In Facebook land I found myself drawn into a conversation about the foundations of the Methodist church. It’s one of those historical tidbits that I find as tempting as much as a cat catching a wiff of catnip. As it happens there is a controversy over whether the Methodist founder John Wesley sought, or perhaps even obtained the “historic” episcopacy for his mission. The known facts are these: the monk Gerasimos Avlonites, Bishop Erasmus of the Greek diocese... Read more

  THE WORK OF CHANGE A Zen Reflection August 22, 2021 Delivered at the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles James Ishmael Ford I’ve been thinking a lot about changes. And with that the nature of change itself. In the literature of Chinese Buddhism there’s a lovely little story that hints at some of how we can encounter change in ways that might be helpful. It may not immediately be obvious, but let’s hear it, and then unpack it together,... Read more

    The scholar Miriam Levering’s article “The Dragon Girl and the Abbess of Mo-Shan: Gender and status in the Ch’an Buddhist tradition” (Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies 5, I ( 1982): 19-35) tells us about a recurring theme in the teaching of the Chan master Dahui Zonggao. It is hard to overstate Dahui’s importance in the mature presentation of Zen in the middle of the twelfth century. The contemporary Zen teacher Dosho Port describes Dahui. “Few if... Read more

    SONG OF AWAKENING (In traditional Chinese: 證道歌; in simplified Chinese 证道歌; pinyin: Zhèngdào gē; Wade–Giles: Cheng-dao ke; Japanese: Shōdōka; Korean: 증도가; “prove Way song”) The Song is a collection of 64 verses. The article on the Song in Wikipedia describes it as a “Chan discourse written some time in the first half of the 8th century C.E. and usually attributed to Yongjia Xuanjue. The true authorship of the work is a matter of debate, with a number of elements in... Read more

  Conspiracy, Trust, and other Faith Stories A dharma talk by Dr Chris Hoff at Empty Moon Zen Here we are in Los Angeles as, unfortunately, the pandemic continues to rage on. New mask mandates, rising hospitalizations, and new variants are all in the mix now. I recently heard this new wave described as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.” Which can raise all kinds of emotions, because it doesn’t have to go down this way. From the beginning of the... Read more

  WRAPPED IN SILENCE Mo Myokan Weinhardt Senior Dharma Teacher Empty Moon Zen Last night I begged the Wise One to tell me The secret of the world. Gently, gently he whispered, “Be quiet, The secret cannot be spoken, It is wrapped in silence.” Here we are together, a day and a half deep into sesshin, wading into the secret of the world. Perhaps your mind has settled slightly; perhaps not. Either way — good. Maybe you’re tired. Maybe your... Read more

  THE EMPTY & THE OPEN Jan Seymour-Ford Senior Dharma Teacher, Empty Moon Zen I’ve been in a very quiet, dark, empty-handed place for a while in my practice, and in my life. So here’s what I’ve been thinking this past week: Oh, crap! I’m supposed to give this dharma talk, and I’ve got nothing. How am I going to keep talking for at least five minutes when I don’t have anything to say? The good advice is to give... Read more

What is Zen? A meditation James Ishmael Ford A few days ago on social media, I wrote what I wanted to be a summation of the Zen way as I understand it. Zen is not about calm nor focus. It does not focus on nothing. Although it does not ignore it, either. Part of the interesting thing is how Zen or more correctly Chan emerged in early medieval China. There the hard logic of Indian scholastic Buddhism gave way to... Read more

  Carl Gustav Jung was born on this day, the 26th of July, in 1875, in Kesswil, Switzerland. His father was a rural pastor of the Swiss Reformed Church, his mother the child of a prominent clerical and academic family. He would later write how his mother’s mental illness marked him. He would say he grew up with two personalities, one the boy of his time and place, but the other, a being from some other place, he imagined the... Read more

      These days I find myself reflecting on the nature of awakening, enlightenment, or, if you will, conversion. For me the great turning is a human thing, some lovely mystery that we are all of us invited to. And many of us in our different cultures and religions seek. And find. But, what in fact is it? Certainly a turning. But, is it sudden or gradual? Is it out of the blue, or is cultivation a significant, maybe... Read more