THE CONNOISSEUR OF SADNESS Exploring The Hurt & the Healing of Our Lives Through a Zen Koan James Ishmael Ford The Story Our founding ancestor was facing the wall. A student on the intimate way, Huike, while standing in the snow, cut off his arm, and presented it to the master. He said, “My mind is anxious. I beg you, teacher, please set it at rest!” Bodhidharma replied, “Bring me your mind, and I will set it... Read more
ARE ALL RELIGIONS ONE? A Zen Perspective James Ishmael Ford Here’s the question. Are all religions one? Are all those paths winding up the same mountain? For me, this is more than an abstract question. The greater part of my life has been dedicated to the spiritual quest. For me sorting through the many differentpossibilities, separating any possible dross from any potential gold has been and remains enormously important. To me. And, one other factor. I came... Read more
MY RELIGION IS KINDNESS A Zen Meditation James Ishmael Ford The Dalai Lama once famously declared, “My religion is very simple. My religion is kindness.” I find it joins for me with an anecdote about the writer Aldous Huxley. As he approached his death he said, “It’s rather embarrassing to have given one’s entire life to pondering the human predicament and to find that in the end one has little more to say than, ‘Try to... Read more
Listen, Listen: Or, Rumi as a Zen Master James Ishmael Ford A few days ago I posted a Rumi quote on my Facebook page. It goes, “Sit, be still, and listen, listen, because you’re drunk and we’re at the edge of the roof.” My friend and colleague in UU world, Roger Butts, challenged me as a Zen teacher to explain what is it, exactly, that I see in this quote. If you’ve been living in a cave somewhere... Read more
Zen in Five Minutes WHAT ABOUT VISIONS ON THE SPIRITUAL PATH? James Ishmael Ford In the Christian calendar today is the feast of one of my favorite spiritual teachers, Julian of Norwich. One of the cool things about her for me, anyway, is that we know almost nothing about Julian, we don’t even know what her real name was. What we have is her record of a series of visions and her reflections on them, the Revelations of Divine Love.... Read more
Zen in Five Minutes: Is Zen a religion? James Ishmael Ford A number of years ago I served on the membership committee of the American Zen Teachers Association. It had been formed largely out of a list of names compiled by some of that second generation of Zen teachers such as Bernie Glassman and Mel Weitsman. But as it grew, we found it important to explore whether a potential candidate fit the definition of “peer.” As a peer support... Read more
ZEN IN FIVE MINUTES The Eight Worldly Concerns James Ishmael Ford Several people have asked me to address the eight worldly concerns and how they relate to Zen practice. If you’re not familiar with them, they’re a description of the distractions of our lives. In the Lokavipatta Sutta. In Thanissaro Bhikkhu’s translation we are told, “…(T)hese eight worldly conditions spin after the world, and the world spins after these eight worldly conditions. Which eight? Gain, loss, status, disgrace,... Read more
HOW ZEN IS LIKE AA AND WEIGHT WATCHERS James Ishmael Ford Yesterday I made a quick run to our closest grocery store. While there for the first time in a bit there was flour. It was ten pounds. I thought about that, and the fact we live in a thousand square foot condo and the kitchen and larder are not large. And I remembered that Jan said it was time to cook a pie. So, I put the bag... Read more
ZEN IN FIVE MINUTES Okay Zen in Six Minutes & Thirty-three seconds James Ishmael Ford The poet and traveler on the intimate way Jane Hirschfield summarizes Zen with three principles. Everything is connected. Everything changes. Pay attention. The word Zen actually means meditation. That’s where we get the pay attention part. Meditation is a word that can mean almost anything that you can do with you head. Zen’s meditation is sometimes called “shikantaza,” a Japanese word that translates... Read more
WHAT WILL YOU DO? Commenting on a Traditional Zen Koan James Myoun Ford The Case There was an old woman who supported a hermit. For twenty years she always had a girl take the hermit his food and wait on him. One day she told the girl to give the monk a close hug and ask, “What do you feel just now?” The hermit responded in verse. An old tree on a cold cliff; Midwinter – no warmth.... Read more
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