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!
Category Archives: Theravada
The Madness of Learning Two Languages
This is kind of like part two of a post I wrote previously. As I continue to study 2 languages at once, I realized that I took on a big project doing this. Contrary to what some people might read … Continue reading
Property, It’s All About Property
Recently I was watching my favorite war movie, The Thin Red Line, which you can see the trailer here (if you’ve never seen the movie before): Although it’s a war movie, the movie is more about humanity and why we … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Politics, Theravada
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Nembutsu as Self-Reflection
From time to time, when life gets me really flustered or frustrated, or I am just frustrated with myself, I use my special rosary from Kamakura, and recite a full cycle (about 1080 times) of the nembutsu (the Buddha’s name). … Continue reading
Alertness, not Mindfulness
Recently, a fellow blogger named Cocomino, posted an interesting article about how people make better decisions in a foreign language. The explanation behind the research is that: Namely, people are less likely to fall into common cognitive traps when tested … Continue reading
Heartburn
Lately, I’ve been having heartburn, stomach pain and vomiting. It started last year on Thanksgiving but wasn’t frequent, until February and March of this year. But the stomach pain and vomiting have become more and more frequent and my wife … Continue reading
Make Your Own Buddhist Liturgy Book
This is another post to celebrate the Ohigan holiday. When I flew to Japan recently, I bought a small notebook at the airport gift shop: It was an impulse purchase; I don’t know why I bought it, but it looked … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Religion, Shingon, Theravada
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Ashes to Ashes
Over on my other, smaller blog, I’ve been writing about women poets from the Hyakunin Isshu, and I recently posted a poem by the famous Lady Izumi, or Izumi Shikibu as she’s called in Japanese. She was a very passionate … Continue reading
Be The Bigger Person
While reading the Buddha’s famous Metta Sutta, and an interesting article about it, I found this interesting sutra from the Pali Canon. This is the Kakacupama Sutta (MN 21): The Simile of the Saw. In summary, the Buddha is teaching … Continue reading
Fatal Flaws
I remember a story about the famous Thai monk named Ajahn Chah (wearing sunglasses in this photo), from the book Everything Arises, Everything Falls Away. In that story, he holds up a clay cup to the other monks and asks … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Religion, Theravada
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Taking Buddhist Refuge At Last: It’s Official!
“Magnificent, Master Gotama! Magnificent! Just as if he were to place upright what was overturned, to reveal what was hidden, to show the way to one who was lost, or were to carry a lamp into the dark so that … Continue reading
Posted in Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu, Religion, Theravada
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