It was today, the 27th of October in 312 that the general and would be emperor Constantine, later called the Great, claimed to have a vision of a cross in the sky and heard the words “With this sign, conquer.” I’ve commented on this moment in the past. In 2011 I titled my noticing of this date “When Religions Go Bad.” In 2016 I titled it “One Could Say Today is the Day the Devil Took Over... Read more

      It was on this day, the 26th of October in 1892 that Ida B. Wells’s Southern Horrors: Lynch Law in All Its Phases was published. It is extremely hard to overstate the importance of this book and of Ms Wells, herself. From when I first learned of her, I’ve tried to note this anniversary. Although searching my blog archives, I see I’ve been remiss for a couple of years. What follows is my briefest summary of her life... Read more

      TRUE HEART RISING Jesus & Ikkyu, Scrooge & Tiny Tim Edward Sanshin Oberholtzer Joseph Priestley Zen Sangha and Empty Moon Zen I was preparing a dharma talk the other day that touched upon the Zen priest and poet Ikkyu Sojun, that antinomian character who, were he Chinese, might well have been referred to as a kind of Daoist Zannie, but who seems, frankly, too serious for that. No, his hanging out in brothels and taverns feels more... Read more

      At least for a time, the Western church recalled the Archangel Raphael on this day, the 24th of October. In more recent years he’s been mushed together with Michael and Gabriel and together are celebrated on the 29th of September. I went back into my blog archives and see while I am interested in angels and occasionally reference them, I’ve devoted most of these reflections, a small handful to Michael. Makes some sense. He gets the most... Read more

          I believe we need a “calendar” to mark the cycles of a Zen Buddhist life in the West, something that notes the major holidays adapted to a solar calendar, as well as celebrating notable figures from antiquity and in the establishment of our way. There have been a couple of attempts. For instance, I like this one. But it feels more a start to the project than the calendar at least I’m looking for. There are... Read more

      And I saw heaven opened, and behold a pale horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. Dreams. John’s Apocalypse, the Book of Revelations, that hallucinatory revisioning of Nero’s Rome is a lot of things. Among them a fevered dream of vengeance against oppressors. But also, something more. It’s that “more” which particularly haunts me. Today, the 22nd of October, 1844 was when the... Read more

      Samuel Taylor Coleridge was born on this day, October 21st, in 1772. He was a member of the Lake Poets, and considered a co-founder with William Wordsworth of the English Romantic Movement. Coleridge is often credited for introducing German Idealism to the English speaking world. Obviously an overstatement. But he is very important. The child of an Anglican vicar and school master, he was a bookish child. He suffered from rheumatic fever and was sickly throughout his life.... Read more

  One year ago today, the 20th of October, 2020, the Amazing Randi died. A loss for us all. I wrote about him some years ago. And I use that reflection as the basis for this remembrance. Randall James Hamilton Zwinge was born in Toronto, Ontario, on the 7th of August, 1928. In later years as a performer his name was shortened to the more marquee friendly James Randi. Me, I like his magicians’ name best, the Amazing Randi. And... Read more

      My google calendar announced to me that today, the 19th of October is the birthday of the prophet Mohammed. I’m pretty sure no one actually knows the date of his birth. And some muslim sects disapprove a few strongly any such observation. But most do, and the celebration is called Mawlid. There are a couple of possible dates, but one is broadly accepted across sect, the 12th day of the third month in the Islamic calendar. As... Read more

      Teitaro Suzuki was born today, the 18th of October, 1870. (The Wikipedia bio mistakenly lists his birthday as a month later) He died in 1966 at 95 widely celebrated for his critical part in the migration of Japanese style Zen Buddhism to the West. One could fairly say we in the West use the Japanese term “Zen” rather than  “Chan” its name where the school birthed in China because of D. T. Suzuki His prolific and in many... Read more