Episode 6: Zen - The Religion of No-Religion with David Parks

Show NotesDavid Parks is the Director of Bluegrass Zen, one location of the Pacific Zen Institute in Waco, KY with groups in both Lexington and Berea, KY. He was a minister for many years in the United Church of Christ before devoting himself full time to teaching Zen. David has a deep trust in life’s generosity and views koans as vehicles for transformation, capable of opening the heart to the intimate experience of life lived freely and fully. David has a special interest in the parables, sayings, and doings of Jesus as Christian koans. David Discusses: his understanding of “contemplative” drawing on Thomas Merton’s epiphany at 4th and Walnut in Louisville KY, the Buddha and Jesus’s view of the oneness of existence, the Zen practices of meditation and koans, the importance of non-grasping for opening the Heart to the vastness of life, the difference between spirituality and morality, the relevance of Zen for healing a divided world, the Gospel of Thomas, Christian based koans, and the nature of beliefs. References From the ShowBluegrass ZenJesus Points to the Moon Blog Pacific Zen InstituteThomas Merton’s Epiphany at 4th & Walnut The Gospel of ThomasMeditations on the TarotShunryu Suzuki (Zen Mind, Beginners Mind) Centering PrayerFrederic Spiegelberg, The Religion of No-Religion  The All Things Contemplative Blog