James Ishmael Ford has been called one of the senior Zen teachers in North America. He is both a Soto Zen priest and a Dharma successor in the Harada Yasutani koan tradition. Ford is also an ordained Unitarian Universalist minister who served in parishes for a quarter of a century. Today he lives in Los Angeles with his spouse Jan Seymour-Ford. He is the author of seven books on aspects of Zen Buddhism including If You're Lucky, Your Heart Will Break and The Intimate Way of Zen: Effort, Surrender, and Awakening on the Spiritual Journey.