Continuing on the theme of gratitude and the kindness and care taking we receive from others, I am reflecting further on how much we depend upon these for our very survival, even though so much that is done for our benefit is taken for granted, barel
Read more…I would like today to respond to Sujatin's teaching of yesterday on Gratitude. To respond to one another is itself and expression of gratitude and is very important in Buddhism. The practice of 'mondo' - 'question and answer' or, more literally 'gate
Read more…It’s quite common, during this ‘entitled’ era, when it’s common practice in our culture to strive for more, to compare oneself with others, to feel generally dissatisfied and lacking. I feel particularly, for teenagers (I have four teenaged granddaug
Read more…Your Radiant face
Like a mountain peak catching the first burst of morning light
Has awesome and unequalled majesty.
Like black ink by comparison
Are the sun, the moon, or the “mani” treasure.
Tathagata,
Such is your incomparable face.
The melody of
Read more…Something new
When there’s something new expected in your life, just around the corner, during those minutes or days or weeks of anticipation, how do you feel - inspired, excited, anxious, apprehensive, curious? Of course, the context will have a bea
Read more…This is the first of a weekly series of teachings about the chants that have guided my path over the last twenty years and which still sustain me as I work amongst organisations in London. Most of the chants are in the Amida “Nien Fo” collection of c
Read more…Dharmavidya's Teaching at Oasis de Longue Vie
27 May 2016
recorded & transcribed by Annette
Dharmavidya: I was reading a passage of Dogen - Dogen Zenji, the great Zen master. It says when you are enlightened, you are getting more enlightened all th
Read more…I prefer not to use the term ‘spiritual journey’. This is more like a book with different chapters, each one building upon those it follows.
Looking for a spiritual home - Chapter One
There was always something calling me, some inner spiritual yearni
Read more…My Zen teacher, Kennett Roshi, often talked about the danger of quietism. By this she meant that it is no good thinking that one has arrived at the perfect understanding or the perfect organisation or the perfect practice. There has to be an endless
Read more…Dharmavidya's teaching at Oasis de Longue Vie
Friday, 20th may 2016
recorded & transcribed by Annette
Sometimes, we say Buddhism is shila, samadhi and prajna.
Shila is the moral precepts, behaviour, right behaviour. Samadhi is meditation and prajn
Read more…Elements of the Retreat
Meditation: When we think of a Buddhist retreat we immediately think of meditation. In this retreat there will be meditations and meditative exercises that help us to reflect more deeply upon our life both in itself and in rel
Education
My first thought about the Winter Retreat starting this October is that this is not just 'training'. Many sanghas have adopted the term ‘Dharma training’, but i think that this is a misnomer. There may be elements of training: one might be
Discovering the Unconscious
I suspect that a good deal of the contemporary misunderstanding of Buddhadharma can be laid at the door of the mistranslation or misunderstanding of the words vijnana and ayatana. Ayatana is generally taken as referring t
DEAD OR ALIVE
The Buddha strongly recommended four foundations of mindfulness. This means that we establish mindfulness as a fourfold foundation of our existence. Mindfulness means to have your heart or mind full of Dharma - which is to say, love, co
Read more…Q: How is Amida-Shu different from typical Western Buddhism?
A: In many ways. The emphasis on other power, on the bombu paradigm, and on the Pure Land all come immediately to mind. Our perception of Buddhism as religion and willingness to deal with q
The Amida Order has adopted the practice of celebrating the memory of three founding ancestors at this time of year. The persons so honoured are
Sensei Gisho Saiko, Reverend Gyomay Kubose, and Reverend Amrita Dhammika. See more information at the foo
Read more…In the morning service at Amida Shu temples and gatherings there is a passage that begins “Your radiant face, like a mountain peak catching the first burst of morning light, has awesome and unequalled majesty.” It is the first verse of a short text c
Read more…When Siddhartha Gotama became enlightened and so became Shakyamuni Buddha what he realised was dependent origination, pratitya samutpada. Consequently, the precise meaning of dependent origination has been a subject of debate throughout Buddhist hist
Read more…Innumerable are sentient beings: I have harmed them all;
Uncountable are the holy precepts: I have broken them all;
Unfathomable are the Dharma teachings: I have offended them all;
Immeasurable are deluded passions: I have indulged them all;
Uncondit
Meditation is a very important part of my religious life. It is the path through which I was able to move from religious belief to experiential religious knowledge. This is what drew me to Buddhism. I was deeply religious, but needed a practical path
Read more…