(A dharma talk delivered at the North Carolina Zen Center sesshin on the 19th of October, 2023.) A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to attend the first in person gathering since covid of the now venerable American Zen Teachers Association. The meeting was held at Great Vow Zen monastery in Oregon. I’d hoped to see Teshin there, but he was gallivanting around Japan. For me these gatherings are mostly meant to... Read more
The Japanese Zen community marks today, the 15th of October, as the anniversary of the day in the year 606, when Jianzhi Sengcan returned to that mystery from which all of us come and, as with that ancient venerable, to which all of us return. In our Zen traditions Sengcan (Seng-ts’an in the older Pinyin transliteration and Sosan in Japanese) is the third Chinese ancestor, inheriting the dharma from Huike who inherited it from Bodhidharma.... Read more
In Iran and within the Persian diaspora today, the 12th of October, is Hafiz Day. (Also rendered as Hafez…) And a very good day to think of this remarkable Persian poet. While in the west he remains in the shadow of the wondrous Rumi, in the Middle East, especially in Iran, Hafiz is more than a competitor for hearts and readers. Khwāje Shams-od-Dïn Mohammad Hāfez-e was born in the ancient Iranian city of... Read more
We seem to be endlessly fascinated by people’s last words. They are often taken as summations of people’s lives. And perhaps that’s so. At least on occasion. Pretty much everyone knows of Oscar Wilde’s last words said in a cheap hotel room. “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us must go.” A pretty good... Read more
William Laud was born on this day, the 7th of October, in 1573. He was born into a family of clothiers, attended local schools, and then studied at St John’s College, in Oxford. He took his BA in 1594, his MA in 1598, and his doctorate in 1608. He was ordained deacon in January and priest on the 5th of Apirl, in 1601. In 1611 Laud was elected president of St John’s college. His ecclesiastical career proceeded apace, he was... Read more
Today, the 4th of October, is celebrated as the feast of St Francis throughout the Western Christian churches. Many years ago I ran across a book describing a visit to Japan sometime before the second world war. I don’t recall a lot about it. Except, that is, for one thing. Which I’ve never forgotten. The writer described encountering a small Buddhist society whose members were following an adaptation of the rule of St Francis. I’ve... Read more
On Wednesday morning, the 27th of September, Jan drove me to the Burbank airport where I flew north to San Jose, changed planes, then continued on to Portland. There I was picked up by my friend, colleague in UU world, and in the Zen universe my senior student and an apprentice teacher, Janine Larsen. We paused for lunch in Portland, and then she took me the sixty seven or... Read more
Annie Wood was born on this day, the 1st of October, in 1847. Under another name she would eventually gain fame as a journalist, and later a theosophist as well as a tireless worker for social justice, including working for Irish self-rule, and eventually a leader in the early Indian struggle for home rule. At 20 she married an Anglican priest, Frank Besant. And it is under that name, Annie... Read more
Jalaladin Muhammad Balkhi, the wondrous Jalaladin Rumi was born on this day, the 30th of September, in 1207. I write about him every once in a while. Here, for instance, I devoted a whole dharma talk to him. In 2007 he got a lot of press as “America’s most beloved poet.” And you know, he probably still is. Rumi was a Muslim theologian, sometimes these days people slide over this fact while celebrating that other... Read more
Satya Narayana Goenka died on this day, the 29th of September, 2013, at his Mumabi home. He was survived by his wife Elaichi Devi Goenka, six sons, and a generation of Vipassana meditation practitioners. It is probably not possible to overstate his importance at the foundation of the modern insight meditation movement. He trained more than 1300 “assistant teachers,” who conduct retreats led by, at least as counted at Wikipedia, by 120,000 people a... Read more
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