We should express the Fundamental in everything we do.
In order to be expressed the Fundamental must enter into a form of some kind. The form in and of itself is not important; but it is important in as much as it conveys the Fundamental. For instanc
Read more…I’d like to say something about gan 願. Gan is a Japanese word which is usually translated as “vow”. So, we have the bodhisattva vow. It could also be translated a “prayer” or “aspiration”. So, the ultimate gan is “Gan ga sa butsu: I vow to become a B
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On my land there are many stones. In fact, the whole land is more or less made of stones. I live on a small limestone hill.
When I first came here there was hardly any soil. In order to garden one had to take out many, many stones. Americans would
Read more…On Saturday in the refuge group, we had a look at the Tibetan Wheel of Life diagram and reflected on some of its meanings. The Wheel of Life diagram is a kind of teaching aid for conveying a range of Buddhist ideas and teachings.
The wheel has severa
Read more…Es wird gesagt, dass der Buddha 84.000 verschiedene Lehren gegeben hat. Das ist wohl nur eine symbolische Zahl, die bedeutet: unendlich viele. Verschiedenen Menschen, Schülern, Fragenden und Suchenden wurden verschiedene Belehrungen gegeben, entsprec
Read more…It’s said that the Buddha gave 84.000 different teachings. This is probably just a symbolic number which means: a vast many. Different teachings were given to different people, different disciples, different inquirers, different seekers according to
Read more…This morning I was sweeping my carpet – Namo Amida Bu – Namo Amida Bu – Namo Amida Bu. I swept the dust; all the dust that has been brought in when I’ve been bringing in firewood for the fire – Namo Amida Bu – Namo Amida Bu – Namo Amida Bu.
There’s a
Read more…Following on from last week’s podcast about Buddhist psychology I’ve been asked if I would say a little bit more on the subject, and in particular if I would say a bit more about what Buddhist psychology says about relationship, about what happens wh
Read more…Sometimes we talk about Buddhist psychology. Here I’d like to say a little bit how I understand this term. What is Buddhist psychology? Often you encounter things in the West which purport to be Buddhist psychology, but when you look at them closely,
Read more…It’s new year. Of course, this is completely arbitrary. There is no particular reason why this point in time should be a beginning or, indeed, an end. One time follows another. Each is special in its own way. In a sense, New Year is something complet
Read more…Faith is the foundation of courage. The word courage comes from the word for heart (cuore in Italian, cœur in French). What saves people is not intellectual ideas, not religious institutions, certainly not the attainment of rank and status in a relig
Read more…Often, we talk about Buddhist training. My teacher Kennett Roshi used this term a lot. She would sometimes say that the term training was not quite right, but that she couldn’t think of a better term. Why did she say that?
When we think of training i
Read more…Why do we take refuge in the Buddha? We take refuge because we know that the self is not a secure refuge for itself. How do we know this? Well, we know it by self-examination. This is one of the aspects of contemplation, meditation: one looks into on
Read more…Didn’t we have a most marvellous retreat? So, many people are now asking themselves how to go forward from here, like…
“What should I do about myself?”
“What can I do for the Sangha?”
“What can I do for the world?”
These three questions are quite clo
Read more…Contrition: Gateway to the Awakening of Faith (German translation)
Unzählig sind die fühlenden Wesen: Ihnen allen habe ich Schaden zugefügt;
Unzählbar sind die heiligen Grundsätze: Sie alle habe ich gebrochen;
Unergründlich sind die Dharma-Lehren:
Read more…Sometimes in life, just as we're sailing along and think that everything is going fine, we suddenly run into rough water. Perhaps people we trusted, people who perhaps have been friends for a long time and with whom one had been through many adventur
Read more…From Amitayus, of tender care,
Breaks a warm and happy smile
And a trillion rays of light
Fill the billion Buddha lands.
(…)
Then Quan Shi Yin, so great and kind,
Prostrates before that Buddha, saying thus:
“Why do you make this lovely smile:
What is t
What is the point of Global Sangha? The job of Global Sangha is to wage peace in the world. To demonstrate peace. To demonstrate harmony. To demonstrate an alternative to the greed, hate and delusion that is leading humankind toward disaster.
The wor
Read more…It's another glorious day here in France, sun shining, the sky is blue, everywhere you look nature is in full activity. Flowers on all the trees, the lilac is in its deep purple – magnificent! And may trees shining silver-white. They look like the tr
Read more…There’s a gag about a person who wants to find his way to a place called Hometown, and he thinks he knows the way and he is driving along, and then he realizes everything suddenly become unfamiliar. He realizes he’s lost; and he sees a pedestrian, so
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