Okay, maybe one Buddhist and a spiritual pilgrim deeply sympathetic to Zen. In Nyogen Senzaki and Paul Reps little charmer, Zen Flesh, Zen Bones, near the end they address the question “What is Zen?” They say one answer would be: Inayat Khan tells a Hindu story of a fish who went to a queen fish and asked: “I have always heard about the sea, but what is this sea? Where is it? The queen fish explained:... Read more
Last weekend Jan & I joined the Empty Sky Sangha and its teachers Doug Phillips and Mary Gates for a three-day sesshin in West Cornwall, Connecticut. These are old friends and there is something amazingly powerful and beautiful sitting retreats with long term companions. Empty Sky started out as a Vipassana community and while what they offered was clearly a Zen retreat, there was a bit to the flavor, something more like the lingering of incense in the air, which,... Read more
BLUE CLIFF ZEN SANGHA An Independent Soto Zen Buddhist Community Join us for a day-long Zazenkai, a Zen meditation retreat on Saturday, the 28th of October. The retreat begins at 9am and ends at 5pm. It will consist principally of Zen meditation in twenty-five minute periods punctuated with five to seven minute walking meditation. There will also be liturgy, a dharma talk, and opportunity for practice interviews. Please bring a bag lunch. (There are fast food restaurants in the... Read more
Teitaro Suzuki was born on this day, the 18th of October, in 1870 in Kanazawa, in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. He was born into a Samurai family, his father, like his father, and then his father before, was a physician. Suzuki’s father’s death when he was a child plunged the family into poverty. The questions that rise out of seeing the vagaries of life drove him into a deep spiritual quest. While he was raised in the Jodo Shinshu tradition he began... Read more
For me the whole project of Zen has been about awakening. A bit more than fifty years ago I began Zen practice knowing almost nothing of what I was getting myself into. Other than one thing. Not even twenty, already my life was a shamble. I felt the pain of a world spinning out of control. I felt the pain of my own heart. I’d read some of the few things available about Zen at the time,... Read more
My next book is now available for pre-order through Amazon. Introduction to Zen Koans: Learning the Language of Dragons In her forward to the book Roshi Joan Halifax says, “This marvelous book opens the treasure house of Zen and yet, happily, does not dispel its mystery. James Ford, an excellent storyteller and longtime Zen practitioner, presents a detailed and beautiful description of the craft of zazen, including “just sitting” and various forms of breath meditation—but focuses primarily on koan introspection. “The... Read more
Last evening we launched into sesshin with the good folk at the Empty Sky Sangha in West Cornwall, Connecticut. I am leading it along with Doug Phillips & Mary Gates, two Zen teachers (and deeply interesting, also full qualified Vipassana teachers) whom I adore. I put this small reflection on the timer for Friday morning. After this I will be silent until sometime on Monday. As it happens today marks the Miracle of the Sun, an event that took... Read more
Samuel Clarke was born in Norwich, in Great Britain on this day, the 11th of October, 1675. He attended Cambridge where he fell under the influence of Newton’s natural philosophy. Professionally Clarke was ordained an Anglican priest and held various positions within the Church. As a philosopher he is considered to hold a position in the development of English philosophy between John Locke and George Berkeley. So, an important if transitional figure. When Newton died he... Read more
It was on this day, the 10th of October, in 1837 that Robert Gould Shaw was born into the intellectual and Unitarian elites in Boston, Massachusetts. Before they sold the property at 25 Beacon Street, every time I would go up to the Unitarian Universalist Association denominational headquarters on Beacon Hill in Boston, I would stop at the monument to the men of the 54th Massachusetts that stands just opposite what was the UUA headquarters. It absolutely captured... Read more
A little while back I was invited by the Sycamore, a journal published by the Episcopal Cathedral in Cincinnati to submit a reflection on generosity from a Zen Buddhist perspective. They explained it would be included with reflections from representatives of a number of religious traditions. I was happy to oblige. Well, it is now out, with reflections by Rabbi Mark Washofsky representing Judaism, Father Manoj Zacharia from the cathedral and representing Christianity, Selcuk & Sevcan Karahan representing Islam, William... Read more
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