Genro Gauntt is one of the co-founders of the Zen Peacemakers movement which grew out of Bernie Glassman’s street retreats where, instead of sitting on cushions in a zendo, participants lived for a week on the streets with the homeless. I ask Genro how that is Zen practice. “Zen isn’t about learning a Japanese form.Continue reading “Grover Genro Gauntt”
Monthly Archives: September 2021
From My Correspondence with Albert Low
I recently came upon a file of email exchanges I had with Albert Low when I first began formal Zen practice, during an era prior to the advent of Skype or Zoom. These are some extracts from that correspondence: “Our practice is to follow the breath. While thoughts may present a great obstacle to doingContinue reading “From My Correspondence with Albert Low”
Koun Franz
The first time I met Koun Franz, a friend and I had arranged to visit his center in Halifax. We arrived early and found the door locked. Then we saw a young man with a shaved head, wearing Japanese samugi, approaching with a wide smile. “Wouldn’t it be great if I wasn’t the guy?” heContinue reading “Koun Franz”
Mike Fieleke
Mike Fieleke is the resident teacher at the Morning Star Zen Sangha in Newton, Massachusetts. “I was raised Protestant,” he tells me, “and that actually planted the seeds of practice, because I felt as a child – I bet many children do – a kind of sacred presence that was a mystery to me thatContinue reading “Mike Fieleke”
Richard Bryan McDaniel 