Jan and I were at a gigantic annual booksale in Santa Barbara. We go there every year. This time was difficult as we are in the midst of dramatically shrinking our personal library. But. Well. There we were. I was halfheartedly poking through the books when I saw the title Christ the Eternal Tao. I poked through it. The author is Hieromonk Damascene, a priest in the Serbian Orthodox Church, and a disciple of and biographer of the... Read more
(A sermon by James Ishmael Ford, delivered at the Neighborhood Unitarian Universalist Church in Pasadena, on the 24th of September, 2023) *** One day while walking quietly together, out of the silence the Buddha’s attendant Ananda declared, “Teacher, to have companions and comrades on the great way is so amazing! I have come to realize that friendship is fully half of an authentic spiritual life. They proceeded along quietly for a while more, before out... Read more
I saw a huge form, rounded and shadowy, and shaped like an egg… Its outer layer consisted of an atmosphere of bright fire with a kind of dark membrane beneath it… From the outer atmosphere of fire, a wind blew storms. And from the dark membrane beneath, another membrane raged with further storms which moved out in all directions of the globe. Hildegard of Bingen, Scivias, Book One, Vision Three It’s been such an... Read more
The other day I came across a wonderful little essay “The Minimum Working Hypothesis,” It was Aldous Huxley’s attempt at providing a core to his belief in a perennial wisdom. It triggered a wave of thoughts for me. And in particular how much I owe to him and two of his colleagues Gerald Heard and Christopher Isherwood. One more distantly, but two inescapably. It inspired me to pause and gather a few thoughts about these three... Read more
This essay by Aldous Huxley was first published as “The Minimum Working Hypothesis” in Vedanta for the Western World edited by Christopher Isherwood (George Allen & Unwin, London, 1948, pp 33-35. The book notes it also appears as part of Sebastian’s notebook in Huxley’s philosophical novel, Time Must Have a Stop. In the novel he explores many of the themes in his classic study Perennial Philosophy. I suggest all are worth a read, although this essay... Read more
Jan & I have now seen two episodes of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. We both have enjoyed them very much. We thought of it sort of as the original Star Trek, but done better. I’m pleased to note that at Rotten Tomatoes, the pros give it a 98% thumb’s up. And cautioned at how a solid but much less commanding 78% of viewers like it. Now, while I’m fond of the Star... Read more
The living way is like a well: You can constantly use it, and yet it never dries up. It is the eternal boundlessness; Birthing the infinite worlds. It is hidden from sight and yet always present. I have no idea who gave it birth. It is older than God. Tao Te Ching, Chapter 4 (my paraphrsase) There are elements that we can discern as “religious-like” in some animal behaviors. Of course, there is nothing to suggest... Read more
Me, I’m endlessly fascinated by the monks and nuns we now call the Desert Fathers and Mothers. They represent a movement that began in the third century in what we think of today as Israel and Palestine, Syria, Arabia, and most of all in the Egyptian desert. They first captured my imagination through Thomas Merton’s carefully curated collection, the Wisdom of the Desert. And this interest has continued on since. Today, the 9th of September (in... Read more
It was today, the 5th of September, at 12:53pm (Eastern time), 2006, that I put up my very first blog post. It was a Gary Snyder poem. Lew Welch jut turned up one day, live as you and me. “Damn, Lew” I said, “you didn’t shoot yourself after all.” “Yes I did” he said, and even then I felt the tingling down my back. “Yes you did, too” I said — “I can... Read more
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien died on this day, the 2nd of September, 1973. He was 81. Today at the Birmingham Oratory, the church where he recieved his first communion and confirmation in 1903, celebrated a requiem mass. Others are also marking his life. Including me, here… Tolkien was born on the 3rd of January, in 1892, into a middle class English... Read more
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