About

Me

(A photo my 5-year old daughter took in January 2012 while playing with my camera-phone)

My online name is Doug, and I am:

  • A computer technician by day, living in Seattle.
  • Married to a nice Japanese lady, and father of one.
  • A student of Japanese language, and JLPT N2 certified. These days I prefer to focus on practical Japanese more though.
  • A beginning student of Korean language as well.
  • A Pure Land Buddhist (Jodo Shu), but I am also keenly interested in traditional “Nara Buddhism” and Mahayana Buddhism in general.
  • An casual student of Confucian thought.
  • A fan of KPop music and to a lesser degree JPop music.
  • A fan of the old 8-bit Nintendo system. Yes I still play Nintendo games I enjoyed 20 years ago, thanks to the Wii Console.
  • A fan of old-school science-fiction books, especially the Dune series and books by Roger Zelazny.

Why a blog? Seriously.

This blog is the reflection of my efforts to explore fatherhood, Buddhism and my love of Japanese culture. Anything useful I can pass along makes the Internet a better place hopefully.

Lately I’ve expanded the blog to include my interests in Korean culture and Astronomy as well. No particular reason, just other subjects I like to explore too.

What’s the schedule?

I found that long-term blogging works best when you have a consistent schedule, both for your benefit and for readers. However, trying to find the right schedule and balance between consistent content and not getting burned out has been difficult. Work for me is also seasonal and gets extremely busy toward the end of the year plus other obligations.

Currently, the blog posts by default on Monday and Thursday around 3am UTC. Sometimes, I post three days a week, or I post off-schedule for fun, but it depends on work, family and such. At minimum it’s two days a week.

Why yet another Blog?

This is my fourth blog on the Intertubes. The first three blogs, one on Blogger and two here on WordPress, were written under the pseudonym “Gerald Ford” or “The Level 8 Buddhist”. These were focused on strongly Buddhist topics, and I did lots of research on Buddhism with some pretty faithful readers. However, over time I would put too much pressure on myself, and too many expectations about my image among the Internet Buddhist community and finally just cracked under my own pressure. Each time I got too stressed out, I deleted the blog, and lost the posts, then regretted it and started over.

This time around, I changed things in small, but beneficial ways. I blogged less about Buddhism, and more about things that just interest me. Having a fixed schedule helps a lot too as it lets me get through busy times by writing a little bit ahead, but also gives me room to add extra posts when I want to write more too. :)

In hindsight, I am glad I deleted the earlier blogs, because I was trying to be someone that I really wasn’t, and felt like I was pandering to a certain crowd of readers. This time around it made sense to just be myself and write about what interests me. If people like the blog, great. If not, I still enjoy putting all kinds of random information on the web because it helps disseminate information that is otherwise hard for Westerners to find.

More on the subject here.

Help Support the Blog

If you like what you see here, consider visiting Amazon.com for additional reading. Purchases on Amazon through the links above cost you nothing extra, but a small percentage comes to me in the form of credit and helps me purchase more books to research and add content for the blog. A benefit to blog readers and my reading addiction. Thank you!

71 Responses to About

  1. Marcus says:

    The Level Eight is dead.
    :(

    Long Live the Nihonshukyo!
    :)

    All the best Doug mate!

  2. Erg says:

    I swear to all that is good and holy gerald if you move your blog again…..

    Some people have time consuming careers or children and can’t keep tract of your ever shifting web presence. ;)

    The new place seems nice though. I like it.

  3. Doug says:

    Ha ha ha, ok, I won’t move the blog again!

  4. Maggie B says:

    HI Doug,
    Thanks for your new blog. I enjoy reading it and keeping in touch. I like the bucket.
    I think as we change and grow in life, our blogs change too. I’ve had different ones too, but recently am writing here (see link above) and it is good.
    -Maggie
    PS “Nobodhi” is the best anonymous name ever.

  5. justelise says:

    I’m so sad that you deleted your last blog. You should’ve at least left it up as an archive. :(

  6. Doug says:

    Maggie: Thanks for understanding. Change was needed, and I feel pretty relieved I did it. I like your new blog. :)

    Just Elise: I did preserve a fair amount of content from the old blog onto this one, so you should still be able to find it. I have the rest backed up as well, so if you need anything, just ask. :)

  7. eksith says:

    Holy smokes!
    So this is where you ran off to!!

    I tried to visit your old digs and found it gone. I couldn’t understand why.

  8. Senshin says:

    I have also tried to visit you old blog and have been wondering if you had opened up a new one. And here it was. Great!
    I will visit regularly.

