While taking a break from packing books and stuff yesterday I was noodling around when I ended up at the Wikipedia article on the Emerging Church. It led to my poking around a bit further. And, my goodness! This is a Christianity worth the price of admission. Passionate and engaged but, talk about putting first things first. Now, they’re a diverse crowd, thinking many different things, but some perspectives shared by at least some, if not all of them have... Read more

On this day in 1937 the processed meat product Spam was introduced to the world. A regular feature of my childhood viewed fondly, at least through the patina of time. And scant days before my sixtieth birthday, I feel free to indulge any sense of nostalgia for any good old days, real or imagined… Read more

As the fires rage in California I find my heart going particularly to the Zen community at Tassajara. Here’s a blog that is keeping up with events out there. For those of us who wish to do something, we can put our concentration on that ancient chant discovered by the poet Gary Snyder. SMOKEY THE BEAR SUTRA BY GARY SNYDER Once in the Jurassic about 150 million years ago, the Great Sun Buddha in this corner of the Infinite Void... Read more

There is no doubt in my mind the American Declaration of Independence is one of the signal documents of human history. And if the 4th of July served no other purpose than to draw our attention to the Declaration, it would justify all the money and time and effort that goes into those parades and fireworks. The Declaration speaks to a deep longing of the human heart and particularly the possibilities of autonomy and self-direction. And time flows on… Today... Read more

Changsha had a monk ask Master Hui, “What about before you saw Nanquan?” Hui sat still for a little while. “What about after seeing him?” “Nothing special.” The monk returned and told Changsha this. Changsha said: “The enlightened person sits on the top of a hundred-foot pole; She has entered the way but is not yet genuine. She must take a step from the top of the pole, And worlds in the ten directions will be her complete body.” The... Read more

Well, we are among the fortunate. To suggest otherwise would not only be inaccurate, considering we’re so obviously winners in the cosmic lottery, to complain would be churlish. So much to be thankful for. It appears we have sold our house. It was on the market for two days before we received an offer and accepted it. If all goes as we hope we will close on the 18th of July. And, we found a nice little place just over... Read more

As readers of this blog know I belong to several listservs. Among these I belong to two listservs for Zen teachers. One is “school specific,” and is therefore somewhat more parochial. Although I hasten to add I really appreciate it. The other, however, includes teachers from all the well-known lineages of all schools, as well as most of the less-well known, which are represented on this continent. And, it is the one I have to admit I often find most... Read more

Koans as the Sounds of Silence Stop that distant temple bell. A traditional Zen koan Yesterday when I opened my digest of entries to the minister’s listserve to which I subscribe one writer alluded to how the relationship between spiritual and religious might be a koan. My immediate reaction was no and yes, sort of. No, because when people use that word they usually mean it in the sense of a paradox or, increasingly, a thorny question. And frankly, that... Read more

Language is such a mysterious thing. I’m curious about the origins of human language. I suspect the study of language potentiality within great apes will reveal much. Of course they lack vocal cords and other speech organs, but at the same time appear to possess an ability to grasp the structures of language and so can learn sign language. at the same time I’m intrigued by the language mimicry of certain birds, who can do the sounds without apparently the... Read more

I’ve found myself thinking a tad about liminality. The term comes from the Latin, means a threshold, and points to that state of standing between. We all know that experience, for things small and large. And boy, I feel it right now, in spades. Today lots of things converge, and new directions abound, bubbling possibilities. It happens to be Jan’s and my twenty-sixth wedding anniversary. With a little luck it is also the day we sign the purchase and sale... Read more