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Published on National Catholic Reporter Conversation Cafe (http://ncrcafe.org)

'I wanted a faith that was deeper': Jesuit priest and Zen master

By NCR Podcasts
Created Apr 27 2007 - 12:33
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Jesuit Fr. Robert E. Kennedy
Episode 1 [4] | Episode 2 [5] Drag both episodes of this podcast into your iTunes library [6]

Episode 1: Come at life fresh, moment by moment (27 min.)
"I was talking with a Chinese Zen master once and he said one of the difficulties of dealing with Catholics is that they love their spiritualities ... as if it was a parallel life," Kennedy tells Tom Fox. Buddhists root us in this moment, he said. "Buddhists would say, 'If God isn't present in this moment, where is he? You meet God in doing the deed of this moment in front of you. Never withdraw from it.' "

Episode 2: Helping a person take another step (24 min.)
When Kennedy went to study with a Japanese Zen master, the Buddhist told him: " 'I do not want to make you a Buddhist. I want to empty you in imitation of your Lord Jesus Christ who emptied himself and poured himself out.' This is at the heart of what it means to be Catholic. To follow Christ is to empty ourselves." He continues: "I remember thinking then, 'This Buddhist might make a Christian of me yet.' It was so profoundly Christian and beautiful."

Zen Gifts to Christians
Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit
More about the author
Ordained a priest in Japan in 1965, Jesuit Fr. Robert E. Kennedy was installed as a Zen teacher in 1991 and was given the title Roshi in 1997. Kennedy studied Zen with Yamada Roshi in Japan, Maezumi Roshi in Los Angeles and Bernard Glassman Roshi in New York. He teaches in the theology department of Saint Peter's College in Jersey City, N.J. In addition to his work at the college, he is a practicing psychotherapist. He is the author of two books, Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit and Zen Gifts to Christians.


Source URL:
http://ncrcafe.org/node/1057