    Thank you :)

    Gassho,
    Senshin (a danish Tendai Buddhist)

  9. Doug says:

    Eksith, Senshin: I was sure I had sent everyone an email detailing the move, but I guess I missed some addresses. I had exported my old blog into XML, and then parsed the information using Perl, but I guess I didn’t do it right. Sorry you guys were not informed. :(

    As for the old blog, I am glad it’s gone, after a month now, I am glad I changed blogs, and changed focus. :)

  10. Senshin says:

    Don’t be sorry. I didn’t subscribe to your old blog. I have just looked in from time to time, so you couldn’t have sent me an email!

    But I found your new blog. All is as it should be :)

  11. eksith says:

    Doug, no worries man! Just glad to have found your new address.

    I get a ton of email so I was probably staring right at it, but didn’t notice.
    Work + Personal email FTW! :P

  12. ロバート says:

    I see you’ve put the Japanese to the Iroha.
    Shouldn’t that be in kana? The clever thing about the iroha is that it uses all the syllables but only once. (I think you also need the ones no longer used) Why it is used for alphabetical order in Japanese.
    I think my calligraphy teacher gave me a hand written version once. It was a practice sheet of hers.

  13. Doug says:

    Good question. Actually I wanted to get the meaning of the Iroha across more than the clever word play. Japanese people are pretty familiar with the Iroha, as far as I’ve seen, but may not realize the Buddhist context of it. That’s what I hoped to convey. The Iroha is an excellent Buddhist poem, especially the last two lines. Normally it’s associated with Kukai, the founder of Shingon Buddhism, but generally research now casts this into big doubt. It might have been a tribute to Kukai though by a later disciple or something. Hope that makes sense. :)

  14. sekishin says:

    I just discovered your blog (just started one myself); loved Dune (movie and books); also in IT but not near as deep (desktop support – used to do more server/router admin, but I get paid well to surf the net); and have just refreshed back into meditation and Zen Buddhism after a year of not “being aware”

  15. Doug says:

    Hi Sekishin and welcome to the JLR! I should warn you that I am not a Zen Buddhist, and don’t agree with all its tenets, but I find it an interesting to learn more about my background in Pure Land Buddhism through it. Things always look different on the other side and all that.

    Look around, hope you enjoy!

  16. Hugh says:

    We are representing a number of Buddhism books both now and in the future. We would like to put you on our mailing list so we can send you comp review copies.

    If you would like to receive the copies, please send us your mailing address.

    Thanks very much.

    - Hugh

  17. alchymyst says:

    Just came across your blog, very neat! I am a Buddhist myself, though I lean more towards the Tibetan kind. :) However, I speak some Japanese and lived in Japan for a year, so I have a great interest in Japanese Buddhist sects and culture in general.
    Your daughter is adorable. :)

  18. Alan says:

    found you by accident while surfing. Enjoyed the link to Morris’ photos. Castro sensei started a Sunday meditation service this summer. I’ll pass the link on to him as food for thought. Wow, your daughter has grown… that’s a beautiful pic of her! Are you guys going to be coming through Seattle any time soon? Hope to see you then.

  19. Doug says:

    alchymyst: Welcome to the JLR! Thanks for the kind words, and always glad to meet a fellow student. :)

    Alan: Good to see you! I’ve been chatting with Mas and Rev. Castro from time to time, though I wasn’t aware of the meditation class. I missed having it around, so it’s good to see it back. I’ll be back in Seattle in the second-half of September. Wife and I miss Betsuin much. :)

  20. Thomas Smith says:

    Hi Doug,

    Just read an e/m note which contains the URL to your blog and stated that you might be coming back soon.

    Have you been taking a lot of pictures that could be on the web (royalty free I hope).

    The idea of improving the website is still alive.

    Since your departure I decided to switch from Windows to Ubuntu for my internet computer. Am at the early stage of this. Haven’t set up a perfect environment but I am satisfied enough to not want to return to Windows for this. I do have to continue to use Windows on my main computer because of software.

    Thomas Smith
    valhalla2100@comcast.net

  21. Doug says:

    Hi Thomas,

    Long time no see. :) Good to hear from another temple member. Lately a lot of people have been visiting here, so word must be spreading or something. :) As for the website, I know Mas had wanted to talk to me about some stuff, so that might come up when the time is right.

    Glad to hear of your switch. I stopped using Windows a while ago (Mac actually, with virtual instances of Linux or BSD), and it’s been nice. We should catch up when I get back in mid-September. See you then!

