{"id":6643,"date":"2013-05-05T06:27:34","date_gmt":"2013-05-05T10:27:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/?p=6643"},"modified":"2013-05-05T06:27:34","modified_gmt":"2013-05-05T10:27:34","slug":"the-zen-writer-meets-the-zen-teacher","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/monkeymind\/2013\/05\/the-zen-writer-meets-the-zen-teacher.html","title":{"rendered":"The Zen Writer Meets the Zen Teacher"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

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\nYesterday, Rick McDaniel, an old Zen hand and author of Zen Masters of China<\/a>, who is now compiling interviews for a projected book on Zen teachers in North America drove with his wife to Providence, for a quick visit. After the interviews he writes up brief eight hundred word (or so) accounts for a travel blog. If you\u2019re interested\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n

The small sitting group I host in Fredericton meets at the Shambhala Center\u2014which has been generous in allowing us to use their space. It is, however, located on Serenity Lane, and every time I have to give people directions, I cringe just a little bit.<\/p>\n

Today we are in the city of Providence (Rhode Island) and at the corner of Benefit and Benevolent Streets\u2014the location of the First Unitarian Church of Providence. (Unitarians, I am informed, prefer the term \u201cMeeting House\u201d\u2014but the sign out front designates it as a church.) The minister is James Ishmael Ford, who is a Unitarian Minister as well as a leading figure in American Zen. I can\u2019t resist asking if he doesn\u2019t blush just a little when giving the address of the church. \u201cJust a little bit,\u201d he admits with a laugh. \u201cBut I do love it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the rest of the story, go here\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n