Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Barlaam & JosaphatVarlaam & Joasaph1680 Russian Engravingbaed uponSimon Ushakov           It’s November 27th! And with that, once again, the blessings of the saints Barlaam & Josaphat are upon us! This is flat out my favorite of all Christian holidays. And I like to remind people of the details of this original Christian Buddhist mashup. So, please forgive th...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Taking the Path of ZenRobert Aitken             “Ordinary people and saints living together. Dragons and snakes all mixed up.” Blue Cliff Record From one angle Zen did proceed from the brow of Zeus. Like Athena, a goddess of intelligence and wisdom. It is here. This is it. Fully present. It has always been. What you see is what you get. And it is ready to be engaged. Fro...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Closeup of Wood sculpture of Guanyin early 19th century CE Qing Dynasty (1644-1911 CE) China         Our American Thanksgiving has just passed. While it’s set for the third Thursday of November, I’ve noticed many people move the date around for their personal or family observances. I personally know some people who marked it out on Wednesday, and we here in Tujunga actua...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Keiji Nishitana(Wikipedia public domain)         Keiji Nishitani died on this day, the 24th of November, in 1990. I noted this a few years ago. And thought it good to repeat. What follows is lightly edited from that earlier posting. If you’re unfamiliar with Professor Nishitani, and you are interested at all in Zen, I suggest you may want to learn more. He was one of the...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.   Soto Zen Buddhist Association2012 Dharma Heritage Ceremony             An old friend  just announced on his Facebook page the formation of the Soto Zen North America project. Now the posting on social media was quickly taken down. So, it might have been a bit premature. But the website remains. So… As it happens this past year following an extended period of discernmen...

A Faithful Skeptic: Margaret Fuller’s Transcendentalist “Credo” November 21, 2023 James Ford Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.   Margaret Fuller1848 by Thomas HicksNational Portrait Gallery                     In 1842 Margaret Fuller sent her mentor the Reverend William Ellery Channing a letter. It was “A Credo,” her attempt to formulate her faith.  It was published posthumously together with other writi...

Guidelines for Seated Meditation: A Traditional Zen Text November 19, 2023 James Ford Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Hakuin Ekaku meditatingself-portrait1764Eisei Bunko Museum     One who embarks on the path of awakening aspiring to master Wisdom is a Bodhisattva motivated by Great Compassion, taking the Great Vows to save all beings with the cultivation of Samadhi, and not seeking Liberation for one’...

On the Spirituality of Duty: A Zen Teacher’s Meditation November 15, 2023 James Ford Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Good Samaritanartist unknown1873Public domain                 Eight years ago, Jan & I retired from our respective positions, she as research librarian at the wondrous Perkins School for the Blind, and me as minister of the First Unitarian Church of Providence. We shrunk our worldly ...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Alfred Russel Wallacephoto taken in Singapore, 1862Wikipedia           Alfred Russel Wallace, died on this day, the 7th of November, in 1823. After Charles Darwin there are two figures I think are counted as critical to the development of modern evolutionary thought. Darwin resisted the public forum, disliked the rough and tumble of public disputation, and feared the cha...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Flammarion engraving1888         I first practiced Zen in the Soto style, with its emphasis on the deep discipline of Just sitting. Later I entered a Soto monastery where I encountered Japanese Zen’s monastic discipline of minute attention to the details of life. Later after I left the monastery and other spiritual disciplines I began a small sitting group on the Russian...

Speaking the Language of Dragons: Zen’s Gateless Gate November 5, 2023 James Ford Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Gateless BarrierRobert Aitken             Occasionally I’m asked what is my holy scripture? That is, is there anything like the Bible for me as is generally understood by Christians. The short answer is no. But there’s a longer answer. Here I find myself thinking of the Gateless Barrier. Of...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Soyen Shaku(Wikipedia)         The Japanese Zen master and critical figure in introducing Zen to the west, Soyen Shaku (釈 宗演) died on this day, the 29th of October, in 1919. He was born Tsunejiro Ichinose, in 1859. His older brother wanted to ordain, but was unable to due to family obligations. At twelve young Tsunejiro ordained in honor of his brother. Similarly when he...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Reginald Horace Blyth(Wikipedia)                     Reginald Horace Blyth was born on the 3rd of December, in 1898. He was the only child of Henrietta and Horace Blyth, a railway clerk. During the first world war Blyth was a pacifist and in 1916 he was sentenced to prison. When the war ended he attended the University of London, reading English and graduating with honor...

RECORDANDO A ROSITA LA REMACHADORA: Y Otros Pensamientos Que Surgen por el Día de Igualdad de las Mujeres October 27, 2023 James Ford Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.           RECORDANDO A ROSITA LA REMACHADORA Y Otros Pensamientos Que Surgen por el Día de Igualdad de las Mujeres James Ishmael Ford (Women’s Equality Day & That Image of Rosie the Riveter traducido por Miguel Acevedo)   Ayer, 26 de a...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Zen teacher James Ford standing at the Buddha’s feet at Wat Pho, Bangkok, Thailand             (A dharma talk delivered on October 21st, 2023, during sesshin at the North Carolina Zen Center.) About five years ago I was contacted by people who ran a spiritual tour group. While they visited several locations around the world, they specialized in trips to Bhutan. They were...

The Great Invitation: Thinking and Not Thinking in Zen Meditation October 19, 2023 James Ford Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Hakuin Ekakuself-portrait, 1764             (A dharma talk delivered at the North Carolina Zen Center sesshin on the 19th of October, 2023.)   A couple of weeks ago I was privileged to attend the first in person gathering since covid of the now venerable American Zen Teachers As...

Faith & Mind: Recalling Zen’s Third Ancestor & That wonderful Poem of the Nondual Way October 15, 2023 James Ford Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Jianzhi Sengcan           The Japanese Zen community marks today, the 15th of October, as the anniversary of the day in the year 606, when Jianzhi Sengcan returned to that mystery from which all of us come and, as with that ancient venerable, to which...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Hafiz’s Little Book of Life               In Iran and within the Persian diaspora today, the 12th of October, is Hafiz Day. And a very good day to think of this remarkable Persian poet. While in the west he remains in the shadow of the wondrous Rumi, in the Middle East, especially in Iran, Hafiz is more than a competitor for hearts and readers. Khwāje Shams-od-Dïn Mohamm...

Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. Death of the Buddha(Gandhara schist, 2nd-3rd century)                                 We seem to be endlessly fascinated by people’s last words. They are often taken as summations of people’s lives. And perhaps that’s so. At least on occasion. Pretty much everyone knows of Oscar Wilde’s last words said in a cheap hotel room. “My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the...

William Laud’s Anglican Reformation of the Reformation October 7, 2023 James Ford Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world. William Laud(by Anthony van Dyck c 1636)William Laud was born on this day, the 7th of October, in 1573. He was born into a family of clothiers, attended local schools, and then studied at St John’s College, in Oxford. He took his BA in 1594, his MA in 1598, and his doctorate in 1608. He was...