  22. Stephanie says:

    I came across your blog and was interested in it because of your family. I am soon going to be launching a new online magazine geared towards multicultural/lingual families. The magazine will feature articles on culture, language, traditions, books & entertainment, regular columns and 3 bloggers. One of the columns is going to be on Raising Eastern Children in Western Countries. I am seeking a range of writers from different religious backgrounds (Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim, etc) as well as cultural who have the commonality of raising their “Eastern” (interpret this word loosely) in the West. Would you be interested in being a contributing writer? I am also accepting submissions of any kind. I have included a full description of the magazine below (forgive me- it’s a bit long). Feel free to get in touch with me at incultureparent at gmail.com

    InCultureParent is an online magazine dedicated to global parent culture and traditions. We will feature articles about raising multicultural and multilingual children coinciding with traditions and holidays around the world. Mainstream parenting websites are largely from the perspective of one dominant cultural framework. InCultureParent seeks to challenge the dominant culture of parenting information and present viewpoints from around the world. (For example, in many non-Western cultures children are potty-trained as infants. Or first foods vary greatly across cultures – Japanese babies eat fish as a first protein before they are one year old). Different cultures have diverse ways of parenting and differing priorities. Additionally, tradition and religion become more relevant when you have children and mainstream parenting websites are also silent when it comes to this area. Websites that do cover the realm of tradition and religion tend to be religious websites which we are not. InCultureParent blends culture, language and tradition and presents research-based and anecdotal articles on everything related to these areas.

    We are targeting multicultural families, families interested in
    learning about other cultures, expat families, families who are not from the US but are raising children in it and the many families who are you name it (Mexican, Egyptian, Persian, Armenian, Chinese, Vietnamese, etc)-American/British/Canadian/Australian/etc, who are interested
    in parenting information that speaks to their interests and concerns.

    InCultureParent will feature regular articles on the subjects of global parenting, raising multicultural/lingual families as well as spotlight two global holidays and traditions per month together with craft ideas for kids and recipes. The website will include three bloggers who share the common theme of raising multicultural and multilingual children and highlight good books for kids that feature different cultures.

    We are currently accepting submissions.

  23. JACKIO_63 says:

    Although it has been a few months since my last visit, I am so pleased to see your new blog and all the blogs long gone. Personally, I don’t care how many times you’ve needed to regroup, shift gears, self reflect and adjust your objectives. The way I see it is, all your past work has served as indications to your readers of what we can continue to look forward to as you continue to grow and enrich your writing before our eyes by way of being “flexible”. Thanks!!!

  24. Leonidas says:

    I’m new to your site; I’m really impressed and appreciate your work.

    I write, and am developing a scene that takes place during a Japanese Buddhist funeral. I’d like to convey the sound and rhythm of the chanting. I’ve been looking for a romaji translation of the Amida Kyo Sutra without luck. Would it be appropriate to use three lines from your translation of the amida dhrani? Would you agree to this use of it?

    Do you have the romaji translation of the beautiful lines in the beginning of the Amida Kyo Sutra that talk of the Land of Ultimate Bliss, the treasures and the golden sands?

    Thanks! Lee

  25. Doug says:

    Hi Leonidas and welcome. I am actually pretty surprised no one’s bothered to post a romaji version of this sutra. I looked and sure enough, can’t find one! :(

    I actually was secretly working on this, so if you can wait a few weeks, I’ll have something up at least for the first few lines. In the meantime you’re welcome to use whatever you like off the blog, as it’s fairly open. I’ve added a Creative Commons license for reference to the right. But anyway, go nuts. :)

  26. tomschronicles says:

    Hello Doug! I am glad I found your blog. I have read a little about Buddhism here and there, but have just started practicing it. We have a very small Zen sangha where I live. Also, I’ve been into Japanese culture for years – although I have not been to Japan. For a long time I have gone back and forth about wanting to teach English in Japan. Still not sure what to think about that.

    But anyway, how do I subscribe to your blog? And, if you have the time, could you check on mine? I’ve written many thoughts about Buddhism, and have been trying to figure out if studying Japanese is a wise thing to do. Thanks!

  27. Doug says:

    Hello and welcome to the JLR! As far as subscriptions go, I don’t know how to do that. People somehow figure it out and I’ve never subscribed to my own blog! :)

    Far be it from me to offer advice, but for Japanese, it’s like any other skill in that it’s an investment, and quite an involved one if you don’t live in a foreign country. Living in a foreign is an even bigger adventure, and not one to take lightly. But at the same time it’s quite an amazing experience, but you have go in with both eyes open. Other than that, I can’t offer much else. Sorry I can’t be of more help.

