My Path to Islam

My Path to Islam

by John Lounibos, Ph.D.

"Before I drag the reader, screaming and wailing, to Baghdad and the 11th century world of Ghazali and medieval Persia, let me explain a few things about medieval and classical readings, which create a context for the encounter with Ghazali. Let me also share something about the way in which I read ancient, classical literature.

"I am no therapist, but I read and ask my students to read every text as therapy. Why read the classics for therapy? Because most of them were written with some intent to heal the soul. So I read the Bible for therapy. I read Julian of Norwich (1342-1420?), Augustine (354-430), Al-Ghazali (1058-1111), Maimonides (1135-1204), Dante (1265-1321), and Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) as therapy; then I read them for history, for social, political values, for critical thinking, for poetry, for creative thinking. Then I read them for windows on the catastrophes of their time and apply lessons for our own contemporary times. I also read them for meditation."

Please go to the post on the Intimate Meanderings page and read away.

The Beginnings of a Christian-Zen Bibliography

Abe, Masao, "Emptiness Is Suchness" in The Buddha Eye, edited by Frederick Franck. NY: Crossroad, 1982

Abe, Masao, Zen and Western Thought. Honolulu, University of Hawaii Press, 1985

Abe, Masao, "John Cobb's Beyond Dialogue" in The Eastern Buddhist, Vol. XVIII, No. 1, Spring 1985

Aquinas, St. Thomas, On Being and Essence. Toronto, Canada, The Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1949 (out of print)

Aquinas on Being and Essence: A Translation and Interpretation, Joseph Bobik and St. Thomas Aquinas, May 31, 2016

Carlo, William E., The Ultimate Reducibility of Essence to Existence in Existential Metaphysics. The Hague: Nijhoff, 1966

Clarke, W. Norris, "What Cannot Be Said in St. Thomas' Essence-Existence Doctrine" in The New Scholasticism. Baltimore: American Catholic Philosophical Association, 1974

Cobb, John B., Jr. John B. Cobb, Beyond Dialogue - Toward a Mutual Transformation of Christianity and Buddhism. Jul 30, 1998

Cook, Francis H., "The Second Buddhist Christian Theological Encounter: A Report" in The Eastern Buddhist, Vol. XIX, No. 1, Spring 1986

de Finance, Joseph, Etre et Agir. Paris, Beauchesne et ses fils, éditeurs, 1945

de Mello, Anthony, Sadhana: A Way to God. St. Louis, MO: The Institute of Jesuit Sources, 1978

Dumoulin, Heinrich, Christianity Meets Buddhism. La Salle, IL: Open Court, 1974

Eusden, John Dykstra, Zen and Christian: The Journey Between. NY: Crossroad, 1981

Fabro, Cornelio, La Nozione Metafisica di Partecipazione. Torino: Società editrice internationale, 1950

Fields, Rick, How the Swans Came to the Lake. Boulder, CO: Shambhala, 1981

Gardeil, le Pilre A., La structure de l'âme et l'expérience Mystique. Paris: Librairie Victor Lecoffre, 1927

Gardet, Louis and Olivier Lacombe, L'expérience du soi. Paris, Desclée de Brouwer, 1981(only the Italian version in print)

Gardet, Louis, Etudes de philosophie et de Mystique comparées. Paris: Librairie philosophique J. Vrin, 1972 (out of print)

Gilkey, Langdon, "Abe Masao's Zen and Western Thought" in The Eastern Buddhist, Vol. XIX, No. 2, Autumn 1986

Gilson, Etienne, Being and Some Philosophers. Toronto, Canada: Pontifical Institute of Medieval Studies, 1949

Graham, Dom Aelred, Zen Catholicism. HBJ, 1963

Habito, Ruben L.F., Living Zen, Loving God. Wisdom Publications, 2004

Heisig, James, "East-West Dialogue: Sunyata and Kenosis" in Spirituality Today, Vol. 39, No. 2, Summer 1987 and Vol. 39, No. 3, Autumn 1987

Izutsu, Toshihiko, Toward a Philosophy of Zen Buddhism. Shambala, 2001

John of the Cross, Ascent of Mount Carmel. Translated and edited by E. Allison Peers. Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1958; reissued Dover, ,2008

Johnson, William, Christian Zen: A Way of Meditation. NY: Harper Row, 1981 (out of print)

Johnson, William, The Still Point, Reflections on Zen and Christian Mysticism. NY:Fordham University Press, 1970 (difficult to find)

