Back in 2008 I read a review of the book Merton & Buddhism: Wisdom, Emptiness & Everyday Mind edited by Bonnie Bowman Thurston. The reviewer cited a particular line that I’ve not been able to shake. “(W)hen the Dalai Lama was asked if he believed in God, he replied ‘It depends on what you mean by ‘God’: if you mean by ‘God’ What Thomas Merton means, then yes, I do.’” This very much caught my imagination. And, I wrote on... Read more
George Hosato Takei was born in Los Angeles, California, on this day, April 20th, 1937. Today, he is probably best known for his social media presence as a wit and social commentator. He is, of course, also a social justice activist, with a focus, although hardly exclusively on LGBTQ rights. And, for most all of us of a certain age, and it seems generations following, he is and will always be Star Trek’s Lt Hikaru Sulu. In 2008 he married... Read more
As many of my friends know I’ve worked principally as a Unitarian Universalist minister for the past quarter of a century. This has supported my family and me as I’ve also studied and then taught Zen. I like to think I’ve been useful. And now that I have retired from parish ministry I am devoting myself fully to guiding our Blue Cliff Zen Sangha, writing, leading retreats, and supporting a handful of Zen teachers in their early formation. There is... Read more
I’ve been a fan of David Chadwick ever since I read his memoir of four years studying zen in Japan at the end of the nineteen eighties, Thank You and OK. I was pleased that we would end up meeting and spending some time visiting on several occasions. I really like him. And so I’m just happy as a clam to discover an extended interview with David where he talks about many things including his magisterial biography of the great... Read more
There is an ever increasing library of videos regarding Zen available on Youtube. As one might expect, they are of varying quality and usefulness. Here are a handful I believe are useful for someone looking to know more about Soto Zen, and particularly Soto as it is taking shape here in the West, and more specifically in North America. The ancient way with some new wrinkles… First, an historical overview. Not the best, but serviceable… In Hawaii ... Read more
MY ZEN BUDDHIST EASTER A Sermon James Ishmael Ford 16 April 2017 Unitarian Universalist Church Long Beach, California I served most of my years as a parish minister among our New England congregations. They are generally more traditional in their structure, and, frankly, more comfortable with our Christian origins and heritage than either our Midwestern or Western churches usually are. What that meant was that I was always expected me to preach about Easter on... Read more
A couple of years ago I wrote a meditation on the Christian day before Easter, Holy Saturday. It continues to haunt me, and as the calendar has rolled around to another one, I thought I’d give it another go. Holy Saturday. Jesus is dead. With that in the Christian story, God is dead. Resurrection has not yet happened. Actually there’s no good reason to even think of something like a resurrection. If you’ve lived any time at all you really know... Read more
Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was born on this day in 1891. He is better known as B. R. Ambedkar, sometimes Dr Ambedkar, and to the many whom he served throughout his life, as Babasheb. Dr Ambedkar is one of the singular figures of the Indian revolution. And, significantly, in the years that followed, as a religious reformer. I wrote an appreciation of Babasheb last year. He is someone who should be known better than he is, and recalled by those of... Read more
Thomas Jefferson was born on this day, the 13th of April, 1743 at the family estate in Virginia. In my circles there is an ongoing debate as to whether Thomas Jefferson was a Unitarian. Actually the short answer is simple enough. Yes. However, a slightly longer answer is yes and no. Jefferson’s theology was a mix of deism and Unitarianism and he declared in a letter written late in life that if there were a Unitarian church in Virginia, he... Read more
It was fifty-six years ago on this day in 1961 that Yuri Gagarin flew the Vostok 1 in an orbit of the Earth. This made him the first human being to touch outer space. As the rocket was poised to launch ground control informed him they were about to lift off, and he replied, “Poyekhali!” Which translates as “Let’s go!” I understand in the Eastern bloc his excited call to go has become the moment they mark as when the... Read more
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