So, there I was minding my own business poking through Youtube’s algorithmic determined offerings, when up popped a delightfully funny, and informative, clip from “Lutheran Satire.” The clip, “St Patrick’s Bad Analogies,” is a worthy romp through the deal of the Christian trinity, while making mild fun of the English missionary to the Irish, St Patrick. So, you know. Win. Win. Totally worth watching… It also set me to thinking about the problems of the... Read more
Dr Robert Smith took his last drink today, the 10th of June, in 1935. Alcoholics Anonymous, which was organized by Dr Bob and Bill Wilson, dates its creation from this moment. So, happy Eighty-seventh birthday, AA! Using principles first adapted from the Oxford Group and over time evolved into its own thing, Dr Bob and Bill W created a powerful spiritual movement. I’ve reflected on the spirituality of Alcoholics Anonymous a number of times, for instance here... Read more
In 2017 Jan and I had the pleasure of spending a couple of days in Manhattan. We took advantage of proximity to have breakfast at the Algonquin, sitting not far from the round table itself, under a portrait of Dorothy Parker and many of the rest of the Vicious Circle. Cost more than I liked by a fair bit. But, we got to eat breakfast under a picture of Dorothy Parker.... Read more
Prayer as Spiritual Practice: Random Notes from my Dreams James Ishmael Ford I’ve been meeting with an old colleague twice a month for a while now. He suffered from a swarm of strokes that has left him severely disabled, mostly physically, but also to some degree cognitively. Talking is extremely difficult for him. He’s also a Unitarian Universalist Christian. So, after some experimenting, I’ve taken to reading the Psalms with him. This has led me on a journey... Read more
NO THERE THERE A Dharma Talk Edward Sanshin Oberholtzer Joseph Priestley Zen Sangha Empty Moon Zen Drive north from Oakland to the city of Berkeley along Adeline Street and just where BART, the Bay Area commuter line, dives back underground you’ll find one of those sculptures that Berkeley has commissioned to mark the entry points into the city. In this case, two large sets of sheet metal letters reading HERE as you enter Berkeley and, for... Read more
It was on this day, the 4th of June in 1411, that King Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of Roquefort cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon. Today the European Union recognizes this in law dictating only those cheeses aged in the Combalou caves of Roqueort-sur-Soulzon may bear the name Roquefort. As it should be… Wikipedia tells us how “Legend has it that the cheese was discovered when a youth, eating his lunch of bread and ewes’ milk cheese, saw... Read more
I see today is the anniversary of the death of Pope John XXIII. He was the pope of my childhood. He was the pope Protestants liked in an era where that didn’t happen. He was known as the Good Pope and Good Pope John. He’s actually the second person to use that particular style, John XXIII. The first was an early Fifteenth century bishop who lost out in the struggles among several popes. In the end that... Read more
Out in the social media realms, the American Rinzai priest Meido Moore shared the great Thirteenth century Eihei Dogen’s advice for dying. It had been awhile since I’d read it. And, the re-read touched me. So, I thought it appropriate to share the quote here together with a few words of reflection. First the text. From the Shobogenzo section 94, “Mind of the Way”, in the Levitt & Tanahashi translation. “When you leave this life, and before... Read more
ZEN AND THE DARK Chris Hoff Dharma Teacher Empty Moon Zen This week I visited Sedona Arizona. Sedona is a place I have visited regularly since the first time I visited over 25 years ago. I know this might be cliché but, I just like the vibe. And its beauty of course. Sedona is known for a lot of things, but Zen? Not so much. That might be changing as I discovered that there is a Dharma successor of... Read more
THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS AND ANOTHER THING Spiritual Responses to Hard Things James Ishmael Ford Delivered on the 29th of May, 2022 at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Long Beach “Stop the war raging across the river.” “Miscellaneous Koans,” Empty Moon Zen Tomorrow is Memorial Day. It’s meant to be a time to pause and reflect and give thanks for those who have died in defense of our republic. That died part is often lost among the barbecues,... Read more
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