Paths of Practice with Josan Janis Cooke Newman

Paths of Practice with Josan Janis Cooke Newman

Author: Vincent Moore October 2, 2024 Duration: 44:55

Josan Janis Cooke Newman is the author of the memoir, The Russian Word for Snow, and two novels: Mary; Mrs. A. Lincoln and A Master Plan for Rescue. Janis also teaches creative writing, offering courses like Writing and Mindfulness: Cultivating a Daily Practice through the San Francisco Zen Center, and founded Lit Camp, a writer's conference that takes place at the Esalen Institute. Janis also founded Creative Caffeine Daily, an online writing community.

We talk about memoir writing and Zen, being a ‘baby Buddhist,’ the joyful experience of sewing a rakusu, the impact of taking lay ordination precepts, viewing mornings as a creative, liminal space, and approaching haikus as a Zen writing practice.


Vincent Moore hosts Paths of Practice: Conversations on Journeys into Buddhism, a space where personal stories take center stage. Each episode is built around a simple, profound question: what does it actually look like to live with Buddhist teachings? You’ll hear from people whose lives have been shaped by this path, from long-time monastics and dedicated lay practitioners to those who have just felt a curious pull toward mindfulness and compassion. The conversations avoid dry theory, focusing instead on the messy, human, and often surprising realities of integrating practice into daily life-through family, work, doubt, and discovery. This podcast operates on the belief that there are as many ways to walk this road as there are people walking it, gently exploring that diversity one honest conversation at a time. It’s less about providing answers and more about sharing the map-making process itself, offering companionship and insight for anyone interested in the varied terrain of spiritual life.
Author: Language: en-us Episodes: 100

Paths of Practice: Conversations on Journeys into Buddhism
Podcast Episodes
Paths of Practice with Chance Krempasky [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 42:12
Chance Krempasky is a vegan cyclist, cold water swimming weirdo, and meditator. He works as a family nurse practitioner specializing in queer and transgender medicine, drug user health, and care for people living with HI…
Paths of Practice with Arthur Braverman [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:19
Arthur Braverman studied at Antaiji temple in Japan under Uchiyama Roshi from 1970 to 1975. He is an author and translator, whose works include Mud and Water: The Collected Teachings of Zen Master Bassui, and the novel,…
Paths of Practice with Zen Master Dae An (Bogumila Malinowska) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:48
Zen Master Dae An (Bogumila Malinowska) is a Guiding Teacher at The London Zen Centre of the Kwan Um School of Zen and currently lives in London. She was born in North-west Poland and met Zen Master Seung Sahn in 1981 on…
Paths of Practice with Shohaku Okumura [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:02:57
Shohaku Okumura, founder and abbot of Sanshin Zen Community, was born in Osaka, Japan, in 1948. In 1970, he was ordained by the late Kosho Uchiyama Roshi, one of the foremost Zen masters of the twentieth-century. He rece…
Paths of Practice with Arisika Razak [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:03:53
Arisika Razak is Professor Emerita at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, where she also served as the director of the Women’s Spirituality MA and PhD program and as Director of Diversity. She…
Paths of Practice with Žarko Andričević [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 50:35
Žarko Andričević is the founder of Dharmaloka Chan Buddhist Community and Chan Retreat Centre (Chan centar Hartovski vrh) in Croatia, where he currently lives and teaches. Žarko first encountered Buddhism 1975 and has be…
Paths of Practice with Rev. Devon Matsumoto [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:59
Rev. Devon Matsumoto is a Minister’s Assistant at the Mountain View Buddhist Temple. Devon grew up in the Jodo Shinshu community and has a deep interest in understanding how his Buddhist teachings can inform social justi…
Paths of Practice with Queer Leather Meditation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 57:13
The Queer Leather Meditation group is a peer-led meditation group for those who have a meditation practice and are queer and leather/kink-identified. QLM's intention is to create an inclusive space where participants can…
Paths of Practice with Venerable Pedro Kaiten Piquero [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:11:21
Pedro Kaiten Piquero was born in 1976, exactly 38 years before the death of his master Gudo Wafu Nishijima, of whom he was the last disciple. In 2017, he received Dharma transmission in Japan from Venerable Peter Rodo Ro…