One afternoon not long ago, as I was walking in a local gym, I watched a student shooting hoops in an unusual way. On the fingertips of his right hand, he held a basketball. In the palm of his left, he held a cell phone. After taking a single-handed shot, and before the ball had ..read more

Imagine, if you will, that you are having lunch with a friend in your favorite diner. It’s a cold winter’s day, and both of you have ordered bowls of chili. Sampling a spoonful, your friend notes that the chili is spicier than usual. That’s fine with him but not so fine with you. It’s far ..read more

Around the time I began writing these essays, now more than sixteen years ago, I also wrote a poem by the same title: ONE TIME, ONE MEETING Picking up the phone to call my son,I entertain the thought that every act,No matter how familiar or banal,Might be construed as unrepeatableAnd all of life as ceremonial.What ..read more

“The practice of Zen,” declared Yamada Koun Roshi (1907-1989), “is the perfection of character.” To those accustomed to thinking of Zen as a means of “living in the present” or relieving stress, that stark pronouncement may come as a surprise. In any event, it merits and rewards a closer look. To begin with, Yamada Roshi ..read more

Few words in the English language are as multidimensional in meaning or as laden with emotion as the word integrity. Derived from the Latin integer, the English word integrity has three distinct, established meanings. In its most common usage, integrity is synonymous with honesty, incorruptibility, and fidelity to a set of principles and values. It ..read more

One evening a few months ago, my wife and I went out to dinner with a couple of friends. I ordered Shepherd’s Pie, one of my favorite comfort foods. “There you go,” our server chirped, as she handed me an oversized plate, heaped high with ground beef, onions, mashed potatoes, carrots, and peas. The volume ..read more

In June 2009 I attended a poetry reading in the storied Abbey Theatre in Dublin, Ireland. The featured reader was Brendan Kennelly (1936-2021), one of Ireland’s most beloved poets. As I was waiting for the event to start, I chatted with the Irishwoman sitting next to me, noting that Kennelly enjoyed widespread popularity as well ..read more

  As I was walking up North Main Street in Alfred, New York a few weeks ago, I stopped to look at a row of Cleveland pear trees spanning two front yards. The trees were in full bloom. Their brilliant white blossoms caught the late-morning light. A week later, those blossoms had fallen. Only the green leaves remained. I was reminded of a haiku by the Zen master, poet, and calligrapher Daigu Ryokan (1758-1831):             Falling blossoms             Blossoms in bloom are also &nb ..read more

If you have ever gone on a diet, you know that most diets require some sort of intervention. Eating a bit less is not enough. By and large, the same is true of meditative practice. Most types of meditation require the practitioner to undertake a program in the service of a goal. Whether a particular program aims to tame the unruly mind, cultivate equanimity, or foster compassionate wisdom, all require practitioners to make some changes in their attitudes and behaviors, replacing one set of habits with another. And most prescribe specific techniques, such as repeating a meditative verse, conte ..read more

In 1973, the writer and Zen practitioner Peter Matthiessen and the field biologist George Schaller undertook an expedition to the High Himalayas in hopes of sighting the elusive snow leopard. Before departing for the Tibetan Plateau, Matthiessen consulted with his Zen teacher, Eido Shimano Roshi, at Dai Bosatsu Zendo. Drawing upon a fundamental Zen teaching, Eido Roshi advised his student to “expect nothing.” By adopting that attitude, Matthiessen would enable himself to be open and attentive to whatever he encountered. Rather than regard his expedition as a means to an end, he might treat th ..read more