Zen at the End of Religion

An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual but Not Religious

James Ishmael Ford

Paperback
978-1-958972-76-2
US $19.95 Bookshop Amazon Barnes & Noble
eBook available
May 2025

Zen as the idea path for those who have left institutional religion behind

In this liminal moment, when the grip of our old religions has loosened, a prominent Zen practitioner asks: What is religion? What is spirituality? And what is it all about?

Ford begins by invoking the ideas of Aldous Huxley, welcoming what he calls a “naturalistic perennialism.” Ford believes there are currents of religion that are rooted in our biology. And as something natural, it is something that people can find within all religions, in fact, the heart birthing of all religions.

Then, true to the book’s title of the book, Ford asks and answers, “Why then, Zen?” and demonstrates how pure Zen is as simple as noticing and waking: an expression of an intimate way of life.

Four noble truths, ox herding pictures, samadhi, koan, lovingkindness, and many other Zen essentials are here, in succinct and conversational prose that offers a lifeboat to anyone who feels something missing in the absence of religious life.

James Ishmael Ford is both a Zen priest and a Unitarian Universalist minister. He has lived in monasteries and other spiritual communities, served as a local pastor and spiritual director, and preached throughout New England, where he lives. His previous books include If You’re Lucky, Your Heart Will Break and, in 2024, The Intimate Way of Zen.

“Trappist monk Thomas Merton wrote, ‘Zen is a way of insight.’ Then he suggested what Zen is not: a system or method to be institutionalized, the way western society has domesticated religion. James Ford’s insightful and honest introduction to this venerable tradition of meditation and inner transformation just might help us see what Merton meant—and why Zen can be a great blessing for our time, even for those who identify as spiritual but not religious.” —Carl McColman, author of The New Big Book of Christian Mysticism and Read the Bible Like a Mystic

“James Ford has long been an honest and thoughtful voice on matters spiritual and religious. In Zen at the End of Religion he shines a light on Zen as a path for those who are alienated from religious institutions but are still seeking—something. Something deep, boundless, intimate. Zen at the End of Religion is a clear and authentic introduction to Zen.” —Barbara O’Brien, author of The Circle of the Way: A Concise History of Zen from the Buddha to the Modern World

Blurbs for Ford’s 07/24 book with Shambhala:

“This book is about the messy path of Zen as lived and taught by James Ford. It tells no lies. Nothing linear or logical, no quick ecstatic fix, only a lifetime of longing and steadiness, of pilgrimage. It will steer you through the vastness of Zen practice and show you how to live a life that isn’t just spiritual, but real.” —Eve Myonen Marko, co-author, The Book of Householder Koans: Walking Up in the Land of Attachments

“A marvelous combination of stories, teachings, and practices that is part memoir and part storytelling about Zen, spirituality, philosophy, and life. It is such a well-rounded work because its author has tested his understanding against more than a half-century of life and practice that has shorn away both the illusions of this world and the illusions of an oversimplified view of Buddhism. To be savored, like fine wine, or if one prefers, fine tea.” —Mark Unno, author of Shingon Refractions and president of the Society for Buddhist-Christian Studies