James has walked the spiritual path for more than fifty years. He’s danced with Sufis, studied with Christian mystics, lived in Buddhist monasteries, and eventually was ordained a Zen priest. Later he was also ordained as a Unitarian Universalist minister. He has taught in Zen centers and preached from the high pulpits in old New England churches. He served as a Unitarian Universalist parish minister for a quarter of a century. He is minister-emeritus of the First Unitarian Church of Providence, in Rhode Island and currently serves as consulting minister with the First Unitarian Church of Los Angeles.
A lifelong student of mystical religion, he has walked a spiritual path “between” Christianity and Buddhism for the past fifty-plus years. In these years James has been confirmed as a teacher in two traditional Zen lineages. James’ spirituality is rooted in the nondual expressions of Zen Buddhism, but is also informed by other nondual traditions, especially Christian mysticism. Practically, this has manifested in a professional life as a minister more informed by the Western Christian traditions than Eastern, while at the same time as a decades long Zen student. And now for many more years as a spiritual director deeply focused on the gifts of Zen meditation, retreat, and especially the koan introspection discipline passed on through the Harada-Yasutani lineage.
James is a prolific writer. He has been published in the UU World, Tricycle, Buddhadharma, and Lion’s Roar. His blog “Monkey Mind” now hosted by Patheos is sixteen years old. James is also the author of five books. A sixth, the Intimate Way, is due from Shambhala Publications, next year. He has lectured at Harvard Divinity School, Meadville Lombard Theological School, and the University of the West. At the same time he has worked in the trenches for social justice.
James is married to Jan Seymour-Ford, a retired librarian active in social justice issues and a senior dharma teacher with Empty Moon Zen. Today Jan & James divide their time supporting Jan’s mom’s living independently in Tujunga, California, and their home in the Alamitos Beach neighborhood of Long Beach.
