Intimate Way of Zen: Effort, Surrender, and Awakening on the Spiritual Journey.
“Ford enriches traditional Zen teachings with philosophy, mythology, and Christian scripture. . . . A boon for the spiritually curious.” Publishers Weekly
"This book is about the messy path of Zen as lived and taught by James Ford. It tells no lies. Nothing linear or logical, no quick ecstatic fix, only a lifetime of longing and steadiness, of pilgrimage. If your life, too, is a pilgrimage, take The Intimate Way of Zen as guide and rudder. It will steer you through the vastness of Zen practice and show you how to live a life that isn’t just spiritual, but real."Eve Myonen Marko co-author of The Book of Householder Koans: Walking Up in the Land of Attachments
The Intimate Way of Zen was released on the 23rd of July and, like his other books, is available from your local bookstore, the publisher, and all the online sources including Amazon.
James has contributed chapters or sections to nearly a dozen books as well as several pamphlets for the UUA. He has written for the Unitarian Universalist magazine, the UU World, including for several years as an online columnist, in addition to articles at the Huffington Post, as well as the Buddhist magazines Tricycle, Buddhadharma, and Lion’s Roar.
He blogs as Monkey Mind. The blog's motto is "easily distracted." It mostly addresses the Zen life in the West. Hosted by the religious portal Patheos, the blog is now almost eighteen years old.
James has published six books, he is the author of five and co-editor of one more.
This Very Moment: A Brief Introduction to Buddhism and Zen for Unitarian Universalists, his first book, was published by Skinner House Books. It was lightly edited and reissued as In This Very Moment: A Simple Guide to Zen Buddhism. It's now out of print.
His second book was a study of Zen teachers and communities in North America, “Zen Master Who? A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen.” He calls his third a "sort of memoir," If You’re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break: Field Notes from a Zen Life. He is the co-editor of The Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Important Koan.His fifth book is Introduction to the Zen Koan: Learning the Language of Dragons. He wishes it was a bit more accurately title "An Introduction to Zen Meditation and Koans," thinking it more accurate and might have sold a bit better...
His seventh book tentatively titled Zen at the End of Religion: An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual but not Religious will be published by Monkfish Books early in 2025.