This episode's guest is Reverend Steve Kanji Ruhl, MDiv, an innovative Zen Buddhist minister ordained in the Zen Peacemaker Order. He ministers to Zen students through spiritual counseling and instruction in his Touch the Earth cyber-sangha (online Buddhist community).

Reverend Kanji received his Master of Divinity degree from Harvard University and is a Buddhist chaplain at Deerfield Academy and a Buddhist Adviser at Yale University. He is the author of Enlightened Contemporaries: Francis, Dogen & Rumi--Three Great Mystics of the Thirteenth Century and Why They Matter Today, and his new book coming out December 13, Appalachian Zen: Journeys in Search of True Home, from the American Heartland to the Buddha Dharma. He also has published two volumes of poems and is a contributing author to the book The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work. He currently resides in Leverett, Massachusetts.

In this episode, Kanji shares with us about how mysticism is an ordinary experience that is open to everyone, offers his very nuanced thoughts on the issue of cultural appropriation vs. assimilation, and teaches how each of us can find a true spiritual home.

Kanji’s new book Appalachian Zen is available available for preorder right now and will be released on December 13. Lastly, as a content disclaimer, this episode contains brief discussions of suicide. And now, please enjoy my interview with Rev. Steve Kanji Ruhl.

Content warning: this episode contains brief discussions of suicide.

Guest's Links:

Website: http://www.stevekanjiruhl.com/

Books:

Appalachian Zen: Journeys in Search of True Home, from the American Heartland to the Buddha Dharma

Enlightened Contemporaries: Francis, Dogen, and Rumi, Three Great Mystics of the Thirteenth Century and Why They Matter Today

Paintings of Rice Cakes Satisfy Hunger

The Constant Yes of Things

The Arts of Contemplative Care: Pioneering Voices in Buddhist Chaplaincy and Pastoral Work

Resources Mentioned:

11:11 Talk Radio Interview with Rev. Kanji Ruhl

Various articles about the Harvard study of Tibetan monks using meditation to lower their body temperatures:

Harvard

NY Times

New Yorker

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We honor the Adena and Monongahela peoples on whose ancestral lands this podcast is produced.

Written & produced by Addie Pazzynski