About the Author
Hello, this blog is about my life as a father, Buddhist and Japanophile / Koreaphile. Any useful information I can pass along will hopefully make the Internets a better place. Thanks for reading!
Monthly Archives: May 2008
Now is as good a time as any
Despite all the Jodo Shinshu stuff I’ve been talking about lately, I have been reading other Buddhist stuff as usual. I was reading Kūkai’s Hannya Shingyō Hiken (The Secret Key to the Heart Sutra), where he includes a cool quote … Continue reading
Easy come, easy go
I was a silly person yesterday and left my cell phone in my pants pocket yesterday, and those pants ended up in the washer and dryer. My little cellphone didn’t survive a run through the washer. My wife, being the … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, General, Religion
8 Comments
Dharma Decline: an example
In Buddhism, one of the most primary teachings is that all things are subject to decline (lit. “all conditioned dharmas are subject to arise and fade”), including Buddhism as an institution. It’s for this reason that when Buddhism utterly fades … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu, Jodo Shu, Religion
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Feeling more like my old self again
I was off-call around 11:00 pm last night, and went to bed soon after. Having slept pretty good over night, then woke up early and thought some things through carefully, I feel more like my old self again. A few … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Religion
5 Comments
Understanding the deluded person (bonbu)
The term bonbu (凡夫), or a person of “delusions and passions” comes up a lot in Japanese Buddhism, particularly in Pure Land Buddhism. So on the heels of my criticism toward Pure Land for being too pessimistic, I found this … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu, Jodo Shu, Religion
3 Comments
The Memorial Weekend that doesn’t suck
I was stuck at home this weekend on-call, meaning that I carry a pager and am tied to my laptop within a 15-minute radius, such that if I get paged I have to respond within that time. This limits what … Continue reading
Posted in General
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Pessimism in Pure Land Buddhism
Yesterday I wrote a post about how I had a better grasp of Honen’s approach to Pure Land Buddhism, with emphasis on how it viewed other practices. In particular, I was talking about this article: http://www.jsri.jp/English/Honen/TEACHINGS/senchaku/process.html This article, very well … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu, Jodo Shu, Religion, Zen
7 Comments
Japanese language: the difference between "wa" and "ga"
Just wanted to point something out. The key to speaking good, fluent Japanese and the awkward, newbie stuff (like me!) is understanding how to use the right words to efficiently convey some meaning. Learning how to use the particles “wa” … Continue reading
Japanese Calendar system
I’ve been brushing up on my Japanese lately in anticipation of a trip we’ll be taking this December for Japanese New Year, and I’ve been learning more about keeping time, dates and such. I was going to write a big … Continue reading
Posted in Japan, Japanese, Language, Travel
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Weird Buddhist Dream II
I woke up kind of early this morning, due to my alarm clock (my cell phone) being set to the wrong time, so at 4:50 I went back to sleep. Then I had a weird dream I thought I’d share. … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Religion
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