In the broad middle of the Twentieth century there were a number of writers exploring a synthesis of Eastern and Western approaches to the spiritual life. I would hazard the best known of these was Alan Watts. For good and ill I have to count him among my teachers, if some of that was in reaction to his highly idiosyncratic version of Zen Buddhism. Another teacher for me, if somewhat more lightly, was Terence James Stannus Gray, who... Read more

The McLeod Ganj Psalter RSV, Week 4 Ken Ireland (Ken was Ivy League and Jesuit trained, and for some years a member of the Society of Jesus. He currently lives in Dharamshala. Ken’s a long time Zen practitioner and a friend. He’s taken an interest in my current deep dive into the Psalms project, and it inspired a poem cycle. This is the fourth of the cycle, first published at Ken’s Buddha SJ blog and shared here by permission.) The... Read more

    All I have is a voice To undo the folded lie, The romantic lie in the brain Of the sensual man-in-the-street And the lie of Authority Whose buildings grope the sky: There is no such thing as the State And no one exists alone; Hunger allows no choice To the citizen or the police; We must love one another or die. W.H. Auden, fragment from September 1, 1939 At the time we lived in Massachusetts and I was... Read more

      I am not especially fond of the institution of monarchy. The reasons for this are many. I’m never not aware the whole institutions of monarchs, each and every one of them, are founded upon someone who killed and maimed their way to the top of a violent heap sometime in the past. There is simply nothing inherently worthy about these family businesses and their frequently unworthy successors. With that I’ve not particularly followed the doings of the... Read more

The McLeod Ganj Psalter RSV, Week 3 Ken Ireland (Ken was Ivy League and Jesuit trained, and for some years a member of the Society of Jesus. He currently lives in Dharamshala. Ken’s a long time Zen practitioner and a friend. He’s taken an interest in my current deep dive into the Psalms project, and it inspired a poem cycle. This is the third of the cycle, first published at Ken’s Buddha SJ blog and shared here by permission.) The... Read more

      It was on this day, the 7th of September, in 1911 that Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested under suspicion of stealing the Mona Lisa. A classic example of the dangers of being an ironist in literalist times. Apollinaire was a renowned critic, poet, pornographer and the man who coined the term “surrealism” as well as “cubism.” He would come to be considered one of the signal Western literary figures of the early twentieth century. One could see why he... Read more

      This is the anniversary of Zen teacher Issan Dorsey’s death on the 6th of September, 1990. I’ve written appreciations a number of times, often expanding over the years on something started a long time ago. Here, after my brief bio of the roshi, with permission I include Ken Ireland’s appreciation of Issan first delivered at Maitri Hospice, which Issan founded, on the twentieth anniversary of Issan’s death.   Tommy Dorsey, Jr, was born on the 7th of... Read more

    A Definition of the Koan Zhongfeng Mingben Translated by Ruth Fuller Sasaki The koans [kungans] may be compared to the case records of the public law court. Whether or not the ruler succeeds in bringing order to his realm depends in essence upon the existence of law. Kung (ko), or “public,” is the single track followed by all sages and worthy men alike, the highest principle which serves as a road for the whole world. An (an), or... Read more

      A Fervent and Necessary Arrangement. A Dharma talk Case 29, Blue Cliff Record   James Ishmael Ford The Case   A monk said to Dasui, “When the thousands of universes are altogether and utterly destroyed in the kalpa fire — I wonder whether this perishes or not.” “This perishes,” said Dasui. “If so,” persisted the monk, “does it follow the other?” “It follows the other,” said Dasui. Blue Cliff Record, Case 29 This story is also collected... Read more

    Thinking of my brother. He would have been seventy-four today. Instead he never saw fifty. We grew up cheek by jowl. Our family was always on the move. In our formative years we only had each other. As we grew up I wanted to be a priest. Christian, Buddhist, that was a matter not as clear He was cool and wanted to have a good time. Pot and acid at first. But his true loves turned out to... Read more