Andrew Ford
@andrewnford.bsky.social
Former this. Former that. Current Semi-Monastic Zen Buddhist. Leftist Appalachian. Mouth like a sailor. Outside Asheville, NC. He/him
Just finished reporter Seth Harp's new The Fort Bragg Cartel. It is terrifying and shocking and worth your time and attention. Has anyone read it yet?
September 6, 2025 at 7:14 PM
Just finished reporter Seth Harp's new The Fort Bragg Cartel. It is terrifying and shocking and worth your time and attention. Has anyone read it yet?
Working on a little Coming to the Path Talk for this Sunday. It's been a wild thirty-nine years, y'all. I'm still flabbergasted that I ended up in Zen, at this place, studying with this teacher—but I'm deeply grateful it has all worked out this way.
August 12, 2025 at 3:46 AM
Working on a little Coming to the Path Talk for this Sunday. It's been a wild thirty-nine years, y'all. I'm still flabbergasted that I ended up in Zen, at this place, studying with this teacher—but I'm deeply grateful it has all worked out this way.
Just finally sent out my lil essay, "Zen Practice is for F*ggots" to friends. As you can assume, it's about Zen practice, sexuality and my Evangelical childhood. If you'd like it, DM your email and I can send it your way, too!
August 5, 2025 at 1:27 AM
Just finally sent out my lil essay, "Zen Practice is for F*ggots" to friends. As you can assume, it's about Zen practice, sexuality and my Evangelical childhood. If you'd like it, DM your email and I can send it your way, too!
Every time I hear a Bruckner recording that's not Celibidache, I think, gosh, this is downright breezy.
July 8, 2025 at 1:15 AM
Every time I hear a Bruckner recording that's not Celibidache, I think, gosh, this is downright breezy.
Happy fourth?? I guess? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
July 4, 2025 at 6:11 PM
Happy fourth?? I guess? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Howdy, y'all! I'm working on a new essay to send to some generous friends called "Zen Practice Is For F*ggots." It's about—as you can surely guess—the intersection between sexuality and Zen Practice. If you'd like to receive it when I'm finished, DM me your email.
June 27, 2025 at 6:22 PM
Howdy, y'all! I'm working on a new essay to send to some generous friends called "Zen Practice Is For F*ggots." It's about—as you can surely guess—the intersection between sexuality and Zen Practice. If you'd like to receive it when I'm finished, DM me your email.
It's always a great day to get mail from @margueritek.bsky.social! She has the best cards!
June 25, 2025 at 1:44 AM
It's always a great day to get mail from @margueritek.bsky.social! She has the best cards!
Hey yins, just fyi, I'll be in sesshin until next Saturday. Tell yer mommandem I said hey. See you on the far side!
June 7, 2025 at 3:00 AM
Hey yins, just fyi, I'll be in sesshin until next Saturday. Tell yer mommandem I said hey. See you on the far side!
Reposted by Andrew Ford
it would be so cool if something happened. we’re so god damn close to something happening
June 5, 2025 at 7:50 PM
it would be so cool if something happened. we’re so god damn close to something happening
Every Pride month, I remember I got all the boring gay genes and few of the fun ones. Wanna cry, read poetry & listen to Tchaikovsky? I'm your man. Wanna cry & watch the 14-day 1981 BBC adaptation of Brideshead Revisited instead of go to the club? Angels in America? It's nobody's fault I'm boring.
June 3, 2025 at 2:02 AM
Every Pride month, I remember I got all the boring gay genes and few of the fun ones. Wanna cry, read poetry & listen to Tchaikovsky? I'm your man. Wanna cry & watch the 14-day 1981 BBC adaptation of Brideshead Revisited instead of go to the club? Angels in America? It's nobody's fault I'm boring.
We celebrated the Buddha's birthday on Sunday. As I was pouring tea over the lil' baby figure, I was reminded of Yunmen saying: "Had I witnessed [his birth], I would have knocked him dead with one stroke and fed him to the dogs in order to bring about peace on earth!" Couldn't help but chuckle.
May 28, 2025 at 2:05 PM
We celebrated the Buddha's birthday on Sunday. As I was pouring tea over the lil' baby figure, I was reminded of Yunmen saying: "Had I witnessed [his birth], I would have knocked him dead with one stroke and fed him to the dogs in order to bring about peace on earth!" Couldn't help but chuckle.
Reposted by Andrew Ford
I wrote about my recent experience being pulled aside and questioned in the Detroit airport, my history of being "additionally screened" while traveling, getting my Global Entry, and how bureaucracy puts me in perilous contact with my inner fascist johnpaulbrammer.substack.com/p/low-risk-f...
