James has written for the Huffington Post, the Buddhist magazines Tricycle, Buddhadharma, and Lion’s Roar, and the Unitarian Universalist magazine UU World.
He blogs as Monkey Mind. The blog's motto is "easily distracted." It mostly addresses the Zen life in the West, but also explores the currents of liberal and progressive religion, politics, and culture.
James is the author of This Very Moment: A Brief Introduction to Buddhism and Zen for Unitarian Universalists. He is also the author of a study of Zen teachers and communities in North America, “Zen Master Who? A Guide to the People and Stories of Zen,” the co-editor of The Book of Mu: Essential Writings on Zen’s Most Important Koan, and the author of If You’re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break: Field Notes from a Zen Life from Wisdom Publications.
His fifth book, Introduction to the Zen Koan: Learning the Language of Dragons, also from Wisdom Publications was released in June, 2018.
He has also contributed chapters or sections to nearly a dozen books as well as several pamphlets for the UUA.
