QUESTION: A sangha member recently asked, 'if Honen's teachings are so simple, why are our services so complicated?' As the sangha member noticed, our services have lots of words, bells in the right places, and ritual. How does this fit with the simp
Read more…QUESTION: What is mondo?
SHORT ANSWER: Mondo is a ritual of formal question and answer between teacher and enquirer.
LONG ANSWER: Mondo is a word from old Japanese. Mon means "gate". Do means "way" or "path". Do in old Japanese is the same as Tao in
Read more…QUESTION: ”Buddhism is the belief that beings do get enlightened.Arhants and Buddhas do exist."How can we truly know that? I don't know that I've ever met an Arhant or a Buddha. Am I even capable of knowing if I have?
SHORT ANSWER: Seeing is believin
Read more…QUESTION: I am new to Pure Land Buddhism and would be grateful for information and references on the place within those traditions of The Three (or Four) Marks of Buddhism:
QUESTION: Dear Dharmavidya, I just read your essay on the first of the 12 Steps in Running Tide number 33. In it you say, "In Pure Land Buddhism we admit that we do not have the power to enlighten ourselves.In this there is a kind of despair and a ki
Read more…QUESTION: Dear Dharmavidya, I've just read your writing on Contrition. As usual,you always know how to get right into my heart! Contrition is indeed born from honesty. Admitting our Bombu reality is so freeing. However, I'm caught in the Self-power/
Read more…QUESTION: Dear Dharmavidya, how can I do frequent Nembutsu repetitions and be mindful in my daily life?
SHORT ANSWER: Just do it.
LONG ANSWER: Mindful in Pureland means mindful of Buddha, mindful of Amitabha, mindful of nembutsu. The word nembutsu me
Read more…QUESTIONS:
SHORT ANSWERS: 1. Natural progression; 2. Acknowle
Read more…QUESTION: What does Aphrodite mean to you personally?
SHORT ANSWER: Love and freedom.
LONG ANSWER: I have a strong personal connection because of having spent much of my childhood in Cyprus which is the island of Aphrodite. In the ancient world she h
QUESTION: What is specific to the Amidist approach to the nembutsu that might distinguish it from the approach of other similar schools?
SHORT ANSWER: Nothing
LONG ANSWER: Nembutsu is refuge. Taking refuge is the core mystical act that defines Buddhi
Read more…QUESTION: If everyone is equal in the assuredness of their place in Pureland, does this not discourage people from efforts to behave nobly (e.g. following the Noble Eightfold Path)? How does this relate to the Buddha’s teaching of the Four Noble Trut
Read more…QUESTION:
1. How do we differentiate between self-care, self-help and self-power?
a. Isn't it important to do our best to look after our health to respect the gift of life and to prevent the burden of our care falling to others?
b. If learning s
QUESTION: What is the right attitude to have toward guilt feelings?
SHORT ANSWER: It is unproductive and wasteful of life to attack oneself for being what one is.
LONG ANSWER:
An Assault Upon Ourselves
First we must distinguish between guilt feelin
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