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

      Today, the 10th of December in 1968, the American Trappist monk, mystic, spiritual writer, social justice activist, and advocate of interreligious dialogue, Thomas Merton died. The Episcopal church marks this date as a feast for a saint. And in my own way I try to keep this small feast, as well. What follows is part of my ongoing celebration of his life, together with a small recollection of my pilgrimage to the site of his death. At... Read more

I have been told that in Japanese tradition today, the 9th of December is marked as the moment that Huike presented his arm to Bodhidharma as evidence of his desire to enter the intimate way. This is one of foundational moments in the mythic origins of the Zen way. The event is captured as a koan, number 41 in the great anthology, the Gateless Gate. A while back I offered a retelling of the event, including something of the back story.... Read more

      Some years ago the Zen priest Tom Hawkins wrote: We have arrived in Bodghaya. Thousands of other pilgrims, us, and then two thousand Tibetan monastics for a special gathering. Beyond words to be at the bodhi tree in the evening with such a crowd. And to make offerings and devotional gestures. Yet, even in Buddha’s enlightenment place, there’s the shadow side. Two of our group had their shoes stolen, I fended off a pickpocket while we were... Read more

        The Bodhi Tree in Fayette, Maine A Dharma Talk for Rohatsu Edward Sanshin Oberholtzer Resident priest and guiding teacher at the Joseph Priestly Zen Sangha Empty Moon Zen Despite the lateness of the hour, I’d like to put in a plug for the coming dawn. I know it’s late, trust me, it’s later here in Pennsylvania, dawn is separated from us by a welcome night’s sleep and still it’s coming up all too soon. All the... Read more