Paths of Practice with Rev. Dr. Duncan Ryūken Williams

Rev. Dr. Duncan Ryūken Williams is a Soto Zen priest and the Professor of Religion and East Asian Languages & Cultures as well as the Director of the USC Shinso Ito Center for Japanese Religions and Culture. Dr. Williams is the author of American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War, The Other Side of Zen: A Social History of Soto Zen Buddhism in Tokugawa Japan, and the editor of seven volumes including Hapa Japan, Issei Buddhism in the Americas, American Buddhism, and Buddhism and Ecology. He has also translated four books from Japanese into English including Putting Buddhism to Work: A New Theory of Economics and Business Management. For more information about Dr. Williams, please see the following link: https://www.duncanryukenwilliams.com/

We discussed Dr. Williams's recent experience serving as temporary abbot of Eiheiji and Sojiji, chaplaincy at Harvard University, learning a softer approach to Zen directly from Thich Nhat Hanh, American Sutra and activism with Tsuru for Solidarity, the future of American Buddhism, and trusting your gut. For more information about the Irei: National Monument for the WWII Japanese American Incarceration project, please see the following link: https://ireizo.org/