William Johnston

William Johnston (30 July 1925 — 12 October 2010) was a Jesuit priest and a Zen meditation advocate from Belfast, Northern Ireland. Johnson identified as a Catholic mystic in the tradition of John of the Cross but one who had incorporated meditative practices learnt from study of Zen Buddhism.

Biography United Kingdom and Ireland William Johnston was born in Belfast on July 30th, 1925. He was the youngest of four sons of William Johnston, a civil servant, and his wife Winnie (née Clearkin). His family were supporters of the Irish Republican Army and his mother was a member of Cumann na mBan. Johnston grew up on the Falls Road and attended the Dominican convent. In 1932, his family moved to Holyhead, Wales, and later to Aigburth, Liverpool. In 1940, Johnston returned to Belfast, where he attended St Malachy's College. In 1943, he entered the Jesuit novitiate at Emo Court, County Laois in the Republic of Ireland.

Johnston studied theology at Shakujii and became interested in mysticism, Zen Buddhism, and inter-religious understanding. He was ordained a priest in March 1957 after completing his studies. In 1958, he spent six months in Rome, an experience he later described as “nothing short of a revolution” in his life. He then studied at the Lumen Vitae catechetical institute in Brussels, where he deeply engaged with mysticism, including traditions like transcendental meditation. While in Belgium, Johnston deepened his practice of silent, vertical contemplative prayer and encountered the psychological theories of Carl Jung. Although he did not identify as a Jungian, Johnston was significantly influenced by Jung's concept of the psyche as composed of multiple layers, containing both positive and negative elements that must be acknowledged and integrated. Johnston also studied Zen with Heinrich Dumoulin.

Johnston was influenced by Shigeto Oshida and later practised Zen under the guidance of Yamada Koun but insisted on continuing to recite the Jesus Prayer despite Yamada's contrary instructions, which ended the master-disciple relationship.

As the 1960s continued, Johnston progressed in his spiritual journey, and he began to view the path of Ignatius of Loyola as harmonising with that of John of the Cross: “I began to see in St. Ignatius a mysticism that was the same as that of John of the Cross and also different. Whereas John of the Cross loved the silence of the desert, Ignatius loved the mighty cities. Both John of the Cross and Ignatius of Loyola entered into mystical prayer, one to be united with God in silence, the other to work for the salvation of the world.” Johnston later came to understand the intellectual, moral, and religious transformations outlined by Bernard Lonergan as ultimately leading to mysticism. On one occasion in Boston, he met Lonergan in person: “I told him that his understanding of religious conversion leading to being in love is in fact a way to mysticism. He was delighted and smiled, saying, ‘Yes, that’s it!".

Johnston translated Endo Shusaku's novel Chinmoku, which was published in English as Silence in 1969. Some of his colleagues were offended because the novel's main character was a Jesuit apostate. Despite this, his translation received high praise. As his reputation expanded, he was invited to preach and teach internationally, visiting countries such as the US, UK, Australia, China, and the Philippines. He also made several trips back to Ireland. In his autobiography, Mystical Journey (2006), he discussed his belief that all religions should work together in peace.

Johnston's reflections on his background in Northern Ireland, his transition to Japan and the practice of Zen, are about how the relationship of Catholicism and Zazen meditation can transform Ireland, Japan, Zen Buddhism, and Christian mysticism. Toward the end of his life, influenced by the Japanese experience of bombing of civilian populations and his understanding of the Buddha and Christ's teachings, he embraced the active promotion of nonviolence.

Identity As a Catholic born in Northern Ireland, Johnson identified throughout his life as Irish rather than British. Johnson compared his experience to Abhishiktananda, whose experiences in India only intensified his feelings of being French; likewise, Johnson's time in Japan, he said, only strengthened his feelings of being Irish.