Printed in the Winter 2026 issue of Quest magazine.
Zen at the End of Religion: An Introduction for the Curious, the Skeptical, and the Spiritual but Not Religious
by James Ishmael Ford reviewed by Dhananjay Joshi
Rhinebeck, N.Y.: Monkfish, 2025. 188 pp., paper, $19.95.
I get strange looks from my friends and acquaintances when I talk about Zen practice. (The brows are raised even higher when I mention koans.) At the slightest hint of curiosity, I have pointed them to classics in Zen practice such as Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind by Suzuki Roshi. Zen at the End of Religion by James Ishmael Ford offers a wonderful alternative.
“We’re in a liminal moment, when the grip of our old religions has loosened,” Ford writes. The first part of this book delves into questions: What is religion? What is spirituality? And where does Zen come in? One could say that religion is that part of a culture associated with meaning and purpose. Spirituality answers to the “why” of our lives, however elusive that quest may be.
Ford explains that there are three groups within the “spiritual but not religious” category. The first is deeply suspicious of religious institutions but interested in alternative approaches to spirituality as well as health. The second group is also suspicious of institutions but is drawn to mystical traditions seeking and seeing common elements of wisdom in Buddhism, Taoism, Advaita Vedanta, Sufism, Hasidic Judaism, and the Kabbalah as well as the writings of the fourth- and fifth-century Christian Desert Fathers. This group sees spirituality as a unifying force in religions. The third group carries a belief that the traditional religions can be transformative. As Ford writes, “They want to drink from the ancient well and know for themselves whether the waters are cool or warm.”
These questions are a personal matter for Ford. He himself is a Unitarian Universalist as well as a Zen Buddhist. Zen practice is the core of his inner life. He is in touch with the spiritual within religion.
There is a chapter titled “Why Zen?” The answer here is that Zen puts us in touch with the spiritual core of ancient religions. We all have heard the term “buddha nature”: realizing that is waking up.
Ford concludes part 1 by introducing us to three varieties of Zen: secular Zen (Zen stripped of religious content), often associated with Western psychology; Jewish Zen (Zen practitioner and psychotherapist Brenda Shoshanna says, “These practices are like two wings of a bird, both are needed to fly”); and Zen Christianity.
Part 2 is titled “The Secret Teachings of the Zen Way.” This part is most useful for those who want to know more when they hear, “Zen is about Awakening. Always.” This is where we first encounter the koan—a direct pointing to reality with an invitation to our own demonstration of understanding. In an intimate way, everything is connected, everything counts, every action matters, and every thought has consequences. Zen is also an invitation to pay attention.
No discussion of Zen teachings is complete without mentioning The Heart Sutra and its core: “Form is emptiness; emptiness is form.” Ford gives us another view: “You are not it, but in truth it is you.” He writes, “I am not it. My ideas. My desires. My hurt. My longing. My joy: I feel I own them. But I’m wrong. In another sense they own me. These things, ideas, desire, hurt, longing, joy all play out as me, and my part of the great web of things. Now this. Now that.”
Ford gives out a secret: “Form is boundless. The boundless is this particular thing. We are not it. But in truth. It is us. It is you. It is me. The secret teachings of the Zen way. In the palm of a hand.” The spiritual within religions is Zen in our every breath, meaning found in a meaningless world.
One of the most important aspects of every teaching is how one can make it one’s own. Part 3 offers specific tools for practice. Zen is a way of awakening by means of practices. The chapters on “Koan and Huatou” and “Great Doubt, Faith, and Energy” are to be read slowly and with attention. Chapters on “Ritual and Liturgy” and “Lovingkindness” are enlightening. The chapter “Retreats and a Note on What to Do When You Can’t” is a must-read, as retreats are a core of Zen practice today. “Waking Up in the Kitchen” is a lesson in simplicity in cooking and eating.
Part 4 is titled “Direct Pointing” and takes you on a journey with koans. It is intensely individual. I will leave the reader alone with it.
Part 5 brings all this material together. In a world of chaos, where it is hard to find meaning and direction, Zen is a way of awakening, like a poem that touches and transforms. It is a guidepost.
Is this book enough for the new seeker? Not really. Find a sitting group or practicing community near you and then “sit and become Buddha.”
Dhananjay Joshi
Dhananjay Joshi is a regular reviewer for Quest.