Here we are, rushing toward Christmas. For various reasons, I find myself thinking of Charles Dickens and particularly his wonderful novella, A Christmas Carol. Some of my friends actually read the original story, a few even aloud, annually. Others watch one of the many film versions. Me, one read was fine. But I do like watching the films. Well, some of them. I’m particularly fond of the Alastair Sim version from... Read more
“A non-Buddhist visited the great sage and said, “I don’t ask about the way of words, I don’t as about avoiding words. The Buddha sat quietly. Witnessing this, the non-Buddhist exhulted, “No wonder you’re the world honored one. Out of your compassion and mercy, you have parted the clouds of my delusions and opened the way for me to walk through.” He made bows of gratitude and departed. Later the Buddha’s attendant Ananda asked,... Read more
“One breath taken completely; one poem, fully written, fully read – in such a moment, anything can happen.” Jane Hirshfield[1] In my particular corner of the Zen world when one is giving basic meditation instruction, once the body is addressed, we turn to what to do with the mind. Most commonly breath counting is considered the first step. Counting the breath allows one to develop a... Read more
“The ancients spoke of three essential conditions for Zen practice: First: Great faith; second: great doubt; third: great determination. These are like the three legs of a tripod.” Koun Yamada[1] Preliminary notes for a larger meditation When I first started Zen practice in the late 1960s there weren’t a lot of books about Zen readily available. Alan Watts’s wildly popular Way of Zen was published in 1957. It made the somewhat more abstract work of... Read more
December 6th is the feast of Saint Nicholas. Somehow there’s a line drawn from this figure, a 4th century bishop of Myra, which is in Asia Minor, specifically, Turkey, and our elf Santa Claus. Precious little is known of the actual Nicholas. Well, we know he was a bishop. And he was a controversialist in a historically fraught time for the Christian church. At what we know as the Council of Nicaea, which was held... Read more
The 3rd of December has been declared a feast or saint’s day for Francis Xavier. He was one of the first Jesuits. And eventually a Catholic missionary to Japan. While fervently hostile to nonChristian religions, and with that, if indirectly, there’s some blood on his hands. I also believe he is also the first Westerner to write a moderately accurate report of Zen in a European language. Which I find endlessly fascinating. Born in... Read more
It’s November 27th! And with that, once again, the blessings of the saints Barlaam & Josaphat are upon us! This is flat out my favorite of all Christian holidays. And I like to remind people of the details of this original Christian Buddhist mashup. So, please forgive the repetition parts of this small sharing. It’s just that its all so cool… In the liturgical calendar of the Roman Catholic church as well as for those of... Read more
“Ordinary people and saints living together. Dragons and snakes all mixed up.” Blue Cliff Record From one angle Zen did proceed from the brow of Zeus. Like Athena, a goddess of intelligence and wisdom. It is here. This is it. Fully present. It has always been. What you see is what you get. And it is ready to be engaged. From another angle Zen has a history. And a recent part of that history... Read more
Our American Thanksgiving has just passed. While it’s set for the third Thursday of November, I’ve noticed many people move the date around for their personal or family observances. I personally know some people who marked it out on Wednesday, and we here in Tujunga actually had our grand family gathering yesterday, Friday. I’m fascinated with Thanksgiving as a semi-secular semi-well-something else holiday. It combines a lot of things. I do like digging around for the... Read more
Keiji Nishitani died on this day, the 24th of November, in 1990. I noted this a few years ago. And thought it good to repeat. What follows is lightly edited from that earlier posting. If you’re unfamiliar with Professor Nishitani, and you are interested at all in Zen, I suggest you may want to learn more. He was one of the principal figures in the establishment of the Kyoto School, which the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy,... Read more
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