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 […]

    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 […]

  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 […]

    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 […]

        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 […]

          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. […]

        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 […]

    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 […]

      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 […]

        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 […]

        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 […]

            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 […]

  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

      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 […]

    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 […]

    “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 […]

        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 […]

        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 […]

      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, […]

      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 […]

    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 […]

          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 […]

    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 […]

      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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

    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…

    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 […]

      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 […]

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, […]

      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 […]

      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 […]

      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 […]

    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 […]

        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 […]

    “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 […]

    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 […]

  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 […]

      “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 […]

      “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. […]

      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 […]

      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 […]

      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 […]

      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 […]

    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 […]

      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 […]

      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 […]

      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. […]

      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…

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 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 […]

        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 […]

        Just saw on my Facebook feed a video clip by someone named Jason Silva. I know nothing else about him. A bunch of clips appear unsolicited on my Facebook feed every day. I might listen to a sentence or two, but almost always, I quickly move on. What caught me this […]

      “It is like an Ox that passes through a latticed window. Its head, horns, and four legs all pass through. So, why can’t its tail also pass through?” Gateless Gate, Case 38 I’m not sure where I first heard the line “If you scratch an Asian Christian, underneath you will find a […]

        A NOTE ON GASSHO AND BOWING Taizan Maezumi Roshi with John Daishin Buksbazen Visitors to the Zen Center often ask about the gassho and about bowing. What, they inquire, is the meaning of these gestures? Why are they done? And why is it necessary to do them so precisely and uniformly? These questions deserve […]

  Gutei’s Finger The Gateless Gate, Case 3 Translated by Nyogen Senzaki & Paul Reps First Published in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones Together with Nyogen Senzaki’s commentaries, First published in Eloquent Silence The Case: Whenever he was asked a question about Zen, Gutei raised his finger. A young attendant began to imitate him. When anyone asked […]

    Of the various stories of the Christian tradition I am profoundly taken by the Christmas story in its various parts. And, of those contemporary images of Mary & Joseph on their way to that manger, this one by Everett Pattersen, with it many layers is my favorite. Of course in this time of […]

          In our bathroom we have a small picture of Shide, co-conspirator on the matters of the heart with the poet Hanshan. I found it in a small antique shop in Seal Beach a lot of years ago. Sadly, they didn’t have the companion image of the old boy himself. On […]

    The eve of the eve of a new year. Noticing how time really does pass through that glass quickly. And. I notice that it was on this day, the 30th of December in 1916 that Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin was killed by a small group of assassins. There’s a small connection for me. Many […]

    In the Christian calendar, at least some forms of it, today is the Feast of the Epiphany, or Three King’s Day. Some years ago my spouse Jan and I were talking about that hymn associated with the feast of the epiphany, “We Three Kings,” when she shivered and shared her recollection of that […]

          I find myself thinking of folk religions today. And especially I’m reminded in the moment of  Santa Muerte, Saint Death, or Holy Death, or most formally Our Lady of the Holy Death. I’ve written of her before, and I’m drawing on some earlier thoughts here gathered together with some thoughts […]

    Traditionally we mark today, then 10th of January, in the 49th year before our common era as the day that Julius Caesar crossed the river Rubicon. Suetonius says that as his army began to cross Caesar declared, “Alea iacta est!” The die has been cast… It has come to be a common enough […]

    Alexander Hamilton was born on this day, the 11th of January, in 1755, or, maybe it was 1757 in the British West Indies… He would go on to be chief of staff to General George Washington, founder of America’s financial system, a principal author of the Federalist Papers, founder of the US Coast […]

          On the Utter, Complete, Total Ordinariness of Mu James Myoun Ford Empty Moon Zen (a version of this talk is published in The Book of Mu) The Case A monk asked Chao-chou, “Has the dog Buddha nature or not?” Chao-chou said, “Mu.” Wu-Men’s Comment For the practice of Zen it […]

