(My apologies. As I sit with this small essay a couple of days out I realize the problem with it, is that it touches on two related but different issues. The one is my ongoing consideration of Buddhism, and how it is I am a Buddhist, and what that means. I think it a worthy project. And possibly of use to other people. The other is the more intimate exploration. My real time, if you will, encounter... Read more

      I have a fondness for books collecting the wisdom of the ages, and more specifically anthologies of quotations regarding the spiritual life. I recall when Stephen Mitchell’s anthologies, Enlightened Mind and Enlightened Heart were published. His “Zen eye” informed the curation of wisdom from the world’s traditions. And informed by that eye he presented something compelling. And helpful. His selections were satisfying by themselves. And they opened doors for further reading down the line. In my view... Read more

    I’ve been distracted a bit, of late. And, I missed that yesterday was Thomas Merton’s birthday. If I got the number right on my fingers and toes, it was the 106th anniversary of his birth. Merton is very much a part of my consciousness. In 2013 the Unitarian Universalist General Assembly was held in Louisville. And so for me that UU convention became a Thomas Merton pilgrimage. I drove out to the Abbey of Gethsemani twice, once with... Read more

    So. What is Zen meditation? We know it is the practice of a Buddhist spiritual tradition that, while it claims Indian roots, seems to have sprung up within the rich soil of ancient China. It has spread and has adapted variations in Vietnam, Korea, and Japan. And from these different places, it has begun to spread to the West. What we can say is that it is not Vipassana, nor is it Samatha. Although it shares some family... Read more

      SHELTER FOR THE BIRDS OF HEAVEN A Sermon for the Religious Left James Ishmael Ford   What a wild ride it’s been! To be frank, in the race for the Democratic nomination, Joe Biden was not my choice. Then the African American community decided to go for him and go big. And I thought, okay. I was content to support him when he won the nomination. But even then, I was really mostly thinking about ending the... Read more

OCEANS FLOWING IN YOUR BODY A Communion Hymn James Ishmael Ford Perhaps you’ve noticed. It’s all falling apart. *** The Republic has been shredded. The Empire is quickly overtaken. (You might want to brush up on your Mandarin.) *** Of course, we know this. No center holds forever. The sages sing: everything changes. Icecaps recede. Seas rise. We know the planet doesn’t really need us. And somewhere along the way we all will be a lost mountain’s dream. *** The... Read more

    WHAT ROUGH BEAST The Zen Priest Reflects on the New Year, And Makes Some Resolutions James Ishmael Ford The year 2020, of lamentable memory, is now gone. Happy New Year, 2021! And. New Years are traditionally times to take stock and maybe make some resolutions. In that spirit, I have been considering this moment. Of course, thinking about all those memes on social media, most all pretty much cursing this past year, what is most obvious is how... Read more

        LIVING IN THIS FLOATIING WORLD A Meditation on the Zen Koan, Zhaozhou’s Bowl   James Ishmael Ford 26 December 2020 Empty Moon Zen   The other day Jan & I were at Sunland Produce, our favorite greengrocer here in the greater Los Angeles area. When we were done, as we wheeled our cart out of the store, I noticed someone huddled in the space immediately to my right, between the store and the rack of grocery... Read more

  WHO SHALL WE BE? A Meditation on Charles Dicken’s A Christmas Carol James Ishmael Ford Christmas Day, 2020 First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles   Today I find myself thinking of Charles Dickens and particularly his 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, I’m particularly fond of the Alastair Sim version from 1951. Even the worst of them, the ones that... Read more

  One of my favorite Christmas reflections is that poem by Unitarian minister Sophia Lyon Fahs. For so the children come And so they have been coming. Always in the same way they come born of the seed of man and woman. No angels herald their beginnings. No prophets predict their future courses. No wisemen see a star to show where to find the babe that will save humankind. Yet each night a child is born is a holy night,... Read more