By Leo Babauta I’ve noticed that most of us let ourselves be driven by our resistance to something difficult, scary, unknown. We take on a hard task — creating something, for example — and then we feel some kind of resistance. Or maybe it feels like overwhelm. It’s simply uncertainty, and fear of the unknown. This is quite normal, to feel uncertainty, fear, resistance, overwhelm. Then we let it drive our actions, letting the fear be in the drivers seat. That’s pretty normal too, and very understandable. What would it be like if we didn’t need o...

teaching Mar 23, 2023 Our teaching is the way of compassion. When we can recognize the suffering of others as they act, we can move in the direction of forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiveness and reconciliation is the way to change our world to a more peaceful and loving place. Our practice allows us the spaciousness of mind and heart to view others and ourselves in this gentle way. As we share this practice with each other and those in our lives, we broaden the circle of this forgiveness and reconciliation. Slowly but surely the world arou...

Does Paul Quote Jesus? A Quick Look & a Fascinating Observation March 23, 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. Does Paul Quote Jesus? A Quick Look &a Fascinating Observation James Ishmael Ford Someone recently observed in my hearing that Paul never quotes Jesus in his collected and published letters. I was caught by that observation and decided to dig into it. I proceeded to unravel ...

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.       Rosie the Riveter as an Icon of Human Possibility In 2017 the US Congress designated today, the 21st of March as National Rosie the Riveter Day. Of course it is now well more than three quarters of a century since the Second World War, even my cohort, the children of those who lived through that time, are beginning to die off. So we’re less and less talking memory,...

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. Gertrude of Nivelles           Recalling GertrudePatron Saint of Cats Ah, the 17th of March. A day when most of the citizens of the good old US of A discover they’re Irish. Not a terrible thing. Not at all. But there’s an under appreciated saint due to having to share the date with super saint, Patrick. Someone to know. I first became aware of her because of, well, cats....

By Leo Babauta I’m on my first international flight since the pandemic started, and I got lucky enough to have a window seat. Flying to Costa Rica by way of Guatemala to lead a retreat, I’m looking out at a vast expanse of mountains in Mexico … and I’m in absolute awe. What a miracle this is, to be flying so magically through the air, over such majestic stretches of this Earth! I noticed that when I was traveling a lot before, I got pretty jaded about flights. Ho hum, another flight, let’s get this over with, no big deal, I’m an experienced tra...

teaching Mar 16, 2023 The teaching is so prevalent. The guiding wisdom is all around us. All we have to do is listen. Zen Master Seung Sahn used to say "try, try, try for 10,000 years non-stop." 10,000 years non-stop means forever. Forever means right now. 10,000 years is too long. But right now, it’s possible. Right now..........what more do you need? By Zen Master Bon Soeng

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. St Francis Xavier Meets a Zen Master James Ishmael Ford It was on this day, the 12th of March, in 1622 that the Roman church declared Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier saints. They were two of the seven men who took the founding vows creating the Jesuit order in 1534. Xavier spent some years attempting to evangelize India, and also spent time in Japan. I believe he i...

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 Comes West: Recalling Zen Master Soen Nakagawa James Ishmael Ford It was on this day, the 11th of March, in 1984 that Rinzai Zen master Soen Nakagawa died at Ryutakuji monastery in Japan. It’s been a while since I’ve noted the day and this remarkable figure at the foundation of Zen come West. Felt appropriate to offer it again. In my study of Zen come West, Zen Mas...

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. Harriet Tubman (Smithsonian)         Remembering Harriet Tubman, the Woman Called Moses Araminta Ross was born a slave somewhere around 1820 in Maryland. One of vastly too many. Her life, as was the norm for the enslaved, was brutal. At one time when one of her owners threw a heavy weight at another slave while she tried to intervene, she was accidentally hit. She would ...

A Zen Unitarian Take on the History of Christianity March 9, 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. A Zen Unitarian Take on the History of Christianity Zen teacher and Unitarian Universalist minister James Ishmael Ford provides a romp through the history of Christianity. He is the author of five books on aspects of the Zen tradition. His sixth book, an exploration of the arc of the spiritual l...

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. Japanese Rinzai Zen master Mugai Nyodai Thinking of Mother Moshan, one of the Early Zen Masters James Ishmael Ford March 8th is International Women’s Day. And, I find my thoughts turning again to women in Zen. While the records are scant, nonetheless there are clear traces of women who were masters of the Zen way from the beginning of its emergence as a distinctive schoo...

George Orwell on Clear Thinking, Good Writing, and, as I find it, a Spiritual Practice March 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. George Orwell (Press Card Photo) George Orwell on Clear Thinking, Good Writing, and, as I find it, a Spiritual Practice James Ishmael Ford There are many spiritual practices. Some are more useful than others. For me the heart of that matter is revealed in Zen m...

The Love of Money: A Practical Spirituality in Zen Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity March 6, 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. Scrooge McDuck by Carl Barks The Love of Money: A Practical Spirituality in Zen Buddhism, Judaism, and Christianity James Ishmael Ford “It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.” Mark 10:25...

CENTERING OUR HEARTS: 112 Pointers for the Practices of Presence March 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. “Wild Geese Flying under the Full Moon” Utagawa Hiroshige c. 1833     CENTERING OUR HEARTS112 Pointers for the Practices of Presence Wandering around the spiritual bazaar that was the San Francisco Bay area in the late 1960s, and reading what was available, through a combination 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. Living On Seeing “Living,” a Small Spiritual Classic I don’t do a lot of film reviews at this blog. Mostly because the majority of the movies we go to don’t quite earn a pause to reflect on what I’d seen. Fluff, by and large. And, honestly, what I like. But this time around even I was uninterested in the new Marvel film. On Rotten Tomatoes, while some 83% of the viewers ...

Ensō Verde: Considering a Zen Inspired Retirement Community March 3, 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. Enso Verde         Ensō Verde: Considering a Zen Inspired Retirement Community Yesterday, Jan & I attended one of the inaugural orientation sessions for Ensō Verde in Simi Valley. And we are excited. Beyond excited. We think we may have seen our future… We have been exploring the pos...

By Leo Babauta Everything we believe about ourselves and others is an idea, an image constructed in our heads. And these mental constructs can be some of our biggest obstacles and struggles. Letting go of our mental constructs — our ideas about ourselves and others — can be one of the most liberating things possible. I’m not saying it’s wrong to have mental constructs — we can’t help it, it’s human and often necessary for whatever we’re doing. But sometimes it’s an obstacle and cause of pain. So let’s look at what it would be like to let go of ...

jason quinn jdpsn teaching Mar 02, 2023 The Four Great Vows, sometimes referred to as the Four Bodhisattva Vows, are used both in the Mahayana Buddhist tradition and in Zen. A “Bodhisattva” is someone who dedicates their lives to helping others. Instead of relieving our own suffering, we also help others when they are suffering. We use the Four Great Vows to help set the intention of this Bodhisattva spirit. There are are a few versions of them; here is one translation used in the Kwan Um School: Sentient beings are numberless. We vow to save t...

The Prophet Mani and Christianity’s Problem with Dualism March 2, 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.       The Prophet Maniand Christianity’s Problem with Dualism James Ishmael Ford The prophet Mani died on this day, the 2nd of March in the year 274. That is unless he died on the 26th of February, in 277. His birth name is unknown, Mani is a title, probably meaning Enlightened Lord. He was...