Empty Moon Zen & Recovery Sangha Monday nights, 7pm PST
A simple space to sit, reflect, and share.
We begin with the Heart Sutra & dedications, move into meditation, and open into group sharing. No pressure to speak. No expectation to be anything other than where you are.
No fee. All are welcome.
Join Empty Moon Zen’s Recovery Sangha on January 25th at 7pm PST for a special talk by Tim Colohan, JDPSN, titled “If you find you cannot trust yourself, trust the practice. If you find you cannot trust the practice, trust your suffering.” All are welcome—come be part of a supportive community in a space dedicated to healing and growth. Message for details.
Please join me for this special conversation on Wednesday July 31st at Book Soup.
An intimate mystery encompasses you and tugs upon your heart—what does it mean to follow that tug across the arc of a spiritual life?
Reflecting out of more than fifty years of practice in Zen Buddhism, Unitarian Universalism, and other contemplative traditions, James Ishmael Ford invites us into a journey through life’s mysteries and the stages of spiritual development.
Lightly structured by the archetypal Buddhist oxherding images, Ford’s exploration is rooted in the Zen way while being deeply enriched by various strains of world mysticism. The book, sprinkled with insights and quotes from Buddhist, Daoist, and Christian traditions, serves as a map and a companion to spiritual seekers or pilgrims—whether within one religious tradition or cobbling together a way of one’s own. “Here is the most natural of all natural experiences,” writes Ford. “In the midst of our suffering, our longing, our desperation, we capture a glimpse. Something touches us. And with that, if we are lucky and really notice some movement of some spirit within us, we turn our attention to the intimate way.” (Shambhala)
Please join our Zen & Recovery Sangha as we host a special guest speaker Laura Burges, author of The Zen Way of Recovery on Monday May 20th at 7pm PST. Ryuko Laura Burges, a lay entrusted dharma teacher in the Soto Zen tradition, lectures and leads retreats at practice centers in Northern California. She received monastic training at Tassajara Zen Mountain Center, co-founded the Sangha in Recovery Program at the San Francisco Zen Center, and is the abiding teacher at Lenox House Meditation Group in Oakland. Her two children’s books are Buddhist Stories for Kids and Zen for Kids. Her latest book from Shambhala Publications is The Zen Way of Recovery: An Illuminated Path Out of the Darkness of Addiction.
Empty Moon Zen’s guiding teacher James Ford has a new substack! “After fretting and thinking and consulting, I have decided to add a spiritual newsletter to my writing projects. This is meant to be something more similar to my books than my blog. For those who subscribe I will be writing regular posts directly concerning aspects of the spiritual life today, informed by my life as a Zen student and teacher and as a long time parish minister engaged in the cure of souls...
Other than my books it is the first time I’ve offered what might be seen as fee for service, a subscription. It feels priced right, $5.50 a month, or $60 a year. You can pay more if you wish. There will be materials for no charge as well.
I’ve populated the page with samples from past writings.
Please check it out. It might prove useful...
Best,
James
Shambhala Publications are providing a 30% discount code for pre-ordering James Ford’s next book,
the Intimate Way of Zen:
Effort, Surrender, and Awakening on the Spiritual Journey.
Entering the arc of the spiritual life.
“Ford enriches traditional Zen teachings with philosophy, mythology, and Christian scripture. . . . A boon for the spiritually curious.”
Publishers Weekly
“This book is about the messy path of Zen as lived and taught by James Ford. It tells no lies. Nothing linear or logical, no quick ecstatic fix, only a lifetime of longing and steadiness, of pilgrimage. If your life, too, is a pilgrimage, take The Intimate Way of Zen as guide and rudder. It will steer you through the vastness of Zen practice and show you how to live a life that isn’t just spiritual, but real.”
Eve Myonen Marko,
co-author of The Book of Householder Koans: Walking Up in the Land of Attachments
The small print: Order at Enter the code in the site’s shopping cart. The purchase cannot be combined with other offers.
The Code is IWZ30
Please mark your calendars and plan to attend all or part of our annual Rohatsu Zazenkai. Rohatsu is the commemoration and celebration of the Buddha’s enlightenment. We hope to see you!
Zen and Recovery. If you or someone you know is looking to expand their recovery please join the @emptymoonzen recovery sangha on Monday nights at 7pm PST. Details at the website or DM me. #zenbuddhism #zenandrecovery #recover #recovery #zen #recoverydharma #dharma #aa #na #addiction