  28. Hanzono says:

    Hi Doug

    Do not know whether i am at right place for an introduction but anyway; Konnichiwa!

    Great to have discovered your site as I recently (early March 2010) visited Japan and have nobody at home to share the experience really. Live in Johannesburg South Africa (except for sushi bars and Chinese restaurants there is only one Japanese restaurant i know about).

    Have been to Tokyo, Kyoto, Nara, Mount Koya (Koyasan) and Hiroshima. Share your love of Japanese culture, language and religion. Since age 12 interested in it. Currently practicing Chan/Pure Land (Taiwanese teacher), which is perhaps closer to Honen’s version than Shinran’s.

    Looking forward to share and learn from everybody. Also interested in Shinto (do not know to much about it), tea and sake. Experienced Japanese food great (at home i try to follow a macrobiotic diet).

    Keep well.

    Namu Amida Butsu

    Namu Amitofo

  29. Doug says:

    Hi Hanzono and welcome to the JLR! I believe you are the first person from Africa to read thus blog so welcome indeed!

  30. Rory says:

    Hanzono;
    Ispent a 10 hr flt from London to Mexico with some South Africans, they were good company (which is saying a lot) hear Jo’burg is gorgeous.
    I’m a Pure Land practitioner in Honen school style but interested in any Chinese similarities differences. Do you do any visualization, prostrations, chant mantras? or is it all Amituofo chanting?

  31. Hi, Doug,

    Carl/Mando, here. I will be checking out your posts.
    Check me out at http://carlatteniese.com (or http://cradleoftheuniverse.wordpress.com)
    I added a link to your site. ^^

    Peace, Love, Joy, and Enlightenment!

  32. Doug M says:

    Hi Carl and welcome to the JLR!

  33. Brad says:

    Hi Doug,
    I really enjoyed reading your blog! I like the style and feel of your writing.
    Having an keen interest in Japan (and it’s culture), doing JLPT N3 next month, working in IT, and enjoying learning about religion… all helped me like the site.
    I guess I also seek to make the small world around me a place as good as I can.
    Hope to move back to live, work and play in Japan sometime soon.
    Peace,
    Brad

  34. Doug M says:

    Hi Brad and welcome to the JLR! Always happy to meet people of the same interests. Who knows how many are out there! :-)

  35. cocomino says:

    Hello.What a excellent blog! You know Japanese culture more than Japanese people.
    I live in Saitama and I am Japanese.
    I have started my blog recently for telling Japan and studying English.
    I also have two daughters.
    Thanks.
    http://cocomino.wordpress.com/

  36. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi cocomino, and welcome to the JLR! I don’t know much about Japanese culture, but I read a lot. If you asked me about American culture though, I wouldn’t know anything! :p

  37. Andrea says:

    Followed you over here from the comments on my blog (thanks for that btw!) and when I saw Arashi, JLPT & Dune (one of my favorite books of all time) I had to subscribe immediately! Looking forward to reading.

  38. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi there and welcome to the JLR! Hope it proves entertaining (almost as much as your guy’s awesome blog). :)

  39. Solnushka says:

    I am contacting you because I am hosting the February edition of the Blogging Carnival on Bilingualism at ‘Verbosity leads to unclear, inarticulate things’ (http://solnushka.wordpress.com/ ). You can see some of the previous carnivals and more about them in general here: http://bilinguepergioco.com/blogging-carnival-on-bilingualism/ .

    I’m looking forward to hosting my first Bilingual Blogging Carnival! I’ve enjoyed reading the others so much. It’s great to find out that there are others out there suffering the same triumphs and celebrating the same setbacks as my family does in our attempt to bring my nearly three year old son up as a hopefully fairly balanced English and Russian speaker. It’s an interesting time, as they are picking up so much new language at this age.

    If you would like to take part, please send me a post on bil/multilingualism, bi/ multiculturalism, language learning or teaching, or any other topic inspired by bringing up children bi or multilingually by noon on Sat 5th March. I hope to get the carnival up and about on Monday 7th March.

    Any questions, don’t hesitate to ask me.

    Solnushka

  40. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Solnushka, and welcome to the JLR. Unfortunately, I have no time to devote to another project. My plate is full right now and will be through the rest of 2011 at this rate. Thanks for the invitation!

