QUESTION: What is the Pure Land of Amitabha Buddha?
SHORT ANSWER: Being in the presence of that Buddha.
LONGER ANSWER: A Buddha land or Buddha field (buddha-kshetra) can be thought of somewhat like the field around a magnet. A Buddha has influence. B
Read more…Faith is a quality, like courage or generosity. It is not the same as belief which is a matter of conviction about certain matters. Belief can be a support to faith, though belief is always vulnerable since it depends upon conditions in a way that fa
Read more…Shoko-bo Bencho (1162-1238) was a, perhaps the, leading disciple of Honen Shonin (1133-1212), the principal propagator of Pureland Buddhism in Japan. Nowadays it is common to give this honour to Shinran (1173-1263), but in the important contemporary
Read more…古之善為士者，微妙玄通，深不可識。
夫唯不可識，故強為之容：
豫兮若 冬涉川﹔
猶兮若畏四鄰﹔
儼兮其若客﹔
渙兮若冰之釋﹔
敦兮其若朴曠兮
其若谷﹔混兮其若濁。
孰能晦以理之徐明？
孰能濁以靜之徐清？
孰能安以 動之徐生？
保此道者不欲盈。
夫唯不盈，
故能蔽而新成。
Good people of old
penetrated subtle mysteries.
They were indecipherably deep.
The ordinary person cannot unders
Life could be a poem if it rhymed
or the metre was predictable instead
of random interference going on
amidst the buzzing of the insects in my head.
Life could be a song all full of joy
if its cadences were rising all on cue;
if the lyrics, though repeat
14.
视之不见名曰夷。
听之不闻名曰希。
抟之不得名曰微。
此三者不可致诘，
故混而为一。
其上不皦, 其下不昧，
绳绳不可名，复归於无物。
是谓无状之状，无物之象，是谓惚恍。
迎之不见其首，随之不见其後。
执古之道以御今之有。
能知古始，是谓道纪。
Fairly Literal Translation
The look that does not see is called foreign
The listening that does not hear is called unusual
The t
Read more…QUESTION: In Jodo Shinshu it seems that an experience of shinjin acts as a kind of 'proof' or 'guarantee' that one has called out to Amida with faith and has been received and will be reborn into the Pureland (do correct me if I'm wrong). What is the
Read more…QUESTION: What is the best way of reading and interpreting a sutra?
SHORT ANSWER: One tries to understand the Dharma contained in it and let the images bring that Dharma to life deep within.
LONGER ANSWER: I think one of the points in the questioners
Read more…MORNING SESSION
SMALL GROUPS
Review the work of yesterday
DEMONSTRATION SESSION
Client talked about fluctuating energy levels and difficulties in relationship with significant person in her current life. Therapist elicited a little of the history an
MORNING SESSION
SMALL GROUPS
Reviewing work of yesterday
LECTURE
Topics
1. The Four immeasurables: Love, Compassion, Sympathetic joy, Equanimity (Maitri, Karuna, Muditas, Upeksha)
2. The therapy process model (similar material to last week, but in a
Read more…MORNING SESSION
REFLECTION
Mind/heart precedes states. Mind/heart is chief. Mind made are they.
Act with impure heart, suffering follows as the wheel the hoof.
Act with pure heart, blessings follow as a shadow that never leaves
- Therapy is an attemp
Read more…MORNING SESSION
LECTURE
This lecture established the importance of encounter in the Buddhist tradition. In the stories of great masters, most became enlightened as a result of an inter-personal encounter. The sutras are full of accounts of encounters
Read more…MORNING SESSION
INPUT
One of the demonstrations from yesterday could be analysed as the following sequence:
CONTACT -> WARM UP -> PERMISSION -> CATHARTIC SHIFT ->
WORKING THROUGH (including integration & secondary insights)
This sequence is not unusu
Read more…In principle, there are two routes by which one can participate in enlightenment. One is the method of one's own effort. The other is the road of faith. Effort is hard work. It involves becoming highly alert, 24/7, keeping innumerable precepts, renou
Read more…