I see that it was on this day, the 14th of December in 1782 that the Montgolfier brothers began their first tests with a hot air ballon, launching one that floats for nearly two kilometers. And then as such things happen one hundred and twenty-one years later on the same day […]

                  It was on this day in 1531 the Virgin of Guadalupe first appeared to the indigenous peasant Juan Diego Cuauhtlatoatzin. The local bishop was convinced of the reality of the vision when the Virgin caused a poncho to imprint with her image. Who am I to […]

Okay, our little sangha has been going now for a good two and a half years. But, our name, Blue Cliff, was also used by another group, and so we decided to avoid confusion we should change ours. That led us to renaming ourselves Empty Moon just ahead of this sesshin. This was our fourth […]

      It was on this day, the 3rd of December in 1927 that Laurel & Hardy made their film debut with this little bit of nonsense, Putting Pants on Philip. And, well, here it is. You’re welcome…

      It was on this day, the 3rd of December in 1960, that the musical Camelot debut on Broadway. I lovely trifle. And, somehow it became forever identified with the new Kennedy administration… More than a half century has passed. And much bitterness has flowed under many bridges. So many bridges. Death. Suffering. […]

      As it happens it was today, the 2nd of December, 1961, that the San Francisco Zen Center published the first issue of Wind Bell. An unsigned article at 50years.sfzc.org tells us: “From its humble single-sheet newsletter beginnings on December 2, 1961, prior to San Francisco Zen Center’s incorporation, over the decades Wind […]

      Today, as it turns out, is Rex Stout’s birthday and therefore, of course, Nero Wolfe’s. While I missed noting this last year, mostly I try to observe this date. I reprint my thoughts updated each time around… Rex Todhunter Stout was born on the 1st of December, 1886. He was a writer, best […]

    Two noted Christian writers were born on this day. Clive Staples Lewis was born in 1898 & twenty years later in 1918, Madeleine L’Engle was born. C. S. Lewis was a member of the Inklings, an informal Oxford literary group with wide ranging influence. His books included popular apologetics such as Mere Christianity […]

      I’ve just learned that David Loy’s monumental study Nonduality will be released in a second edition next year. It’ll be issued by Wisdom Publications, which devotes its entire list to the propagation of Buddhist insight in the English language. I’m very excited. His Nonduality has been very important to me as I’ve […]

      BUDDHISM & POVERTY David Loy   Does Buddhism have anything special to contribute to our understanding of poverty, and how to alleviate it? Like other religions, Buddhism is sometimes criticized for its idealism: for encouraging a non-materialistic way of life that goes against the grain of our main desires and motivations. If […]

      The oldest text attributed specifically to the Zen schools is the Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices. Sometimes it is shortened to the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices. And, sometimes simply to The Two Entrances. It is attributed to the semi-mythical Bodhidharma. Some […]

      I’ve been invited by the good folk at Two Truths to provide a series of talks and conversations on Zen meditation with an emphasis on koan introspection, as well as guiding experiences of actual Zen practices as part of a larger experience of Buddhist Asia. Along with an investigation of Zen’s teachings […]

      “Yunmen asked his assembly, ‘I don’t ask you about before the 15th of the month. Tell me something about after the 15th.’ No one spoke, so he responded himself, ‘Every day is a good day.’” Blue Cliff Record, Case 6 The 22nd of November is one of those all too rich dates. […]

      “The autumn breeze of a single night of love is better than a hundred thousand years of sitting meditation.” Ikkyu Ikkyu Sojun died on this day, the 21st of November in the year 1481. He was one of the singular figures of Japanese Zen. Ikkyu was born in the suburbs of Kyoto in […]

  It was on this day in 1865 that Samuel Clemens leapt onto the world stage when the New York Saturday Press published Mark Twain’s Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog. Considering who Samuel Clemens would become I see this as sort of an American holiday worth noting when it rolls around… There are now […]

    Yesterday my friend  Sensei Gyokei Yokoyama sent a mailing out to the Soto Zen Monastic Practice Group that he leads and of which I am a member. It triggered a small cascade of thoughts. The first was sort of an aside, sparking my ambivalence with the terms “monastic” and “monk” being used by […]

    “Master Shih-shuang asked, “How will you step forward form the top of a hundred-foot pole?” Commenting on this, another ancient master said, ‘Even though one who is sitting on the top of a hundred-foot pole has entered the way of awakening, it is not yet authentic. She must step forward from the top […]

        What is now many years ago when Jan & I first moved to New England’s rocky and lovely soil, Jan wanted to go to the Cambridge cemetery to put a rose on Henry James’ grave. I was more than happy to join her as I wanted to put a flower on […]

    Okay, I took advantage of the standard offer to put off responding to my jury summons. I had the opportunity to set it at a date that seemed without conflict. Well, assuming nothing untoward happened. More on that, anon… Now, in the abstract I had no objection to serving. (In theory) Yes. I believe […]

