Hi Buddha!
Posted: November 19, 2008 Filed under: Buddhism, Family, Jodo Shinshu, Religion 5 Comments »I’ve written on this blog a number of times about how to raise Buddhist children. As my wife, whose Japanese, and I have made a conscious decision to raise her Buddhist, and the Buddha has become a part of her life as she gets older, as written elsewhere.
This morning, Baby and I were playing around in the spare bedroom while Mom took a shower, and I decided to recite the nembutsu for a moment before the little altar I had set up a while back. She sat on Daddy’s lap and waved, saying “hi Boo-dah”. Then put her hands together for a moment in reverence. It was very, very cute.
If you are overwhelmed with the daily grind of life, work, and raising a family, don’t punish yourself as a bad Buddhist if you can’t meditate or engage in other practices. Focus your efforts on your family. Not in the cheesy “living in the moment” sense; just forget about your own self-centered need for religious gratification and go wash the dishes. Your children need you, and the rewards of raising well-adjusted, well-loved children far outweigh anything you missed in your own spiritual “progress”.
One can also take heart in the words of Shinran, founder of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism:
The Master Shinran said, “In the nembutsu no selfworking is true-working; it is beyond description, explanation, and conception.”
Have no fear, just do the best you can as a parent and spouse.
Namuamidabu
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 
Another GREAT post. Thank you so much Gerald.
“Just forget your own self-centred need for…………”
Wonderful.
Wonderful.
Doing the dishes can indeed be very rewarding meditation, as many masters of good living have averred.
On the other hand, any kind of work, from counting cash at the teller’s counter to removing cataracts, making business deals and writing software can be irritating and distracting and just a chore.
OMG that is freaking adorable. I’m gonna start doing that too.
My teacher is quite find of saying at the end or retreats. “If you go home and do not take better care of your family, then your retreat has been unless”. Meaning the purpose of retreat is to develop functional states of mind such as love and compassion. This then translates into caring for others more than oneself.
Thank you for your post.
Marcus: Thank you.
Suvro: Work is indeed just a chore, but I try to remind myself it keeps my little girl fed and clothes, so I suffer willingly, I suppose.
Warrior Two: I wish I had videotaped it, but c’est la vie.
Loden Jinpa: Welcome to the L8B! I’d say your teacher was right on the money.
I learned it the hard way when I struggled with parenting at first, but in time, I found that I had to stop getting into self-centered habitual thinking, and just do my part. It helped.