Opening the World: A Conversation with James Myoun Ford Roshi

This is my first interview with a Zen teacher about the koans in The Record of Going Easy for Shake Out Your Sleeves And Go. When I finished translating The Record of Going Easy, I thought about just publishing it as a book. But already playing with this has been a lot more fun! I hope you enjoy it too.

I’m joined in the podcast by James Myoun Ford Roshi, a long time friend and koan teacher, for a lively conversation about koans, including the first case of The Record of Going Easy.

And, I’m sure he’d want me to mention that his most recent book is now available: Zen at the End of Religion: An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual but Not Religious.

The questions I put to Myoun Roshi include: “Why koans?” “Who should work with koans?” “What transformation have you seen in your students?” and more.

I’ll soon be posting my translation of the full Case 1: “The World-Honored One Ascends the Seat” (with introduction, capping phrases, commentaries, verse, and voiceover).

Meido Moore Roshi is next up for a conversation about koan and Case 2: “Bodhidharma’s ‘Just Clarity.’”

So you may you want to do this:

And this:

You are also welcome to do this too:

For a short essay about the first case see:

You might also be interested in my recent post on Ghost (open to Vine of Obstacles Zen subscribers, free and paid):

Falling Through No-Wall and Waking Up: Muso Soseki and Nurturing the Sacred Womb