Jan & I were in Bart’s Books in Ojai (one of the best bookstores we’ve found since we’ve come home to Southern California. It has become a bit of a destination place for us, or, more a major willing to go way out of the way detour on a drive to Santa Barbara. The only problem I have with them is they don’t have a public bathroom. You might think about that, guys…) where I picked up a copy of... Read more

I have an old friend who likes to go by the nom de plume, or perhaps a nom de guerre, Weasel Tracks. A very long time ago a native American shaman bestowed it on him, and it sort of stuck. He is what I like to call a dharma bum. Or, perhaps that’s the title I have bestowed upon him. For sure in my book he is a true person of the way. While he never sought the paths to... Read more

In the Christian calendar today is the feast of Dionysius the Areopagite. In the Acts of the Apostles, the second half of the text that we know as the Gospel According to Luke, there is someone named Dionysius who is converted by Paul’s sermon at the Areopagus, a famous rock outcropping at the Acropolis in Athens. According to Eusebius he would go on to become the first bishop of Athens. Rather more important is that a series of writings appeared... Read more

The Zen Project in North America: A Small Progress Report James Ishmael Ford I started practicing Zen in 1969. I had a troubled heart, and I was on a quest for meaning and purpose. I had a deep sense something was wrong. The world around me was chaotic, the terrible realities of our racially divided country were being held up to the world’s attention, we were embroiled in a war that seemed to have no real purpose, women were demanding... Read more

Archibald John Motley, Jr was born on this day in 1891 in New Orleans. He would become one of the major artists associated with the Harlem Renaissance. The smallest of ironies was that he never in fact lived in Harlem. He was also considered a leader of the contemporaneous Chicago Black Renaissance. He spent most of his life in Chicago and attended the Art Institute of Chicago, receiving a classical artistic education. Motley’s own interests took him toward the modernist-realist... Read more

William Laud was born on this day in 1573. The Anglican communion dedicates the 10th of January, the date of his death (by beheading), as a feast. William Laud eventually rose to the rank of Archbishop of Canterbury and was the close advisor to King Charles the first. What makes him important to remember is how he was central in the establishment of what would become the High Church party in the Church of England, and eventually the Anglo-Catholic movement.... Read more

AWAKENING IN ZEN James Ishmael Ford The project of Zen is waking up. Actually, the whole of religion could be said to be about awakening, its realization and the paths to it themselves arising, flourishing, sometimes misleading, sometimes corrupting, and in each in its own good time falling away. Awakening is in fact a part of our common human inheritance. It does not necessarily associate with Zen or Buddhism or any religion. But in Buddhism and Zen it is found... Read more

Josh Bartok, my dharma successor and a teacher of growing reputation edited a book in 2013, Daily Doses of Wisdom: A Year of Buddhist Inspiration. In it he included a number of quotations pulled from two of my books, Zen Master WHO: A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen and If You’re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break: Field Notes from a Zen Life. What follows are fifteen quotations when taken together I believe represent a fair if not... Read more

Some notes for reflection. I’m just back from our biennial gathering of Soto Zen clergy, filled with hope, some anxiety, and lots of energy for the project. Think renewal. And, with all that bubbling with comments on what is going on. I’ve been thinking about the issue of formation of Soto Zen priests for some time, okay, decades. While I don’t have firm conclusions about this, I believe I have identified five separate styles for creating Soto Zen priests here... Read more