Dharmavidya's Discussions (996)

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TUESDAY 19 Jan ~ A Day of Errands

It has been a day of errands. We had a problem with a computer and had to find a repair shop. In the end it was a matter of buying a new memory pack and having it installed. Computers are so much a part of our lives nowadays that it is difficult to r

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MONDAY 18 Jan ~ A Visit to Dr Kildare

We spent much of the day in a hospital in Germany. Elja had interviews and X-rays and made plans for her hip replacement operation which will now take place in the same hospital in February. She has been researching the pros and cons of different met

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MONDO

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

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BUDDHAS EXIST

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

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FAITH BEYOND DESPAIR

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

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TUESDAY 12 Jan

This morning, over breakfast, we had a discussion of relationships and community and the idea of recreating tribes, in general, and, more specifically, around Eleusis, a tribe being, essentially, a network of relationships that cross a certain thresh

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SUNDAY 10 Jan ~ Hibernation

We had a quiet day of reading, writing and chatting, in part due to the continuance of the wet weather. It seems as though it has not stopped raining this year. There are occasional small outbursts of sunshine but quite quickly it clouds in again and

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HOW DO WE PROCEED?

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/

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