On this day in 1566 the Italian humanist and anti-trinitarian, who had once been personally denounced by John Calvin, was executed in Berne. One of those amazing intellects at the edge of the Reformation, unable to shut up, he fled from Italy to Switzerland, where he had his unfortunate moment with Calvin, and from where he escaped execution by being willing to renounce his heresies and to march barefooted through the city, from Switzerland to Poland, and from Poland back... Read more

Author and beat notable William S. Burroughs would have been ninety-eight today. My big claim to Burroughs fame came some years ago when I was working for Moe’s Books. Burroughs was coming by to sign books, I don’t recall what… But, I did a flyer using words cut out of magazines and then cellophane pasted onto a sheet of paper. I asked that copier service to punch up the contrast so as to show the tape. They agreed to do... Read more

A Guide to Zen: Lessons from a Modern Master Katsuki Sekida Edited by Marc Allen New World Library, 2013, Novato When I was asked if I’d like to review this new abridged edition of Katsuki Sekida’s Zen Training, I was happy to do so. I’d read the book probably around when it was published, in 1975. Admittedly, many readers found it rough sledding, dense and technical. I thought it manna, food from heaven. Rereading the parts put together by Sekida... Read more

Found this on Facebook. It reminds me of the author James Wight, who wrote novels based upon his veterinary life under the pen name James Herriot. In an interview he admitted that he dissuaded his daughter from following in his footsteps and to become a Vet because he thought it too hard for a woman to be accepted in that profession. He paused and then said, so she became a doctor. It was obvious he was pleased… Oh, yes. Also…... Read more

On this day in 1865 President Abraham Lincoln signed the thirteenth amendment, forever abolishing legal slavery in this nation; culminating the horrific years expunging our American “original sin,” if not from our souls, at least from our law books. Two and a half months later the president would be murdered. I was deeply moved by this season’s film “Lincoln,” based in large part upon historian Dorris Goodwin’s book “Team of Rivals,” which is also said to have inspired President Barack... Read more

Yesterday I learned that Patty Andrews who had been the lead singer of the Andrews Sisters act, which rocked America during the Second World War and for some years following, died this past week. She was ninety-four. I find I keep thinking of her and her sisters, and with them of my father and of that generation… Read more

On this day in 1948 Mohandas Gandhi, known throughout the world as the great heart was assassinated. He hoped he would die with God’s name on his lips. He succeeded. Of course there’s much more that could be said. He has been praised. He has been condemned. I suspect he earned both. But, I find myself coming back to that one thing, his desire to manifest the divine in his life, and his desire to name the divine with his... Read more

I received a note from my old friend the Dharma bum, Weasel Tracks, which included the following. I thought it some good advice for us all. And so, here it is, printed with permission… Basia’s Pearl Students of the Way learn from each other as often as from teachers.* In the few years I’ve hung around the Dharma Drum Retreat Center, I interacted with several students, deeply experienced practitioners, of a variety of culture, ethnicity, age, and gender. Sometimes I’d... Read more

Sweeping Zen just posted a great interview with Zen priest & teacher David Rynick, one of the founding teachers of Boundless Way Zen, and its second school abbot. David currently serves as abbot of the Mugendoji temple in Worcester, Massachusetts, generally considered the “mother ship” of the Boundless Way project. He is also author of the wonderful book, This Truth Never Fails. As a writer he has been compared to Annie Dillard, and I think, justly… I recommend a visit… Read more

Frank Schulman’s delightful This Day in Unitarian Universalist History mentions Paul Best for today in 1645 – although it doesn’t actually say why this day in this year. Doesn’t matter to me. Best is a worthy person to note, most any day… Born somewhere in the neighborhood of 1590, Best was educated at Cambridge, fought in Europe as a mercenary and later with Cromwell’s Parliamentary Army. In his travels he encountered the Polish Brethren and embraced Socinianism, holding for the... Read more