Kurt Spellmeyer
Kurt Spellmeyer is a Zen priest who directs the Cold Mountain Sangha in New Jersey and a Tricycle contributing editor. He teaches English at Rutgers University and is the author, most recently, of Buddha at the Apocalypse: Awakening from a Culture of Destruction.
Articles Dharma Talks
Embracing Fluidity
We’re all given roles, but we needn’t be confined by them.
Spring 2025
Losing My Religion
According to sixth-century monk Chien-chih Seng-ts’an, faith in Mind isn’t belief or doubt, but embracing everything that happens as a puzzle piece.
Sep 30, 2022
Seeing in the Dark
Zen priest Kurt Spellmeyer discusses cigarettes, samadhi, and “dwelling in emptiness.”
Mar 18, 2022
Helpless, Not Hopeless
Embracing interdependence as our hidden common ground is our best hope for the future.
By Kurt Spellmeyer | Artwork by Vija Celmins
Fall 2021
Liberating Impermanence
Even timeless teachings must meet each moment anew.
Fall 2020
Awakened by Beauty
A Zen priest and scholar considers the role of aesthetics in a renunciant tradition.
By Kurt Spellmeyer, Photographs by Michael Kenna
Fall 2019
Personal Reflections Technology
Why You’re Addicted to Your Phone
The nonstop novelty of cell phones distracts us from the true root of our suffering, says Zen priest Kurt Spellmeyer.
Dec 27, 2018
The Human Deity
Seeing the Buddha as both human and divine opens us to our own limitless nature.
Winter 2018Dharma Talks
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