  41. Solnushka says:

    No worries, I quite understand. It’s a good excuse for me to trundle around and find more interesting blogs.

    Good luck preparing for your next Japanese exam. I am almost inspired to dust of my hoarde of Russian books…

  42. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Best of luck in your studies. :-)

  43. Fujin says:

    Hi there!

    I’ve been reading your blog for a while, and find many of your posts, especially about Japan and its culture extremely interesting. It’s the kind of blog that draws you in and gets you hooked!

    Noting that you are learning Japanese, and doing quite well at it; I was wondering what advice you would give to someone looking to take up another language? With me it’s Arabic, but I believe the study methods would be the same. Do you prefer tapes, books, etc? I know you have a Japanese wife, and so you always have someone to have Japanese conversations with, but what would your advice be to those who are not near native speakers of the language they are looking to learn?

    Sorry for the long questions.

    Again, great blog!

  44. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Fujin and welcome to the JLR! Good luck in your studies of Arabic. It’s a pretty interesting language I hear. If you can, meet up with a local community in your area (either Arab cultural groups or a religious one like a Mosque) and get to know people. Talking with people in that language is still the best approach.

    Apart from that, there are good resources online (JapanesePod101.com has a sister ArabicPod101.com I think) for getting constant exposure. The keyword is ‘exposure’. Books are important for study, but you have to gain a lot of “flight time” and exposure. It takes a long time, but practice pays off.

    Best of luck

  45. Fujin says:

    Hi Doug,

    Thanks for the reply. I am a Muslim and so I am a part of a local Masjid; the problem however is that the number of native Arabic speakers, and ‘proper’ Arabic speakers is next to zero. I’ll check to see if there are any Uni societies that maybe let in ‘outsiders’ who have a predominantly Arab makeup.

    I’ll check out the link you suggest. Also, with regard to exposure, do you think that even perhaps putting an Arabic news channel on in the background is a good way to get used to listen to the language, etc?

    Thanks again

  46. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Fujin,

    Yes, constant, consistent exposure to the language will definitely help, including listening to news, radio and podcasts. You have to do it a little bit each day, don’t force it, but the key is just getting acclimated to the sounds. That’s advice fellow readers gave and I started trying it out these past months and it seems to work, though progress is slow. Hearing a foreign for an hour versus hearing it all day (I.e. living there) will mean slower progress but progress nonetheless. If you hear a foreign word 50 times you will get pretty familiar with it. If you hear it 500 times, even more so.

    Best of luck!

  47. Paul says:

    Hi there. What aspects of Nara B’ism are you studying? It’s a fascinating field and I agree with Takakusu that almost the whole history of B’ist sects is written in the evolution of B’ism in Japan. Also, where in Japan is the Yuzu-Nembutsu temple you blogged? Thanks so much.

  48. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Paul and welcome to the JLR. I am studying the general practices and outlook at the time. As they were the only sects that still had a connection with India, and followed traditional, not modified, Buddhist monastic practices (until the medieval period), and thus is very interesting to me. I don’t have much to go on, but I agree with your sentiment that Japan provides an interesting museum of Buddhist evolution that has been erased on the mainland.

    The Yuzu Nembutsu temple is in Osaka, website here:
    http://www.dainenbutsuji.com/

  49. Sofan says:

    Hi there,

    I’m Sofan Chan a Buddhist painter and I came across your very informative blog and I was wondering if you would like to use any of my Buddha paintings on your posts and articles or as a resource material? You will find them here, http://www.theartofhappiness.net/buddha-paintings.htm

    I love your posts and they are truly inspiring. If you do decide to use any of the photos of my Buddha paintings, please just put a small credit on my behalf. You could link the image back to my site, http://www.theartofhappiness.net/buddha-paintings.htm or whatever credit you like to put.

    Thank you for your time and I am hoping for your positive response.

  50. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Sofan, and welcome to the JLR. Thanks very much for the kind offer; I will definitely reference your website if I use a painting.

    P.S. Sorry for the late reply.

  51. Hi Doug,

    Well, I can relate to your adding and deleting of blogs. I have had 1 blog and 1 website, both of which I have deleted. Today, I started a new blog:

    http://shinyo-truesun.blogspot.com/

    I hope to be more diligent with this one. It may take a while to get it all together the way I want it, but I think it will be more natural.

