It was this day, the 7th of February, in 1497 that followers of the Dominican friar and preacher and for a moment functional dictator of Florence, Girolamo Savonarola, gathered together what they and the good friar considered temptations into sin, piled them up, and lit them as bonfires. These objects included clothing, cosmetics, mirrors, musical instruments, playing cards, paintings, and books. Lots of art, lots of books… They called it the falò delle vanità, the Bonfire of the Vanities. As... Read more

      Joseph Priestley died on this day, the 6th of February, in 1804. He was born into a comfortable dissenting family in Birstall, Yorkshire, on the 24th of March, 1733. As a small child he lived with various extended family. His brilliance was quickly noticed, at four he could recite the entire Westminster Shorter Catechism. He also quickly learned Greek, Latin, and Hebrew. Everyone assumed he would become a minister. In 1749 during a severe illness he had a... Read more

      Inayat Khan Rehmat Khan Pathan died in Delhi, India, on this day, the 5th of February, in 1927. He is more commonly known as Hazrat Inayat Khan. Hazrat being an honorific. And sometimes by the title Pir-O-Murshid, which could be understood as senior teacher and head of a Sufi order. He was born in Vadora, Gujarat in India, on July 5th, 1882. His family had been prominent musicians for generations. His maternal grandfather had been called the “Beethoven... Read more

      A Zen teacher was once told he was going to hell. He said that was certainly fine by him. The person was taken aback, and asked, why? The teacher said so I can help. It was seventy-nine years ago, today, the 3rd of February, 1943. Methodist minister George Fox, Rabbi Alexander Goode, Reformed minister Clark Poling, and Catholic priest John Washington were aboard the troop ship SS Dorchester. They were all commissioned first lieutenants, they were all... Read more

      Celebrate this unlikely oracle, this ball of fat and fur, whom we so mysteriously endow with the power to predict spring. Let’s hear it for the improbable heroes who, frightened at their own shadows, nonetheless unwittingly work miracles. Why shouldn’t we believe this peculiar rodent holds power over sun and seasons in his stubby paw? Who says that God is all grandeur and glory? Unnoticed in the earth, worms are busily, brainlessly, tilling the soil. Field mice,... Read more

      Thus have I heard. Brigid was born in 451 in County Louth. Traditions say her mother, Brocca was a Christian Pict slave. Baptized, tradition says, by Patrick himself. Brigid was said to exhibit signs of holiness from early on, including giving away her father’s money and goods to the poor. She became a nun, and with seven companions are celebrated as the first nuns in Ireland. She was eventually given “abbatial powers,” authority similar to that of... Read more

        I’m currently working on a book describing the spiritual journey. What follows I just cut from that manuscript. But it still felt like it might be useful in another context.    As we enter the way we can feel we’re crossing deserts moving toward an oasis with life-giving waters. Sometimes only to find a shimmering mirage on the horizon that quickly disappears as we approach. Grail. Oasis. Mirage. Deserts. If we’re honest we realize in matters... Read more

      This morning I opened my social media and nearly immediately was gifted with a poem from the Zen priest and hermit Ryōkan Taigu. It was posted by Kuya Minogue. Kuya simply said “Ryokan describes my life.” With that she offered this verse from Ryokan’s Chinese poems. Looking back I see more than seventy years have already passed. I am tired of seeing through right and wrong in the human world Snow in the late night covers all traces of... Read more

      Intimations of Grief A dharma talk by Jan Seymour-Ford Delivered at the Empty Moon Zen Saturday Zazenkai 29 January, 2022   Zen means participating in loss. – we are present and don’t turn away from our loss and pain Zen doesn’t save us from our lives. I’m … anxious … angry, etc. The “I” is extra. So I’d like to talk about loss. I’ll start with a poem by Robert Frost. Nothing Gold Can Stay Nature’s first... Read more