Having poured out my story to Fr. John, he sat back in his chair, straightened his black Trappist scapular ( he did this habitually when he was about to say something important), and said, “Well, that is an interesting story. We have many monks who try Zen meditation and find themselves having emotional difficulties with Read more
I stared at the large crucifix hanging on the wall behind the alter, focusing on my breathing, doing my Zen best to be in the present moment. I knew every little nuance of the large plaster corpus of Christ (it must have been 7 feet tall), his eyes open, the crown of thorns, nails in hands Read more
Though I had been reading Thomas Merton’s books on Zen Buddhism and Carmelite spirituality, and had found them intriguing, I still had not seen the irony in reading books about Catholic mysticism to strengthen my resolve to shave my head and go to a Zen monastery as a monk. And though Dr. Kim had read Read more
Having signed up for my classes, I committed to 3 nights per week of Zen practice: martial arts Tuesdays and Thursdays and meditation classes on Wednesdays nights, 7:30 sharp. Just $60 a month for spiritual enlightenment- and, I would get in shape and learn how to beat people up too (or at least defend myself Read more
Author’s note: this is a true story. It happened to me over the July 1st long weekend, 1985. I have been reluctant to publish it, thinking it was too ‘out there’, but it did in fact happen. “We’re sending you to New York – Newark, New Jersey. Your group leaves from Toronto at 8:00p.m., Friday Read more
There was nothing in the air, nothing on my mind or in my heart that morning, that gave me even the slightest impression my life was about to change forever. It was a mid-spring day, May 14th, 1987, and, not having to work until the afternoon, I went for a walk to Main Street, Canmore, Read more
In my Zen days in Canmore, Alberta, my teacher Sifu Dr. Kim would look at me sternly, crunching his eyebrows, and say, “Do Chun (my Zen name), you have a big ox. You must find your ox!” And I would look back at him earnestly and with all seriousness, nodding my head in the Read more
“Just peddle, don’t push!” in Road Lesson #3, You Will Meet Angels got a lot of response from readers. Here’s more on it. As I rode further on the Icefields Parkway south of Jasper, and away from my meeting with Sanryo Kim, I was filled with joy and delight. Mr. Kim’s joyful spirit, moved Read more
Meeting someone even once can change your life. Here’s a story about one such encounter with a man who changed the way I saw myself – all in 30 minutes. I was cycling the first leg of a 250km trip from Jasper, Alberta to Canmore, Alberta, through the most stunning scenery in the world, the Read more
June 13th, 2011 was the 20th anniversary of the death of a friend of mine, Ken Bovey. Ken died at the age of 32 from scleroderma, a rare auto-immune disease. This is the story of the last 10 months of Ken’s life. It is a story of how one man prepared for his own death. Read more
Saturday Morning: 8:00 am
Saturday Vigil: 4:30 pm
Sunday: 7:30 am, 9:00 am, 10:45 am,
12:30 pm, 5:30 pm
Saturday Vigil: 6:15pm
Sunday: 9:00am, 7:15pm
Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday: 8:30 am
P.O. Box 5195,
Banff, Alberta, Canada T1L 1G3