God and Zen

Robert E. Kennedy, S.J., is an American Catholic priest and a Zen master. Ordained a priest in Japan in 1965, he was installed as a Zen teacher in 1991 and was given the title Roshi or master in 1997. Kennedy teaches theology and Japanese at St. Peter's College in New Jersey and is a practicing psychotherapist in New York City. His books include "Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit" and "Zen Gifts to Christians." Kennedy sits with his Zen students daily at the Morning Star Zendo in Jersey City, NJ.

I became involved in Zen through my work in Japan during the late 1950's and early 1960's. At that time, there were many Jesuits who were engaged in interfaith work with Zen Buddhists. It was through these Jesuits that I came upon the Buddhist ideal of the enlightened life.

"Enlightened life" is a Buddhist term for a life that is based upon wisdom and compassion. Specifically, it is a Jesuit ideal to bring gifts of greater worth to the church. This experience of wisdom and compassion is a great Buddhist gift that I thought could enrich the church in an interfaith manner.

Zen must be understood as a verb. In other words, it is the act of doing. What you are doing when you study Zen is nothing other than practicing a compassionate life.

More specifically, the practice of Zen is the practice of paying attention in a way that is both sustained and communal. As we know from the work of Simone Weil, prayer is nothing other than paying attention.

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