    In Oneness,
    Shinyo

  52. John says:

    We share a lot in common, Doug.
    Buddhist, Japanophile, Japanese wife and kids, video games, looking for a way to reign control of the internet galactically, etc…
    I enjoyed meandering through your blog/site here, very informative and captivating.
    Please feel free to “link up” via LinkedIn, if you are on there… I don’t have facebook or any of that trendy stuff. Too busy…

    Thanks
    John

  53. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi John (another John) and welcome to the JLR! I actually don’t use LinkedIn anymore than Facebook, so apart from Twitter (jphiled@), this is usually how people reach me. :)

  54. Hi I was wondering what the translation of Namo Shaka Nyorai, I have heard of Namo a di da phat wondering if it was related.

  55. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Nadine, and welcome to the JLR. Regarding your question “A di da phat” is Vietnamese and means “hail to Amitabha Buddha”, while “Namo Shaka Nyorai” is Japanese for “hail to Shakyamuni Buddha”, the historical Buddha. They’re both forms of prayer albeit different languages and different Buddhas. But this is a minor point.

    These kinds of prayers are very common in Buddhism and represent the devotional side. It’s kind of like a buffet where people find something they like and devote their energies to that. In the end, they all lead people along the Dharma. Also both Japan and Vietnam, among other places all absorbed Buddhism from China hence the prayers and devotional style are similar.

    Hope that helps.

  56. arisosirises says:

    good way to study sutras — get festival tts to read an english translation out, encode it as mp3, sit down with chinese character text. the game is to try to get your eyes to hit each character as the meaning is read aloud. i’ve done this with the diamond sutra and found it helped me get a feel for the meaning i had never thought possible. it only works well with chinese, and if your character count is already pretty high. but with text where i only know 50% of the characters, i still get a lot out of it. and with a text where i know most of them, it’s a superb way to ‘compile’ the source code of disparate possible meanings. when i’ve been reading a chinese text (lately it’s stories by wang xiaobo, highly recommended) that way, i feel like i’ve just come out of the shower. love your commentary on ff7 by the way.

  57. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Arisosirises and welcome to the JLR,

    Reading sutras out loud definitely does help in my experience. I once tried to memorize a pretty long liturgy, but with little success: I could retain it briefly, but by the following day, I’d forgotten the whole silly thing. So, later I found some mp3s online and just kind of “followed along”, which helps. :)

  58. “Each time I got too stressed out, I deleted the blog, and lost the posts, then regretted it and started over.”
    Love this. I call it the firebrand cycle when it happens to me, as it does at intervals. But it’s a good thing to do too – we hold too tightly. I’m a serial blogger, but now split my blogs into private and public. For everyone else’s benefit!

  59. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Ha! That’s a good way to think of it. I do get into firebrand mode sometimes, burn myself out, and need a break. Having done this now for 4-5 years, I see a recurring pattern, but you’ve articulated it nicely. :)

    P.S. Welcome to the JKLLR.

  60. ericjbaker says:

    Wow, you’re tackling Korean and Japanese? I took two semesters of Korean in college and they were the hardest two courses of my school career. I envy your aptitude for languages.

  61. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Ericjbaker and welcome to the JKLLR!

    I took Japanese in college and like you, I found it grueling and eventually. Later I met my wife, who’s Japanese, and learned the language more effectively that way. Check out AJATT via Google Search if you can. He has a lot of good advice for learning languages and succeeding at it. Long story short: exposure and having fun. :)

  62. Mas Nishimura says:

    Hi, Doug!

    Always interesting to read a person’s journey to Pure Land Buddhism. Thanks for blogging about it. Hope that you found the Hawaii Hongwanji Center website, IBS and the Center for Buddhist Education. Finally, you have a wonderful resource in the Seattle Buddhist Church. Please say “Hi” to Rinban Castro for me!

    In Gassho,

    Nishimura Masahiko

  63. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Mas Nishimura and welcome! I haven’t been to SBC in quite a while, but I have many fond memories of Rinban Castro, and I really miss all the times we spent together on Buddhist training and such.

    The IBS is something I’ve often been curious about, but haven’t afforded a trip to CA in quite a while, so it might have to wait another day. I have met some other Japanese-Americans in Nishi Honganji years ago while there on a vacation, so it’s nice to see people interconnected like that.

  64. Kyogen had to burn his books to reach enlightenment. So you are in good company burning your blog.

  65. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Heh, tell that to some of the long-term, patient readers. :)

  66. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Empowered and welcome! Thanks for the nomination.

  67. Doug 陀愚 says:

    Hi Marnelli and thank you very much. :)

  68. Marnelli says:

    you’re very welcome :D

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