        Once upon a time the world honored one was at Vulture Peak. Before a vast crowd of lay practitioners, nuns, and monks, angelic creatures, and even gods, he held up a single flower and twirled it. Of the assembled crowd only the disciple Mahakashyapa, responded, breaking into a wide grin. The Buddha, lord of […]

      As it turns out Rick McDaniel has a new book coming out, The Story of Zen. And he invited the Zen teacher Dosho Port to write an afterword for it. Always looking for the easier way Port Roshi posted a query to Facebook asking what any of his Zen friends might consider […]

            Once upon a time there were sixteen bodhisattvas. It was bath day and they entered the waters together. Simultaneously they all realized the cause of water. They called out as one voice, “This marvelous touch has illuminated all things. We have reached that place where the daughters and sons […]

        According to Matthew Ciolek’s Zen Buddhist Calendar today is the birthday of Su Tung-p’o. The listing noted he was an esteemed if controversial bureaucrat, lay Buddhist practitioner, and poet. I thought that interesting enough to look a bit further. Wikipedia says Professor Ciolek’s dates are wrong, marking his birth as the […]

    The Buddha’s Last Instruction by Mary Oliver “Make of yourself a light” said the Buddha, before he died. I think of this every morning as the east begins to tear off its many clouds of darkness, to send up the first signal-a white fan streaked with pink and violet, even green. An old […]

      “My religion is kindness.” 14th Dalai Lama Today, the 28th of January, is the anniversary of King John Sigismund’s Edict of Torda, promulgated in 1579. It established the right of ministers to preach the gospel as they best understood it, and, as well, for congregants to reserve their own opinions in these […]

        A Chikuto Landscape Glenn Taylor Webb   In classical Chinese landscape paintings, made for nearly 1000 years, the humans depicted in the paintings often are tiny as ants compared to the vast mountains and valleys they are in. Certainly that comparison is true to life. But the paintings teach another truth: […]

        I’m going to be preaching at the UU church in Fullerton this Sunday, and found myself searching for the source of a half recalled illustration. I realized it almost certainly came from the late popular science writer Stephen Jay Gould. Now, I have to admit I’ve never held a book in […]

      “Paradoxical Intervention, Reverend Billy, Sanctuary, Universalism, Etc.” A Paper Delivered at the 117th Gathering of the Fraters of the Wayside Inn, Sudbury, MA, on 29 January 2019 Frater John Gibbons  (printed with permission of the author) I begin by reminding you of what you already know:  the Prior assigns the topics of the […]

I’ve shared these points before. But, they seem worth returning to every now and again. A little Zen perspective on living a spiritual life here in the West. First, it counsels getting over various things that are not actually helpful. Then it suggests some ways to see the world and ourselves that maybe has some […]

          It is possible you may have noticed that today is Valentine’s Day. It is well known that this festival is largely the creation of a conspiracy amongst the greeting card association, the national confectioners association, and the national alliance of floral associations. I’m pretty sure we have a solid paper […]

    “Make of yourself a light” said the Buddha, before he died. I think of this every morning as the east begins to tear off its many clouds of darkness, to send up the first signal-a white fan streaked with pink and violet, even green. An old man, he lay down between two sala […]

Sesshin An Intensive Zen Meditation Retreat Opening Doors to the Mysteries of the Heart Led by James Myoun Ford, Roshi Assisted by Janine Seitetsu Larsen, Senior Dharma Teacher. Jan Seiryu Seymour-Ford, Senior Dharma teacher, and others… When: Thursday, May 23 through Sunday, May 26 Where: Camp Huston Conference Center, 14725 Ley Road, Gold Bar WA 98251 You Will: Arrive at 4 […]

      It was today in 1943 when the Nazis began to arrest the members of the White Rose. This small group of German students and their professor had been posting leaflets denouncing the Nazi regime. They had succeeded in printing and posting six before they were arrested. A few days after the arrests, Sophie […]

