Zen at the End of Religion: An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual But Not Religious - Paperback

by James Ishmael Ford (Author)

A Spirituality & Practice "Best Spiritual Book of 2025"

Zen is the ideal 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, 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.

Author Biography

James Ishmael Ford has been called one of the senior Zen teachers in North America. He is both a Soto Zen priest and a Dharma successor in the Harada Yasutani koan tradition. Ford is also an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister who served in parishes for a quarter of a century. Today he lives in Los Angeles with his spouse Jan Seymour-Ford. He is the author of seven books on aspects of Zen Buddhism including If You're Lucky, Your Heart Will Break and The Intimate Way of Zen: Effort, Surrender, and Awakening on the Spiritual Journey.