The content of this post first appeared in the newsletter published by the author’s sangha, City Cave Zen. When the pandemic took hold, my sangha, City Cave Zen, decided to try holding meetings online, to meditate, chant and discuss the Dharma in a way that would be as similar to physical meetings as we could make […]
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Christian Zen: Unlikely and Unorthodox, or Universal?
I recently received unfortunate news. A Buddhist-Christian interfaith event organized by the International Centre for Teresian-Sanjuanist Studies (CITeS), The University of Mysticism in Ávila, has been cancelled. The event was supposed to take place in July 2020, before the pandemic forced the conference to be held on July 2021. After the recent surge in cases […]
Nikkei Dharma: The Story of Jisen Oshiro Roshi
In our last BDE highlights entry, I mentioned the name of Jisen Oshiro Roshi, a priest that has devoted her life to propagating the Dharma in Peru. Born in Argentina Roshi, affectionately known as Aurora, is a nikkei burajiru-jin. Born in Argentina in 1946, Roshi is a pillar of the Peruvian nikkei community as well […]
Havana Zen: A Japanese Tradition Arises in Cuba
One of the fastest-growing schools of Buddhism in Cuba is that of Japanese Zen, which has enjoyed a long and rich history in Latin America. It found roots in other countries earlier, most famously Brazil thanks to waves of immigration by Japanese people since the early 20th Century. However, thanks to a visionary pair of […]
Goodbye, Thay
In the early hours of the morning, the Hong Kong Buddhist community received the sad news of Thich Nhat Hanh’s passing at midnight on the 22nd of January, 2022. He was 95. I last saw him in 2013, on a Plum Village retreat in Thailand. As is typical of Plum Village, we happened to take […]
Medicine and Sickness, Heaven and Hell
“Medicine and sickness heal each other. The whole world is medicine.” —Blue Cliff Record, Case 87 In this week’s Dharma talk, I mentioned a parable that’s been on my mind lately. I don’t know its origin — I’ve heard different versions, some attributing it to the Zen or Taoist traditions, but I haven’t been able […]
A Prayer for All Who Are Sick
Yakushi the Medicine Buddha by Enku, 17th Century My friend Sister Petra is a Christian nun who also practices Zen Buddhism with our sangha. A few months ago she told me, “During the pandemic, I’ve been praying for everybody who’s sick, in body, mind, or spirit.” I was moved by this, and it has continued […]
The Last Days of Summer
God is the original face before I was born. The lost part of my brain, drifting across beginninglesslifetimes, bobbing in the embryonic fluid. God is tortoise tracks and prayers bya beachside grave and the last daysof summer. Why the universe is so hot,crowded, and noisy, yet arrives quietly each lonely evening, on my doorstep, a bouquet of suffocating tulips. George […]
Budding Buddha: A Conversation with Artist James Stanford
James Stanford, “Budding Buddha.” From artfixdaily.com James Stanford is a longtime Buddhist artist with a distinct aesthetic and inspiration. Last November, he donated his “Budding Buddha” art to the Art for Tibet exhibit and auction at Gallery Eight in New York, which was organized by Students for a Free Tibet. Can you describe a bit your background in […]
Zen and the Art of Dying
I remember when the thought of dying became real to me. I was 24 years old, serving a tour of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Marines. It was my squad’s turn to act as the quick reaction force (QRF) for our base. QRF is like the 911 of a forward-deployed unit. They’re on standby 24/7, […]