AN INTIMATE MYSTERY encompasses you and tugs upon your heart. What does it mean to follow that tug across the arc of one’s spiritual life? Drawing on more than fifty years of practice in Zen Buddhism, Unitarian Universalism, and other contemplative traditions, James Ishmael Ford invites us into a journey through life’s mysteries and the stages of spiritual development. Lightly structured by the archetypal Buddhist oxherding images, Ford’s exploration is rooted in the Zen way while being deeply enriched by various strains of world mysticism. Offering insights and examples from Buddhist, Daoist, Christian, and other time-honored traditions, The Intimate Way of Zen serves as a map and a companion to spiritual seekers or pilgrims—whether within one religious tradition or cobbling together a way of one’s own.