Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave and close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Though wise men at their end know dark is right, Because their words had forked no lightning they Do not go gentle into that good night. Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay, Rage, rage against the dying of... Read more

      I see that Katharina Von Bora, also known as Katharina Luther died on this day, the 20th of December in 1552. She can be thought of as the first clerical wife of the “modern” period. Or, more properly I guess, the most prominent of a new class of person, the ministerial spouse. While a date is commonly accepted for her birth, 29 January 1499, details of her family are vague. Possibly born to the Saxon minor nobility,... Read more

      EPIPHANIES & THEOPHANIES A Meditation on the Way to Christmas James Ishmael Ford 19 December 2021 First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles Text And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh. The Gospel According to Matthew Christmas arrives in six days. For some of us... Read more

      Today, in Tarkastad, Eastern Cape, South Africa, the 18th of December, 1946, Bantu Stephen Biko was born. He would become one of the heroes of the anti apartheid movement, a leader of the Black Consciousness Movement. In 1977 he was arrested and then beaten to death by state security officers. Tributes, images, and songs began to appear around the world. Among these, Peter Gabriel’s tribute, Biko, was released in 1980. It, like all the others, songs and... Read more

      This dewdrop world Is a dewdrop world And yet, and yet. Kobayashi Issa These days a couple of times a month I’m visiting an old colleague who now resides in a nursing home. He suffers from something called vascular Parkinson’s. It resembles Parkinson’s but is actually caused by a swarm of strokes. My understanding is that his cognitive functions are largely intact, although he cannot focus very well and he can only speak a sentence or two, brief,... Read more

      Arthur Charles Clarke was born in Somerset, England, on this day, the 16th of December, 1917. From his teenaged years he was fascinated with science and science fiction. During the Second World War he enlisted and eventually won a commission. At the end of the war he was a flight lieutenant. Clarke then attended King’s College, where he took a degree in mathematics and physics. He started working as an editor for Physics Abstracts. And he started... Read more

  Hokyozanmai Song of the Jewel Mirror Samadhi Translated by 増永霊鳳 Masunaga Reihō (1902-1981) First published in The Sōtō Approach to Zen, Layman Buddhist Society Press (Zaike bukkyo kyokai), Tokyo, 1958, pp. 188-192. Introduction  Tung-shan Liang-chieh (807-869) wrote the Hōkyōzanmai (Pao-ching san-mei) in verse style. Made up of four-character lines, it contains a total of 94 lines and 376 characters. Its rhythm and tonal qualities make it easy to chant. It somewhat resembles the Sandōkai in content and has, since the middle ages, been coupled with... Read more

      Juan de Yepes y Alverez was born into a Converso family near the town of Avila on the 24th of June, 1542. He died in the Discalced Carmelite monastery in Ubeda today, the 14th of December in 1591. We generally know him as John of the Cross, or more properly St John of the Cross. Juan’s father died when he was three and the family struggled to survive. He was able to attend a school dedicated to... Read more

          Daiun Sogaku Harada died on this day, the 12th of December in 1961. He is a central figure in the establishment of what would become my spiritual path. And, for many more as well, both in Japan and eventually in the West. The roshi was born in Obama, Fukui Prefecture on the 13th of October, 1871. He was tonsured as a Soto monastic at seven. At twenty, although Soto, he entered the Rinzai monastery Shogenji.... Read more

    DOUBT & FAITH A Zen Meditation James Ishmael Ford “The opposite of faith is not doubt; it is certainty. It is madness. You can tell you have created God in your image when it turns out that he or she hates all the same people you do.” Anne Lamont With Buddhism like with all religions doubt is considered a problem. And there are aspects to doubt which can make it count as one of the great hindrances along... Read more