Robert Kennedy is one of three Jesuits in the world who answer to the tittles “Father” and “Roshi” or venerable Zen teacher. He is not only a Jesuit priest and Zen master, but also a psychotherapist and professor of theology at St Peter’s College in New Jersey. He is a representative of the Institute for Spiritual Consciousness in Politics at the United Nations. He is the author of Zen Spirit, Christian Spirit and Zen Gifts to Christians.
Robert Kennedy has found meaning in the practices of both Christianity and Buddhism. He conducts weekend and weeklong meditation sesshins (Zen retreats) in the United States, Mexico and Ireland. These retreats reflect Kennedy’s deep respect for and knowledge of Buddhism. They also carry out the principles of the Jesuit statement on mission and inter-religious dialogue, which demands that Jesuits be not only familiar with the thought of men and women of other religious traditions but be immersed with them in theological exchange and in a dialogue of life, action and religious experience.
LISTEN TO ROBERT KENNEDY TALK ABOUT ZEN AT MEDITATIO: