In Japan today, the 15th of August, is marked as a time to celebrate the life of the second founder of Soto Zen in that country, Keizan Jokin. Seems important to me. Keizan was born on the 13th of November, 1264 and died on the 22nd of September. His mother was a devote of Eihei Dogen, eventually establishing two convents, one of which she served as abbess. At the age of eight Keizan entered Eiheiji, the monastery Dogen... Read more
As sometimes happens on Facebook I received a message inviting me to “like” a page. As it was from someone I admire, I went to the page to see if I could. It was for a loosely organized group that practices a form of the Christian rosary. I looked around their website, found I had mixed feelings, but, somehow, and not entirely unconnected to my admiration for the creator of the page, I “liked” it. The mixed feelings was... Read more
Lucy Stone was born in West Brookfield, Massachusetts on this day, the 13th of August, 1818. She would grow up to become one of the leading lights of the American suffrage movement and a leader for human rights in our culture. As a child she chaffed under her arbitrary treatment for being a girl. And as she looked at how her mother was treated, she realized the future was not going to be good. Brilliant,... Read more
It’s official. Smokey the Bear turned Seventy-five today. Happy birthday! And, in honor of the occasion here’s Gary Snyder’s classic poem “Smokey the Bear Sutra.” SMOKEY THE BEAR SUTRA Gary Snyder Once in the Jurassic about 150 million years ago, the Great Sun Buddha in this corner of the Infinite Void gave a discourse to all the assembled elements and energies: to the standing beings, the walking beings, the flying beings, and the sitting beings–even the... Read more
“A century and a half after its publication, Walden has become such a totem of the back-to-nature, preservationist, anti-business, civil-disobedience mindset, and Thoreau so vivid a protester, so perfect a crank and hermit saint, that the book risks being as revered and unread as the Bible.” John Updike in “A Sage for All Seasons” It was on this day, the 9th of August, 1854, that Henry David Thoreau’s Walden:, or, Life in the Woods was published. The book... Read more
It was today, the 8th of August, 1974, that Richard Nixon went before the country and announced his resignation effective the following day. Read more
In 1908 John Ramsey, a United States congressman purchased a Maxwell runabout for his 21 year-old wife, Alice. She took to the automobile like ducks proverbially take to water. In the same year she signed up for an endurance driving contest. While I’m not sure how she placed in that drive, she impressed a lot of people. Including representatives of the Maxwell company. In the following year sponsored by the auto company Alice Ramsey undertook to drive across the... Read more
Wanderer, worshipper, lover of leaving It doesn’t matter Ours is no caravan of despair Come. Even if you have broken your vow a hundred times Come. Come. Yet again, come. attributed to Jalaluddin Rumi DIVING DEEP: A Zen Sesshin 19-22 September, 2019 at Pine Mountain Zen Monastery Thursday evening until noon on Sunday You are invited to join us for a three-day intensive Zen meditation retreat led by the Reverend James Myoun Ford One of the senior teachers of North... Read more
I just saw a meme on Facebook that reads “Tradition: peer pressure from the dead.” I smiled. And then it made think a moment. And from that another frame: “Tradition: best practices from our ancestors.” Of course tradition, as valuable as it can be, must be balanced. I’m taken with a reframing of Richard Hooker’s analysis of the genius of Anglican Christianity. He suggests for his tradition a three-legged stool consisting of Scripture, Tradition, and Reason. I feel there is... Read more
OUR ANCESTOR’S DREAMS Engaging a koan from the Bible A Dharma talk delivered at the Anaheim Zen Sangha Empty Moon Zen Network 3 August, 2019 James Myoun Ford One of my dearer friends was once asked if he believed in God. He said no. The questioner then asked, “So, you’re an atheist?” He replied no. Frustrated the person asked, “what do you believe?” And he replied, “As little as I can.” In my life I’ve tried to strip... Read more
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