ve been caught up with questions of Zen practice. As I see it first and foremost Zen is about awakening. Now, this is also important to say. Neither Zen nor Buddhism own awakening. Awakening is our common human inheritance. Although Zen’s practices of zazen, koans, and retreat are the unique disciplines of the Zen way, a great gift to the world. Everything else about Zen is secondary. Not without importance. But secondary. That said probably the... Read more
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