Tag Archives: Core Teaching of the Buddha
What Is Mindfulness?
What is mindfulness and what does it mean to you? Mindfulness is a shift in the way we pay attention. During that subtle shift our entire world can transform from the inside out. When it comes to mindfulness there is … Continue reading
The Matrix of Practice
Dengyo Daishi once wrote, “A devout believer in the Buddha’s Law who is also a wise man is truly obliged to point out to his students any false doctrines, even though they are principles of his own sect. He must … Continue reading
Taking Courage
Nonviolence is the highest form of unpretentious humility. It is ultimate courage. Anyone who avoids using violence has strength. The real conflict of the 21st century is not between cultures or even religions. It is between violence and nonviolence. It … Continue reading
Avoiding Poison
The recent bombings and increased activities of religious extremists have provoked a myriad of responses, both rational and irrational. In the United States people of power tend to react instead of responding. The reaction is normally superficial and immature. They … Continue reading
The Tip of a Needle
Life, personhood, pleasure and pain — This is all that’s bound together In a single mental event — A moment that quickly takes place. Even the spirits who endure For eighty-four thousand eons — Even these do not live the … Continue reading
The Distortion of Perception — the Vipallasas
The vipallasas are the distortion of views, perceptions and thoughts affected by either defilements or by the words of another. So my thoughts, perceptions and especially my views about what I am now writing is an example of how these … Continue reading
The Road to Hell Is Paved: The Paradox of the Bodhisattva Vow
I received this question through an email. It seemed like a reasonable question and points that there are teachings in Buddhism that are not terribly Buddhist at all. These distortions of what the Buddha taught are so common that we … Continue reading
The Need To Be Heard
We live in a society that demands we be fair, honest and sensitive to the “needs” of others. There is the claim that we want every voice to be heard. We sometimes, albeit rarely, make the distinction between “hearing” and … Continue reading
Buddhism Without a Buddha
In spite of it being the currency of the Mahayana Movement, getting a strong and hard definition of “emptiness is very difficult. If one asks fifty teachers one gets roughly fifty answers. The word is as vaguely applied as are … Continue reading
People In Vain
Visit the Hongaku Jodo Website Click here to subscribe to our newsletter. People in Vain ____________________________________________ Quite often in the West we use the words “awakening” and “enlightenment interchangeably. This is a misinterpretation on our part. They are not synonyms … Continue reading
Fists Full of Sand 