      Dorothy Day was born on this day in 1897. In my youth there were two Catholic Christians who particularly influenced me. The first of these was Thomas Merton. He occupies my dreams to this day. The second was Dorothy Day. She too haunts my heart. Dorothy Day was, as I noted at […]

      I’ve just learned that the Zen teacher Bernie Glassman died this morning at about eleven o’clock Eastern time. His wife the Zen teacher Eve Marko was with him. I have no other details to share… Last year I wrote a small appreciation of this American one-off. With some small tweaks this is […]

      On my Facebook page a friend posted this quote from the philosopher Alexander Rosenberg: “Our demand for plotted narratives is the greatest obstacle to getting a grip on reality.” I really, really liked it. I think it points the great dilemma of our lives, our great strength which is also our great […]

It was on this day in 361 that the emperor Constantius II died. Just before his death he was baptized and also named Julian as his sole successor. A golden child of the Constantinian dynasty, Julian had been serving as Caesar of the western provinces. His army had proclaimed him Augustus the year before. Now, […]

      I’ve been invited to give a talk. I’m invited mostly because I’m a Zen priest, author, & meditation teacher, and maybe someone of a certain age and presumably with some actually useful experiences to draw upon. But that said I’ve been offered a couple of directions to go. One was to explore […]

    Rohatsu: The Celebration of the Buddha’s Awakening Sesshin: To Touch the Heart Mind The Blue Cliff Zen Network announces our next sesshin, a three-day intensive Zen meditation retreat. Our program will feature zazen, liturgy, zazen, talks, zazen, spiritual direction interviews, zazen, meals, zazen, work practice. And some more zazen. The sesshin starts on Thursday […]

    On October 21st, Union Theological hosted a panel of African American Buddhist teachers. An important moment…

    On October 21st, Union Theological hosted a panel of African American Buddhist teachers. An important moment…

Sensei Domyo Burk maintains the highly respected Zen Studies Podcast. Here are two, actually two parts of a single reflection on Zen and race in North America. Well worth the listen… Western Zen Grows Up and Faces the Koan of Race, Part One and Part Two. I highly recommend them and the podcast series… Domyo Burk […]

Sensei Domyo Burk maintains the highly respected Zen Studies Podcast. Here are two, actually two parts of a single reflection on Zen and race in North America. Well worth the listen… Western Zen Grows Up and Faces the Koan of Race, Part One and Part Two. I highly recommend them and the podcast series… Domyo Burk […]

The good folk at Wikipedia set today in 312 as that day when Constantine, later called the Great, purported to have a vision of a cross in the sky and heard the words “With this sign, conquer.” What we know with certainty is that conquer he did. Of course this also sealed the deal for […]

The good folk at Wikipedia set today in 312 as that day when Constantine, later called the Great, purported to have a vision of a cross in the sky and heard the words “With this sign, conquer.” What we know with certainty is that conquer he did. Of course this also sealed the deal for […]

      So, eleven days until our American midterm elections. I notice as of this moment the geeks at Fivethirtyeight currently give the Democrats five out of six (84.4%) odds of taking the House, and the Republicans basically the same five out of six (82.5%) odds of retaining the Senate. I find how I […]

    Ida B. Wells was born a slave in Holly Springs, Mississippi, on the 19th of July, 1862. Her father after obtaining his freedom was able to further his education and even briefly attended Shaw University. Later, Ida attended the same school. But telegraphing something of her future life, she was expelled following a […]

          Within some branches of the Eastern family of Christian churches, today is celebrated as a festival in honor of a Saint Nestorius. I’ve written of him before, and this reflection is based on a couple of those. But, with addition reflections out of this moment. Nestorius was a sometime archbishop and most […]

    Alexandra David-Need is one of the singular figures at the dawn of European Buddhism. All of us, whatever school of the great way we embrace, if we were raised in the West and came to the dharma as adults, her fingerprints are all over what we encounter. I would add, for ill as […]

    Alexandra David-Need is one of the singular figures at the dawn of European Buddhism. All of us, whatever school of the great way we embrace, if we were raised in the West and came to the dharma as adults, her fingerprints are all over what we encounter. I would add, for ill as […]

      As pretty much everyone knows, the world was created in the late afternoon, okay, maybe early evening, on this day in the 4004th year before the birth of Jesus. James Ussher, the Anglican archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of all Ireland, figured it out in the 17th century. Actually he was following […]

      As pretty much everyone knows, the world was created in the late afternoon, okay, maybe early evening, on this day in the 4004th year before the birth of Jesus. James Ussher, the Anglican archbishop of Armagh, and Primate of all Ireland, figured it out in the 17th century. Actually he was following […]

      As it happens it was on this day in 451 that the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox on one side and what we now call the Oriental Orthodox churches divided. I’m giving the birthday greeting to the Oriental Orthodox, but it certainly could be argued the Western churches were born at this time, […]

