The Zen Priest Ordination of Janine Seitetsu Larsen

Last updated on: December 13, 2019 at 3:43 pm By James Ford

Empty Moon Zen Network SHUKE TOKUDO Soto Zen Priest (Unsui) Ordination for Janine Seitetsu Larsen and the Bright Cloud Sangha at the University Unitarian Church in Seattle, Washington Rohatsu Eve, 7 December, 2019 Outline of Service Entry Procession Bows Welcome Invocation of the Buddhas Preamble Preparing the New Buddha Atonement Wisdom Water Blessing Receiving the Precepts The Three Treasures The Three Pure Precepts The Three Grave Precepts Verse of the Kesa Ceremony of Recognition Conclusion (Small, low table is prepared with... Read more

Faustus Socinus and the Wisdom of the West: Bringing Brain With Heart onto the Intimate Way

Last updated on: December 5, 2019 at 7:36 am By James Ford

The Brain—is wider than the Sky— For—put them side by side— The one the other will contain With ease—and You—beside— The Brain is deeper than the sea— For—hold them—Blue to Blue— The one the other will absorb— As Sponges—Buckets—do— The Brain is just the weight of God— For—Heft them—Pound for Pound— And they will differ—if they do— As Syllable from Sound— Emily Dickinson The other day I found myself in a conversation with someone where the matter turned... Read more

Recalling the Shunryu Suzuki and Zen in America

Last updated on: December 4, 2019 at 10:47 am By James Ford

The Zen priest Shunryu Suzuki died on this day, 48 years ago, the 4th of December, in 1971. I write about him from time to time. Here I repeat some of that, with some editing and a small addition or two… To begin at the beginning there are actually two Suzukis who stand large at the dawn of Zen breaking forth into our larger North American culture. The first is Daisetsu Teitaro Suzuki, best known as D.... Read more

The Jesuit & the Zen Master: Recalling a Sixteenth Century Encounter

Last updated on: December 3, 2019 at 11:53 am By James Ford

Today, the 3rd of December is the feast of Francis Xavier, the Jesuit missionary to Japan. While fervently hostile to nonChristian religions, and with some blood, if indirectly, on his hands in that regard, I believe he is also the first Westerner to write a moderately accurate report of Zen in a European language. Born in the Kingdom of Navarre (modern Spain) in 1506, he was a close associate of Ignatius Loyola. In 1534 the good father was one... Read more

Wishing Everyone a Blessed Feast of Saints Barlaam & Josaphat!

Last updated on: November 26, 2019 at 1:47 pm By James Ford

Last week I had the enormous honor of being invited to participate in a panel discussion of Buddhism and Christianity as a journey between at the annual gathering of the Society for Christina Buddhist Studies. There were four of us on the panel proper. I would say two of us were Christians profoundly informed by Buddhism, another probably could best be described as one hundred percent Buddhist and one hundred percent Christian, and me. Out of this... Read more

I Am Grateful, So Grateful. Noting the Day Zen Master Koun Yamada Had His Great Awakening.

Last updated on: November 26, 2019 at 3:19 pm By James Ford

It was today, the 26th of November, 1953, that a Japanese business executive Koun Yamada had his great awakening experience. This would be a critical event in the evolution of koan Zen in the West. Koun Yamada was born in Nihonmatsu, Japan, in 1907. He attended school and later university with Soen Nakagawa, who would go on to become a renowned Rinzai monk and master. They would remain friends for the whole of their lives. They would also... Read more

Mr Darwin’s Troublesome Book is Published

Last updated on: November 25, 2023 at 12:13 pm By James Ford

On this day, the 24th of November, in 1859 Charles Darwin published his magnum opus On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life. A hundred and sixty years! My, how time flies… Of course with this book we all began an inexorable shift in human thinking toward an understanding of evolutionary biology that would reframe how we understand ourselves and our relationship with the world. His work... Read more

OFFERING INCENSE: Reflecting on my journey Between

Last updated on: November 24, 2019 at 12:25 pm By James Ford

OFFERING INCENSE: REFLECTING ON MY JOURNEY BETWEEN James Ishmael Ford (This past Saturday I got up early, made coffee, and drove down to San Diego. I’d been invited by Leo Lefebure to join a panel sponsored by the Society for Buddhist Christian Studies which was being held at the American Academy of Religion’s conference. Thomas Cattoi presided, the panel included Duane Bidwell, Ruben Habito, Miriam Levering, and myself. Catherine Cornille provided a response inviting a period of discussion. I... Read more

Kennedy Is Assassinated: Memories, Dreams, History

Last updated on: November 21, 2019 at 7:04 pm By James Ford

Fifty-six years ago today in Dallas President John Fitzgerald Kennedy was assassinated. It was a lifetime ago. Actually two lifetimes. The parents of adults today were not yet born. Fifty-six years ago is a long time. For most of us today this is simply history. And. For me its memory. Memory seared into my consciousness… I was fifteen at the time, a sophomore in High School. I was in school when it happened. And, I recall the announcement... Read more

The Crazy Cloud Exits: Zen master Ikkyu Dies…

Last updated on: November 21, 2019 at 4:04 pm By James Ford

“The autumn breeze of a single night of love is better than a hundred thousand years of sitting meditation.” Ikkyu (translated by John Stevens) Ikkyu Sojun died on this day, the 21st of November, in 1481, five hundred and thirty-eight years ago. There is no doubt these more than five hundred years have not diminished his importance. Ikkyu was one of the singular figures of Japanese Zen. And he is of enormous importance to those of us committed to... Read more