Since the age of 3, I have been interested in other peoples. Apparently that was the age when I toddled up to the television, pointed to the evening news, and stated: “I am going to…
Browsing Category buddhism
Drifting towards the stream
Parallel to the shore Even while learning spells for invisibility, or getting a tattoo of protection from the war-goddess Marishiten, I never really considered myself “into” Buddhism. It was always a peripheral topic to my…
Conscious labour and supreme blessings
To be well caring of mother, of father, to look after spouse and children, to engage in a harmless occupation, this is a blessing supreme. This line is from a discourse with the Buddha known…
Best of 2016
2016 has been a tumultuous year, for both the entire world and for me personally. I have categorized some of the best hits and big changes below into three categories: Life, Posts and Media. Life…
Mental Flexibility: My first Zen experience
In 1335, a few years after he abdicated the throne, the 95th emperor of Japan Hanazono (1297-1348) decided to become a Buddhist monk. He entered the Rinzai school of Zen Buddhism and donated one of…
Buddha, the manga
Historical drama can sometimes be dangerous. Subtle twists of creative license to fit a narrative can give a false impression of the facts. Osamu Tezuka’s massive 8 volume series on the life of the Buddha…
Shinran and the Buddhist Evangelical movement of Japan
A fifth of Japanese — about 25 million people — identify as practitioners of Jōdo Shinshū, the largest denomination of Buddhism in Japan. My family in Japan are all Jōdo Shinshū, also known as “Shin”…