November 16, 2024

Alan Watts died on the 16th of November. in 1973. For many reasons, some good, some less so, he continues to be a presence at that edge of North American spirituality where what has long been called East and West meet. Watts had a significant place in the earlier years of my spiritual life, and even today remains, if not so central, still significant.  Again, for good reasons, and not so good. And, perhaps more important I believe he stands... Read more

November 12, 2024

What is now many years ago when Jan & I first moved to New England’s rocky and lovely soil, Jan wanted to go to the Cambridge cemetery to put a rose on Henry James’ grave. I was more than happy to join her as I wanted to put a flower on William’s grave. You know the brothers, one wrote like a psychologist, the other like a novelist… After consulting some guides we bought a small bouquet of roses and drove... Read more

November 8, 2024

Hugo Enomiya-Lassalle was born into a Huguenot family on this day, the 11th of November, in 1898 in Gut Externbrock, in Westphalia. I try to remember this remarkable person as his birthday rolls around. Although I’m also aware as a remarkable spiritual figure perhaps his death date would be the most appropriate time to pause and reflect and celebrate his life. Actually some years I do both. On the 11th of November in 2024 he would have been 126 years... Read more

November 2, 2024

(At our half day sit with Empty Moon Zen today, our guiding teacher Roshi Edward Sanshin Oberholtzer gave the dharma talk. He unveils the miracle promised in Dongshan’s Five Ranks, a promise which reconciles the absolute and relative, the essential and the contingent, form and emptiness. I asked if I could reprint it at my Monkey Mind blog and he graciously agreed. Well worth a read…) In philosophy departments the pre-Socratics are often treated as precursors to the philosophical greats,... Read more

October 29, 2024

On Sunday Jan and I took in the new film, Conclave. It’s advertised as a mystery-thriller. That seems a bit of misdirection. I suspect in part because for a Hollywood production, it’s pretty much outside the conventional boxes. And how to characterize it is difficult for the advertising people. It’s based upon the 2016 novel of the same name by the British novelist Robert Harris. The script is written by Academy award nominated screenwriter Peter Straughan. The director is Edward... Read more

October 27, 2024

                  There are people I try to remember on either their birthdays or the anniversaries of their deaths. People who have in some way touched the spiritual life. And out of that have brought some kind of healing to the world. One such person is R H Blyth, who died on the 28th of October, in 1964. Reginald Horace Blyth was born on the 3rd of December, in 1898. He was the... Read more

October 23, 2024

I have an interest in the thesis that the Heart Sutra, beloved of the Mahayana, and chanted in Zen temples and centers basically every day, was in fact a Chinese composition, which was later back translated into Sanskrit. Best I can tell this theory was kicked off by the formidable scholar Jan Nattier. But of the various scholars who’ve dug into this question, possibly none has done so with as much diligence as Jayarava Attwood. He has shifted me from... Read more

October 19, 2024

A list sayings from the Gospel of Thomas that correspond to quotes attributed to Jesus in the canonical Gospels   When commenting on the Gospel according to Thomas writers will say some are the same as found in the canonical gospels, some pretty much word for word, others modified. I used ChatGPT to come up with a list. I eliminated some as too farfetched for my tastes and ended up with 22. Immediately I found myself confronted with some very... Read more

October 12, 2024

At our Saturday morning zazenkai on October 13th, 2024, my dear friend and co-conspirator at Empty Moon Zen, Roshi Edward Sanshin Oberholtzer gave the Dharma talk. He explored the first verse of Dongshan’s famous Five Ranks. I asked if I could share it at my Monkey Mind blog, and he graciously consented… It often takes a child to ask a question that opens either a can of worms or a fresh insight into the nature of things. Where do babies... Read more

October 4, 2024

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. The writer described encountering a small Buddhist society whose members were following an adaptation of the rule of St Francis. I’ve long since lost the book and have never been able to find anything else about this little band, almost certainly consumed in the fires of that second... Read more

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