Buddha came from a “yellow” race, Jesus and Mahommet from a “brown” one. Nobody who claims to follow in the footsteps of these great teachers should be making decisions based on a hierarchy of skin colour. They didn’t. They gave teachings that were u
Read more…TEXT
上士闻道，勤而行之；
中士闻道，若存若亡；
下士闻道，大笑之。
不笑不足以为道。
故建言有之：
明道若昧，进道若退，夷道若纇。
上德若谷；大白若辱；
广德若不足；建德若偷；
质真若渝。
大方无隅；大器晚成；
大音希声；大象无形；
道隐无名。
夫唯道，善贷且成。
TRANSLATION
上士闻道，勤而行之；
When a superior person hears of the Tao, he diligently puts it into practice.
中士闻道，若存若亡；
When a middling
BREXIT
Brexit’s not a cereal to eat before your lunch;
not a tasty, crispy treat that you can bite and crunch.
Brexit is catastrophe that hits you in the wallet
and if you are a business man you feel it like a bullet.
It does not care for industry, j
Read more…BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY
On the one hand, Buddhism is a broad church or umbrella under which many diverse ideas and methods can cluster. Currently there are many popular methods that have some Buddhist connection. Thus we have mindfulness, qi gong, and ra
Read more…SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS IS NOT MEDITATION
We should ask ourselves, what is meditation, really? Meditation is surely not sitting still and silent while one’s mind wanders all over, even if, from time to time, one achieves some self-consciousness of what is
TEXT
反者道之动，
弱者道之用。
天下万物生于有，
有生于无
TRANSLATION
Moved by Tao one returns
Used by Tao one is meek
All beings under Heaven are born from desire
Yet desire is born from emptiness.
COMMENTARY
Some translators render the last line “something is born from nothin
Read more…TEXT
昔之得一者，天得一以清；
地得一以宁；神得一以灵；
谷得一以盈，万物得一以生；
候王得一以为天一正。
其致之也，
谓天无以清，将恐裂；
地无以宁，将恐废；
神无以灵，将恐歇；
谷无以盈，将恐竭；
万物无以生，将恐灭；
候王无以正，将恐蹶。
故贵以贱为本，高以下为基。
是以候王自称孤、寡、不谷。
此非以贱为本邪？非乎？
故至誉无誉。
是故不欲琭琭如玉，珞珞如石。
TRANSLATION
昔之得一者，天得一以清
In the past things were at one (with the Tao) ; Hea
I am often asked how one can select a good teacher. How is one to know if somebody is genuine or not? This seems to be a big worry for some people. They are wary of being tricked. For Western people to give up even a smidgen of their independence is
Read more…In Buddhism there is a theory of conditioning. All conditioned things are impermanent. Buddhism is a religion that is about transcending impermanence and reaching the Deathless - nirvana. However, by definition, one cannot reach the unconditioned sim
Read more…BRINGING TWO IDEAS TOGETHER
Koans are usually associated with Zen and the term Anjin is usually associated with Pureland so nobody ever writes about a relationship between them. However, if we pan back and look at the general configuration of Buddhis
Read more…Honen said “Out of the eleation experienced in the knowledge that birth in the Pure Land is possible through the recitation of one or ten nembutsu grows the joy of the merit of recitation of a million nembutsu.”
There are several points to note here.
Read more…Sometimes the healer is a catalyst. A catalyst is a substance that makes a reaction between other substances possible, yet emerges from the chemical process unchanged, while the other participants have been changed in a way that would not have been p
Read more…SELF POWER LEADS TO OTHER POWER
The objective of self power is to extinguish itself. Self power Buddhism is a kind of extinction Buddhism: by the power of the self to bring the self to a zero condition. When the self is zero, all that is not self (i.e
Amida is calling to me, is calling me, which means that all the Buddhas that ever were or will be are calling me, calling to say “Stop! Look!” “Look at the Dharma we have discovered!”
When I say “Namo Amida Bu” - or any other form of refuge, I am ack
Read more…There is no reason to assume that we are inherently compassionate and wise. We clearly have a capacity for wisdom and compassion, but also for stupidity and cruelty. When we are stupid and cruel we generally deem ourselves justified and this enables
Read more…
Buddha said, “There are people who torment themselves. There are people who torment others. There are people who torment both themselves and others. There are people who torment neither themselves nor others.”
In our modern world there are two parti
Read more…Shariputra said: "Herein a monk lives spreading thoughts of goodwill in all directions. He lives spreading them everywhere, in every way, to the entire world, abundantly, boundlessly, unrestictedly, peaceably, benevolently. He lives spreading thought
Read more…SELF-SUFFICIENCY WITHOUT EGO
In Buddhism one can be confused at seemingly opposite teachings on individuality and self-reliance. On the one hand, it teaches us to let go of ego. On the other hand, it teaches ekagata, which is spiritual self-sufficien
Read more…There is a sutra called the Parinirvana. It is concerned with the last three months of the life of the Buddha. It begins with a conversation in which the Buddha is obliquely giving advice to a politician who is considering going to war.
The first thi
Read more…Today the ITZI Support Group discussed the theme "The Wounded Healer"
Points that came up included