        THE FOUR WAYS OF KNOWING by Hakuin Ekaku Translated by Albert Low Hakuin on Kensho: The Four Ways of Knowing, Shambhala, 2006, Pages 29-39 THE FOUR WAYS OF KNOWING OF AN AWAKENED PERSON Someone asked Hakuin, “Are the three bodies and four ways of knowing inherent, or are they brought into […]

        Siyyid Ali Muhammad Shirazi was born on this day, the 20th of October, 1819, in Shiraz in Iran. His family fit into that broad category of “middle class,” his father a successful merchant. Through both his parents he was a descendant of the prophet. In 1842 he married. Their only child […]

    “Popular descriptions of the koan as ‘riddles” or ‘paradoxes’ make it seem as if the Zen practitioner is interested in little more than  the solving of intellectual puzzles. Those interested in enhancing the spontaneity of athletic or artistic performance tend to focus on Zen as a training technique for attaining a state of […]

    As it happens Charles Babbage died on this day in 1871. As I sit facing my computer I find myself thinking about him, and of course, the countess, and, well… Charles Babbage was born. Of that we’re sure. Probably in London. And probably on the 26th of December, 1791. Babbage was burn into […]

      Yangshan Huiji had a dream. In it he traveled to Maitreya’s hall, where he was led to the third seat. No sooner had he sat than a senior monk struck the bell and announced, “Today the one sitting in the third seat will preach.” Yangshan immediately stood up, and also gave the […]

  Layman Pang’s Beautiful Snowflakes The koan followed by comments and then a Dharma talk by James Ishmael Ford The Case Layman Pang was leaving Yaoshan. Yaoshan ordered ten of his Zen students to see Pang off at the temple gate. Pang pointed to the falling snow in the air and said, “Beautiful snow-flakes! — […]

Attached media: https://emptyskysangha.org/audio/2018/oct_14_2018.mp3

            In the early Ninth century the renowned Chinese master of both Zen and Huayen, Guifeng Zongmi, spoke of five styles of Zen. In the Twentieth century the Japanese Zen master Haku’un Yasutani adapted this list to express his own observations about the various ways people engage Zen. That adaptation […]

        Jan & I’ve just completed a three-day sesshin with the Empty Sky Sangha in West Cornwall, Connecticut. The leaves are turning, but it’s been a warm and wet season and there’s not a lot of color, many leaves simply falling to the ground. Even so this rural Connecticut area is astonishingly […]

        Over the last couple of years I’ve found a shifting in my interior life. As a Zen practitioner I’ve been focused for many years on the profound and subtle pointing expressed succinctly within the Heart Sutra: Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. It is an approach to that religious perspective generally […]

      One of my absolute heroes is the Trappist monk Thomas Merton. He walked the mystery between Christianity and Buddhism in ways that have called to my heart over the many years. He has been a companion, a guide, offering correction and encouragement every step I’ve taken. He counts in my life as […]

    So, today, Jan I took our pretty regular stroll down to the beach in Long Beach. As we walked past the big Life guard central station we were taken aback to see that it was now the headquarters for “Malibu search and rescue.” I’d long had my suspicions about Malibu, but that they […]

        Many years ago I ran across a book describing a visit to Japan sometime before the second world war. I don’t recall a lot about that book. Well, except, for one thing. The writer described encountering a small Buddhist society whose members were following an adaptation of the rule of St […]

          The Indian spiritual and political leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was born on this day in 1869 in Porbander, a town in present day Gujarat. Later called Mahatma, or Great Soul, a title bestowed by the poet Rabindranath Tagore, Gandhi would become a singular figure on the twentieth century public stage. […]

        Annie Wood was born on this day in 1847. At 20 she married an Anglican priest, Frank Besant. They would have two children together before their marriage collapsed. Apparently spurred on by Annie Besant’s increasing distaste for organized religion and equally increasing devotion to the work of justice. In 1877, as […]

    Today within the Christian liturgical calendar is Michaelmas. Or, and actually my preferred name, today is the Feast of the Saints Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael. Or, if you prefer, the shorter while still more accurate version, today is the Feast of the Archangels. An archangel is a chief or principal angel. Angels […]

  My Facebook friend John Harrison just posted Gary Snyder’s poem For All. I thought it something perfect in the moment. And, so, here I am sharing it, as well… For All Ah to be alive on a mid-September morn fording a stream barefoot, pants rolled up, holding boots, pack on, sunshine, ice in the […]

    This past weekend we were deep in sesshin, an intensive Zen meditation retreat. As we practice with koans as part of our project we have frequent opportunities for spiritual direction, a practice called dokusan. So, I was meeting with the sesshin participants when someone came into the interview who is a long-time Zen […]

        PEACE THROUGH A BOWL OF TEA A talk delivered on the 19th of September, 2018 at the first Annual Dr Genshitsu Sen Lecture Series at the Huntington Library Glenn Taylor Webb (Professor Webb is both an ordained Obaku Zen priest and professor emeritus  of Japanese culture at Pepperdine University, where he served […]