Zen Buddhist Monk to Visit Bona's

Olean native and Zen Buddhist monk John Sojun Godfrey will give a lecture at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 1, in the auditorium of the William F. Walsh Science Center at St. Bonaventure University.

Godfrey comes to campus as part of CLAR 401, The University Plenary Forum, where students attend lectures, workshops or exhibitions about topics involving social and natural scientists, humanists, philosophers and theologians.

Godfrey’s lecture is titled “Living Words, Dead Words: Sutras in Zen Buddhism.”

Sutras are Zen Buddhist scriptures. Many seekers of Buddhism begin their journey by studying the sutras. Godfrey will speak about his experience with the sutras, his life in a Japanese Zen monastery and how it changed the way he views life.

After receiving a bachelor of arts in religion and East Asian studies from McGill University in Montreal, Godfrey lived in Japan for eight years. He studied at Daitoku-ji, a Rinzai monastery in Kyoto, where he was ordained a Zen Buddhist monk. He returned to the U.S. in April.

The lecture is sponsored by the University’s Franciscan Center for Social Concern and Clare College.