Kadowaki, J.K., Zen and the Bible. NY: Routledge & Kegan, 1980

Kadowaki, Kakichi, "Ways of Knowing: A Buddhist-Thomist Dialogue" in International Philosophical Quarterly, Vol. VI, No. 4, Dec. 1966

Kalinowski, Jerzy and Stefan Swiezawski, La philosophie à l'heure du Concile. Paris: Société d'Editions Internationales, 1965; Press IPC, 2014

Kishi, Rev. Augustin Hideshi, Spiritual Consciousness in Zen from a Thomistic Theological Point of View. Nishinomiya-shi, Japan: Catholic Bishop's House of Osaka, 1966. PDF available from Merton Center Digital Collections.

Lassalle, H.M. Enomiya, Zen Meditation for Christians. LaSalle, IL: Open Court, 1974 (out of print)

Lassalle, H.M. Enomiya, The Practice of Zen Meditation, Thorsons, 1990

Maritain, Jacques, "Lettre sur la philosophie a l'heure du concile" in Approches Sans Entraves. Paris: Fayard, 1973 (out of print)

Maritain, Jacques, Bergsonian Philosophy and Thomism. NY: New York Philosophical Library, 1955; University of Notre Dame Press, 2007

Maritain, Jacques, Existence and the Existent. Garden City, NY: Image Books, 1948; Paulist Press, 2015

Maritain, Jacques, Notebooks. Albany, NY: Magi Books, Inc., 1984

Maritain, Jacques, The Peasant of the Garonne. NY: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1968

Merton, Thomas, Zen and the Birds of Appetite. New Directions Paperback 1968; 2010

Nishitani, Keiji, Religion and Nothingness. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1982; 1983

O'Hanlon, Daniel, "Zen and the Spiritual Exercises: A Dialogue Between Faiths" in Theological Studies, Vol. 39, No. 4, Dec. 1978.

Senko, W., "Un traité inconnu 'De esse et essentia'" in Archives d'histoire doctrinale et litteraire du moyen âge, 27. Paris: Libraire Philosophique J. Vrin, 1961 (not in print)

Shizuteru, Ueda, ""Nothingness" in Meister Eckhart and Zen Buddhism" in The Buddha Eye, edited by Frederick Franck. NY: Crossroad, 1982; World Wisdom PDF

Spae, Joseph J., Buddhist-Christian Empathy. Chicago: The Chicago Institute of Theology and Culture, 1980

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, "Self the Unattainable" in The Buddha Eye, edited by Frederick Franck. NY: Crossroad, 1982. University Press, 2015

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, "The Buddhist Conception of Reality" in The Buddha Eye, edited by Frederick Franck. NY: Crossroad, 1982; Selected Works of D.T. Suzuki, Volume I: Zen, University of California Press, 2020

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, "What Is the "I"?" in The Buddha Eye, edited by Frederick Franck. NY: Crossroad, 1982

Suzuki, Daisetz Teitaro, An Introduction to Zen Buddhism. London: Arrow Books Ltd, 1959; Mass Market Paperback, 1964

Waidenfels, Hans, Absolute Nothingness: Foundations for a Buddhist-Christian Dialogue (Studies in Japanese Philosophy) Nanzan Studies in Religion and Culture, 1980; Chisokudō Publications, 2020

Yamaguchi, Minoru, The intuition of Zen and Bergson: Comparative intellectual approach to Zen, reason of divergences between East and West. Herder Agency. Enderle Bookstore, 1969

Nanso no Ho practice or “soft-ointment meditation”

Nanso No Ho, or “soft-ointment meditation,” is a 'naikan' (transformation) practice originally taught by Zen master Hakuin Zenji (1689-1768) as he describes it in Yasen Kanna [translation by Norman Waddell]

"Imagine that a lump of soft butter, pure in color and fragrance and the size and shape of a duck egg, is suddenly placed on the top of your head. As it begins to slowly melt, it imparts an exquisite sensation, moistening and saturating your head within and without. It continues to ooze down, moistening your shoulders, elbows, and chest; permeating lungs, diaphragm, liver, stomach, and bowels; moving down the spine through the hips, pelvis, and buttocks. At that point, all the congestion that has accumulated within the five organs and six viscera, all the aches and pains in the abdomen and other affected parts, will follow the heart as it sinks downward into the lower body. As it does, you will distinctly hear a sound like that of water trickling from a higher to a lower place. It will move lower down through the lower body, suffusing the legs with beneficial warmth, until it reaches the soles of the feet, where it stops.

