When Robert Kennedy went to Japan as a young priest to teach at the Jesuit University in Tokyo, he found himself confronted by a foreign culture indifferent to Christianity and to much that was dear to him. This incited him to enter into dialogue with Zen. Today, he is one of three Jesuits in the world called ‘Roshi’ or Zen Master. As a Christian Robert Kennedy has found meaning and deep reverence in the practice of Zen Buddhism. In these talks Robert Kennedy uses the traditional Zen approach to teaching through questioning and through art. The talks are structured around twelve koans (a story, question, or statement whose meaning can't be accessed by rational thinking, yet may be understood by intuition). The koans, elegantly illustrated with Amy Yee’s paintings and Robert Kennedy’s calligraphy, can be found in the leaflet enclosed with these CDs. These talks were presented at the John Main Seminar in London, UK, in 2009.