Low-Risk Flier
On bureaucracy, and confronting my inner fascist
johnpaulbrammer.substack.com
May 27, 2025 at 2:18 PM
I wrote about my recent experience being pulled aside and questioned in the Detroit airport, my history of being "additionally screened" while traveling, getting my Global Entry, and how bureaucracy puts me in perilous contact with my inner fascist johnpaulbrammer.substack.com/p/low-risk-f...
Reposted by Andrew Ford
"The vegetarian tracking down his prey at dead of night"
The Sketch
London
1912
The Sketch
London
1912
May 17, 2025 at 9:26 AM
"The vegetarian tracking down his prey at dead of night"
The Sketch
London
1912
The Sketch
London
1912
Spring greetings from the wilds of Western North Carolina! I still have yet to tire of this view . . .
April 26, 2025 at 7:01 PM
Spring greetings from the wilds of Western North Carolina! I still have yet to tire of this view . . .
Relistening Ogdon play the Busoni Piano Concerto—probably my favorite Piano Concerto. It's ridiculous, gargantuan. It has men singing a hymn to Allah for goodness sake! It's the very musical embodiment of my personal motto, "if there's anything worth doing, it's worth overdoing."
April 22, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Relistening Ogdon play the Busoni Piano Concerto—probably my favorite Piano Concerto. It's ridiculous, gargantuan. It has men singing a hymn to Allah for goodness sake! It's the very musical embodiment of my personal motto, "if there's anything worth doing, it's worth overdoing."
Reposted by Andrew Ford
I invented a new phone to help save time in the morning
April 19, 2025 at 1:45 PM
I invented a new phone to help save time in the morning
Reposted by Andrew Ford
Maruyama Okyo
Skeleton Performing Zazen on Waves, 1787
(Daijoji Temple, Hyogo, Japan)
Skeleton Performing Zazen on Waves, 1787
(Daijoji Temple, Hyogo, Japan)
November 30, 2024 at 5:25 PM
Maruyama Okyo
Skeleton Performing Zazen on Waves, 1787
(Daijoji Temple, Hyogo, Japan)
Skeleton Performing Zazen on Waves, 1787
(Daijoji Temple, Hyogo, Japan)
Good wishes to all my Christians friends celebrating Holy Week. I remember it being such a meaningful (and exhausting!) time. Hydrate. Pace yourself. You should be practicing the exsultet right now—if you aren't already. And, as always, here now, still the best Holy Week tweet of all time:
April 13, 2025 at 6:18 PM
Good wishes to all my Christians friends celebrating Holy Week. I remember it being such a meaningful (and exhausting!) time. Hydrate. Pace yourself. You should be practicing the exsultet right now—if you aren't already. And, as always, here now, still the best Holy Week tweet of all time:
"With a heart
Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty,
I look about; and should the chosen guide
Be nothing better than a wandering cloud,
I cannot miss my way. I breathe again!"
Wordsworth, The Prelude
Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty,
I look about; and should the chosen guide
Be nothing better than a wandering cloud,
I cannot miss my way. I breathe again!"
Wordsworth, The Prelude
the blossoms
will guide you
Basho
will guide you
Basho
April 5, 2025 at 9:46 PM
"With a heart
Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty,
I look about; and should the chosen guide
Be nothing better than a wandering cloud,
I cannot miss my way. I breathe again!"
Wordsworth, The Prelude
Joyous, nor scared at its own liberty,
I look about; and should the chosen guide
Be nothing better than a wandering cloud,
I cannot miss my way. I breathe again!"
Wordsworth, The Prelude
Honestly I think it's just downright good clean fun to think about Jesus going to the east and learning about Buddhism during his missing years.
March 18, 2025 at 12:56 AM
Honestly I think it's just downright good clean fun to think about Jesus going to the east and learning about Buddhism during his missing years.
Finally finished with some writing about my experience sitting in sesshin during Hurricane Helene and the aftermath. If you'd like to receive it, DM me your email and I'll add you to the list.
March 4, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Finally finished with some writing about my experience sitting in sesshin during Hurricane Helene and the aftermath. If you'd like to receive it, DM me your email and I'll add you to the list.
So I should be finished with this thing by Sunday or Monday. It's a blend of my first-hand account of sitting a sesshin during Helene, the recovery efforts and a meditation on the shared nature of suffering. If you'd like it, DM your email.
Still writing a thing about sitting sesshin in a hurricane. Literally.
February 19, 2025 at 11:11 PM
So I should be finished with this thing by Sunday or Monday. It's a blend of my first-hand account of sitting a sesshin during Helene, the recovery efforts and a meditation on the shared nature of suffering. If you'd like it, DM your email.
Reposted by Andrew Ford
explaining in job interviews that while I have no formal education or relevant training I possess an intuitive silent way of knowing like the buddha
February 7, 2025 at 4:21 AM
explaining in job interviews that while I have no formal education or relevant training I possess an intuitive silent way of knowing like the buddha