I wrote this article a few years ago. However, since our temple and BCA temples are trying to get back to a pre pandemic open temple system, I would really like us to remember what I hope we will strive for as a temple culture (Sangha).
How Do You Live?
I recently discovered this book How Do You Live? first published in 1937. It was written in Japan by Genzaburo Yoshino. The Japanese title is Kime tachi wa do ikiru ka? In English, it is translated as How Do You Live? After I read it, I couldn’t believe I had never heard of this book before. It was one of those surprises when you find something amazing. I found this book quite by accident. I was searching for another book by my favorite author Neil Gaiman and in the google search, this book came up because he had written a foreword to the first English translation of this book published in 2021.
Covid in the Realm of Gratitude
Year of the Water Tiger 2022, Buddhist Year 2566
It has been said by some, that originally the lion was on the Chinese zodiac. Most of the zodiacs have stories about how the various animals came to be represented. In the past, I have told you about the mouse and cat and why the mouse is the first animal in the zodiac and the cat is not even on it. There is also a story about why the Tiger is on the zodiac and I would like to share this story with you.
Remorse, Regret, Reflection and Reindeer
The Invisible Reality
This past year or so have been some of the strangest, life altering months of my entire life. Covid has changed the entire world and how we live our lives. Relationships between individuals, families, communities, societies, and countries have been changed by something invisible. That said, isn’t religion something we cannot see with our eyes?
A thank you to Rev. Horin Yamamoto (and all my teachers) - and to the end of summer
What is the Pure Land?
We live in a world where permanence is stressed. We try to hold on to our youth, forgetting the knowledge that our age has given us. In our lives we stress over the natural changes that occur. Shakyamuni Buddha proclaimed that birth, sickness, old age and death were the natural conditions of our lives.
No Buddhist Thoughts article this month
No Buddhist Thoughts article this month. Come back next month!
The Culture of Obon
Are our temples a vehicle to convey Japanese American culture or Buddhist culture? I have always believed Buddhist culture specifically Jodo Shinshu teachings are the reasons we have a temple. Rev. Mas said there were two things that he felt exemplified Japanese American culture, Taiko and Bon Odori.
Gratitude and Sparking Social Justice
What is it about Jodo Shinshu that has made many of us who in our youth worked for civil rights, move into lives and work based upon religion and identity, such as the Jodo Shinshu ministry? As I had expressed in the last couple of articles, the Social Justice of liberation theology (Catholic) and also the African America Church are different than our Buddhist ideals of social justice.
What is your Spiritual DNA?
Love and Hate
With the recent shootings and anti-Asian racism that has been in the news, I am reprinting a revised version of an article I wrote almost 30 years ago, just after I came back to Salt Lake City, Utah after almost thirteen years of living in Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, California and Kyoto, Japan. In each of these places, I felt like an outsider.
The Painful Truth
This pandemic has given each of us so much to think about. I know that there has been a great deal of suffering and that does make me sad. But I believe that in many ways, the pandemic has forced me to really look at what I’m doing with my life. I really enjoyed my life before the pandemic. I traveled a lot and met a lot of different people. However, in retrospect I realize my life was so fast!
Recipe for Happiness?
The week of January 6 was an interesting week. Once again there are talks of impeachment for Ex-president Trump, that has a nice ring to it, ex-president. I’m sure our new President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were hoping that their administration would start under far less controversial terms.
Broken 2020
Why Christmas is Important to me
The reason I love the holiday season is because it is about happiness and family. It is about love for all of humanity. However, I know that this year has been a difficult year for many people. It may be one that you wish never happened. Yes, this Thanksgiving was very different than most other Thanksgivings you have probably ever experienced.
At a Maryland Toll Booth
Each of you has come to see me, crossing the borders of more than ten provinces at the risk of your life, solely with the intent of asking about the path to birth in the land of bliss. But if you imagine in me some special knowledge of a path to birth other than the nembutsu or of scriptural writings that teach it, you are greatly mistaken.
West to East: Nembutsu across America: In search of the BIG E
What is True and Real
In our new world, we hear the ridiculous sound bite “Fake News” over and over. We usually hear this being spouted by our “President” on some news programs. We know that his entire presence on the world stage is not for our country but for whatever publicity fuels his fevered little mind. I try hard not to listen. I try hard not to get discouraged by witnessing our country being dragged down like some dead decaying whale corpse sinking to the bottom of the sea.