photo by Kodo Roen
Walking the Path
This site was created as an intimate glimpse into Roshi Joan Halifax, founder and abbot of Upaya Zen Center; her visionary Buddhist's life and dharma practice. Roshi Joan shares her experience of contemplation, teaching, activism, and creative expression as being one and the same—no difference. In these deeply complicated times, Joan Halifax’s words and images inspire us on our own path, as we walk each other home.
“From love, let us live by vow and carry the spirit of our practice into the life of the world.”
Travel photos by Joan Jiko Halifax
“Some of us are drawn to mountains the way the moon draws the tide. Both the great forests and the mountains live in my bones. They have taught me, humbled me, purified me and changed me.”
KANNON SUTRA
KAN ZE ON
NA MU BUTSU
YO BUTSU U IN
YO BUTSU U EN
BUP PO SO EN
JO RAKU GA JO
CHO NEN KAN ZE ON
BO NEN KAN ZE ON
NEN NEN JU SHIN KI
NEN NEN FU RI SHIN
DEDICATION to my teachers
Someone once said: “Everything teaches you”. And I believe this is the case, whether we are aware of this or not, and whether we receive what we are being given or not. I have been the beneficiary of the gifts from many different types of teachers.... the high altitude valley I live in, my sickness as a child, the death of my parents, the peach-colored Sahara I crossed in 1969. And yet, certain individuals have also had a strong influence on my life.
In the sixties, Thich Nhat Hanh indirectly brought Buddhism into my work as a social activist and anthropologist. I was fortunate to have begun formal Zen practice in the mid 1970's through Seung Sahn Soen sa Nim. In the eighties, my formal Buddhist practice then included the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. In the nineties, Roshi Bernie Glassman became my teacher for almost thirty years until his passing. They are all gone now, but their dharma continues. I am also deeply grateful for having studied and practiced with the Venerable Gyaltrul Rinpoche, Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche, and His Holiness the Dalai Lama.
