One Time, One Meeting

One Time, One Meeting is a biweekly column on the practice of Zen meditation. The columns archived here first appeared in the Alfred Sun, the community newspaper of the village of Alfred, New York. Situated in the Finger Lakes region of Western New York, the village is the home of Alfred University, Alfred State College, and the New York State College of Ceramics.

For the past twenty-five years I have practiced Buddhist meditation in the Zen and Vipassana traditions. My earliest training was in Vipassana practice, as interpreted by Western teachers, and in Vietnamese Rinzai Zen, as taught by the Venerable Thich Nhat Hanh. I  have since studied Japanese Rinzai Zen with Jiro Osho Fernando Afable, former Vice-Abbot of Dai Bosatsu Zendo, and Shinge Roko Sherry Chayat Roshi, Abbot of the Zen Center of Syracuse. In November, 2002 I received the jukai precepts in the Hakuin/Torei lineage of Rinzai Zen at Dai Bosatsu Zendo.

Until my retirement in 2006, I taught literature, writing, classical guitar, and Buddhist meditation at Alfred University. I continue to lead the Falling Leaf Sangha, a lay practice group for students and the community.

I am the author of eight books, most recently Entering Zen (Whitlock Publishing, 2011). My previous books include  Leaf, Sunlight, Asphalt (Salmon Poetry, 2009),  Dark Pool (Salmon, 2004) and the verse novella Midcentury (Salmon, 1997). For more information, please see  Ben Howard and  Salmon Poetry. For a bibliography of my published poems, essays, articles, and reviews, please see Ben Howard, publications, 1973-2012.  

Ben Howard

Alfred, New York

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Moises Guevara and I recently recorded Jorge Cardoso’s “Milonga” for two guitars. We invite you to listen at Cardoso, “Milonga.”

For the holiday season (2012) I recorded the Sarabande from J. S. Bach’s Third Lute Suite (BWV 995). This piece is one of Bach’s most beautiful and mysterious compositions.

In August, 2011, I was Bill Jaker’s guest on his FM radio program Off the Page. We talked about my book Entering Zen. To listen to our conversation, go to Entering Zen interview.

ENTERING ZEN