THIRD PURE PRECEPT Zen’s Shorthand for the Bodhisattva Vow A talk delivered at Empty Moon Zen‘s Saturday morning Zoom gathering James Ishmael Ford To remind you. The three pure precepts are derived from verse 183 in the Dhammapada, a collection of sayings attributed to Gautama Siddhartha, the Buddha of history. The verse goes: “Renounce all evil; practice all good; keep your mind pure—thus all the Buddhas taught.” There we clearly see the first two of... Read more
Perception, Wisdom, and Wonder Closing the Rift Between the Rational and Spiritual Danaan Deneve Weeks Delivered as a sermon at the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles January 22, 2023 I want to talk about wonder. This isn’t going to start like I’m talking about wonder, but I swear that’s where this is going. First, a little context: I am an evolutionary ecologist, and I am also an animist. As an evolutionary ecologist, I study how organisms interact with... Read more
A Note on the Use of Chairs in Zen Meditation I have been practicing Zen well past fifty years. My skin is wrinkling. My hair is a different color than it was in my youth and maturity. I’m shorter than I once was. And I need to go to the bathroom when I need to go to the bathroom. Admittedly, I still am not worried about buying green bananas. But I know that day is right around... Read more
A Simple Introduction to Zen’s Koan & Huatou James Ishmael Ford It seems we all have a question. Why was I born? What is it all about? Who am I? What is this? In my adolescence along with all the other things of changing body and awareness, I realized how desperately I wanted to know if there was a God. It burned in me in ways that words simply fail to convey. Questions. In Zen there are two... Read more
Zen at the Margins Monastic, Priestly, Secular, Jewish, and Christian Zens James Ishmael Ford A non-believer opened his heart to the Buddha, saying, “I am not asking about words, I am not asking about the wordless.” The world honored one sat quietly. The non-believer replied to this, “With your wisdom and heart you have parted the clouds of my confusions, and showed me the way through.” He made bows and departed. After this the Buddha’s attendant Ananda asked,... Read more
Zen as a Way of Magical Realism James Ishmael Ford Yangshan Huiji had a dream. In it he traveled to Maitreya’s hall, where he was led to the third seat. No sooner had he sat than a senior monk struck the bell and announced, “Today the one sitting in the third seat will preach.” Yangshan immediately stood up, and also gave the bell a strike. He then said, “The truth of the great way is beyond the four propositions... Read more
Charles Gore was born on the 22nd of January, 1853, in London, to an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family. His great-grandfather was an earl, his grandfather a general. Following the path of privilege he was educated at Harrow and then Oxford, taking a first class in Classics in 1875. In the same year Gore was elected a fellow at Trinity College in Oxford and the next year ordained a deacon in the Church of England. In 1878 he was... Read more
Zen and the Garden of Eden Wisdom from the Ancestors James Ishmael Ford Now the serpent was more crafty than any other wild animal that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree in the garden”?’ The woman said to the serpent, ‘We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden; but God said, “You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that... Read more
Recently my thoughts have turned to the place of hell in Christian thought. Back in 2021 the Pew Research Center conducted a survey of American belief in heaven and hell. It found across denominations from Catholic to Pentecostal to Fundamentalist in the aggregate, ninety-two percent of those who identify as Christian believe in heaven. I’m intrigued by the eight percent, but for here I’m setting that aside. A somewhat smaller number believe in hell, again across denomination... Read more
Convocation 2023 UU Buddhist Fellowship Convocation is a biennial opportunity for UU Buddhists to sit together, compare notes on our sangha experiences, study and play together. We have been holding convocations since 2005. For each convocation we invite a guest teacher to offer dharma talks and teaching. In addition, there will be times of meditation, workshops, and informal meals and breaks where you can get to know other attendees. The 2023 Convocation will begin on Thursday, April 27,... Read more
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