      Once again those lovely Episcopalians have come through when it counts. On this day in their liturgical calendar, the 20th of February, they celebrate the life and work of Frederick Douglass as a feast for a saint. While I tend to prefer to acknowledge special and holy people on their birthdays the […]

    Maurine Stuart was born on this day, the 3rd of March, 1922. I wrote of her in my book Zen Master Who: Maurine Stuart, one of the first female Zen masters in America, was also one of the first to give Zen a Western face. Maurine was born in Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1922. In […]

        I wrote this a couple of years ago. I think it worth sharing again.  Tommy Dorsey, Jr, was born on the 7th of March, 1933, in Santa Barbara. The youngest of ten, he was raised in the Roman Catholic tradition. He dropped out of college and joined the Navy, only to […]

    I was recently a bystander on a Facebook thread about being Buddhist and Christian. My name was raised as an example of someone, how shall we say, “spiritually fluid.” A lovely term coined by Duane Bidwell, a professor at Claremont School of Theology, Presbyterian minister, and long time Buddhist practitioner. I raised my […]

          It was on this day, the 11th of March, in 1984 that Rinzai Zen master Soen Nakagawa died at Ryutakuji monastery in Japan. I shared this last year. Felt appropriate to offer it again. In my study of Zen come West, Zen Master Who? I wrote about him. Through his […]

        Jean Louis Kerouac, or maybe it was Jean-Louis Lebris de Kerouac was born to a French-Canadian family in Lowell, Massachusetts, on this day, the 12th of March, in 1922. Of course, we know him as Jack Kerouac. The Wikipedia article on Kerouac gives us a pretty good summation of the person […]

As it happens today is Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s eighty-sixth birthday. Not one of those days normally celebrated. But, that acknowledged, a day I hope we will take note of. Joan Ruth Bader was born on this day, thee 15th of March, 1933, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the second child and second daughter of […]

Por Pablo Correa para IGC. Esta es una traducción del volante “The Faith of a Unitarian Universalist Buddhist” de James Ishmael Ford, quien sirve actualmente como ministro de la Iglesia Unitaria Universalista de Anahein en California, y profesor acompañante de Empty Moon Zen Network. James recuenta su historia cristiana, budista y unitaria universalista, y cómo […]

      I was wandering around the interwebs when I found myself returning once again to the Sotoshu website, the site for the Japanese Buddhist church from which my own practice and ordinations derive. In the section titled “What is Sotoshu” I found an interesting summation of spiritual texts upon which the school relies. […]

Another under appreciated saint due to having to share the date with a super saint, is St Gertrude of Nivelles, whose feast is today, the 17th of March. Gertrude was a seventh century nun and abbess, and has become the patron of gardeners and most importantly of cats. Be sure to scratch a cat’s ears […]

    Clara Estelle Breed was born on this day, the 19th of March, in 1906, in Fort Dodge, Iowa. At her father’s death when she was fourteen the family located to San Diego. After she earned her master’s in Library Science she began a more than forty-year career within the San Diego library system. […]

    The Western church celebrates today as the feast of St Dismas, the name that has been attached in the story of the two thieves who died with Jesus for the “good” one. In the story as we receive it actually the thief has no name. We no longer live in a biblically literate […]

The Calling of Our Bones: Zen in a Handful of Quotes & Poems James Myoun Ford “Zen pretty much comes down to three things — everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention.” Jane Hirshfield “Renunciation is not getting rid of the things of this world, but accepting that they pass away.” Robert Aitken The first […]

        Charlotte Joko Beck was born on this day, March 27th, in New Jersey, in 1917. Sadly, I can say little more about her early life. She attended Oberlin Conservatory of Music, and spent some years as a pianist and piano teacher. She married. They had four children. After separating from her […]

            A time to recall the human adventure.   And…   Of course, there are the classics. And, a lesser known follow up.