"The student should then repeat the contemplation. As his vital energy flows downward, it gradually fills the lower region of the body, suffusing it with penetrating warmth, making him feel as if he were sitting up to his navel in a hot bath filled with a decoction of rare and fragrant medicinal herbs that have been gathered and infused by a skilled physician.

"Inasmuch as all things are created by the mind, when you engage in this contemplation, the nose will actually smell the marvelous scent of pure, soft butter; your body will feel the exquisite sensation of its melting touch. Your body and mind will be in perfect peace and harmony. You will feel better and enjoy greater health than you did as a youth of twenty or thirty. At this time, all the undesirable accumulations in your vital organs and viscera will melt away. Stomach and bowels will function perfectly. Before you know it, your skin will glow with health.

"If you continue to practice the contemplation with diligence, there is no illness that cannot be cured, no virtue that cannot be acquired, no level of sage hood that cannot be reached, no religious practice that cannot be mastered. Whether such results appear swiftly or slowly depends only upon how scrupulously you apply yourself."

"Bob Hoffman was a criminal. Simple"

When Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have extended the statute of limitations for clerical sexual abuse, he said, “There comes a time when an individual or organization should be secure in the reasonable expectation that past acts are indeed in the past and not subject to further lawsuits.”* (SacBee)

Bob Hoffman has been dead for more than 20 years, and he raped me 44 years ago, but I’m just uncovering the severe emotional consequences of his abuse. Now, at 76 and in the last part of my life, I know that the effects of abuse can extend beyond any "reasonable expectation" that they are past. I also acknowledge that most reasonable people would think that such old grievances might not be subject to any lawsuits, and, as much as possible, I do try to function as a reasonable person. However, as the Hoffman Process “teaches,” the effects of negative actions persist over generations, and to paint over the dark side of Hoffman’s legacy with the portrait of a grandfatherly spiritual seer who just wanted everyone to lead lives of freedom and happiness is total nonsense.

When a respected Zen teacher read my #gaymetoo post, she told me that she has encouraged many students of Buddhist teachers who abused their positions to satisfy their sexual urges to pursue lawsuits. Then she said, “Hoffman was a criminal. Simple.” She is right. California law stipulates, “Therapy Never Includes Sexual Behavior. . . . Sexual contact of any kind between a therapist and a client is unethical and illegal in the State of California. Additionally, with regard to former clients, sexual contact within two years after termination of therapy is also illegal and unethical.”*

Most people who were close associates of Hoffman will admit that he was an extremely difficult man, and that his interactions with clients were, at best, unconventional, and at worst, unethical and abusive. Stan Stefancic labeled him a “malignant narcissist.” But these same people will also argue that Hoffman's basic insight allows them to overlook what they characterize as eccentricities. For years, I tried to excuse his behavior—perhaps he was the gay kid who was bullied and overcompensated when he was in a position of power.

But Hoffman became the bully as well as a predator, and if I let bullies get away with it, I am complicit. This I cannot and will not allow.

Whether or not his basic insight into human behavior as “negative love” can stand the test of time, whether or not the effects of his revolutionary “psychic therapy” are worth the expense, I cannot say. But I will say that Bob Hoffman was a criminal.


* It should be noted that Brown is a former Jesuit, and the Society of Jesus continues to be subject to numerous accusations of abuse by its members dating back many years.

*Hoffman operated as a clergy person. He was a recognized psychic in a spiritualist church. He called the people he trained as “psychic therapists.” Now the Hoffman Institute calls them “teachers.” But whether therapist, or clergy person, or teacher, the title does not excuse him from the moral or ethical standards that apply to professionals interacting with the people who come to them for help and pay them money for that help.

____________________________

Although I have tried to be objective, it is impossible to take a disinterested position with regard to the Process, given that Hoffman sexually abused me within 6 months after I finished my first process. 

Other Posts regarding Bob Hoffman and the Fisher-Hoffman Process of Psychic Therapy

The Ontological Odd Couple, and the Origins of the Fisher-Hoffman Psychic Therapy

Bob Hoffman was a Lunatic, a Liar, a Criminal, & a Fraud

Why Do Cults Need to Rewrite History?

The Truth about Bob Hoffman

The End of Patriarchy and the Beginnings of a Cult. 

It’s a cult, damn it. Nothing more

The Sad Demise of Bob Hoffman 

Jonestown and Our Deliverance from Cults

Bob Hoffman was a criminal. Simple 

© Kenneth Ireland, 2020