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Reality-as-it-is vs. Reality-as-My-Ego-Wants
Barkley the Dog and Lucy the Lady Bug present the Children’s Dharma Story Time book, “Who Pooped on Me?” by written by David Cunliffe and illustrated by Ivan Barbera. Which is a tough act to follow but I do my best by exploring the idea of “reality” from a “self”-centered human perspective, and “reality-as-it-is,” which…
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“What can I do” during times of disaster?
The practice of ‘o-mimai ‘ as an Expression of Caring (PHOTO CREDIT: Matthew Thayer / The Maui News / Associated Press) As the impact of the wildfires on Maui becomes clearer each day, the all-too-human response is to become overwhelmed emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually, to be frozen into the anxiety of inaction. We are horrified,…
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Just Bon Dance Like a Fool!
“Persons of the Pure Land tradition attain birth in the Pure Land by becoming their foolish selves.” —Shinran Shōnin, quoting his great teacher Hōnen Shōnin, founder of Jōdo-shū, in Lamp for the Latter Ages, Fascicle 6, CWS, Vol 1, page 531 Did you know the English phrase “bon dance” is unique to Hawaii? In Japan,…
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“In anpan veritas” IN ANPAN, TRUTH
When people ask me what I miss about living in Japan, I honestly tell them, “Anpan!” — the perfect bun filled with sweetened bean paste! Anpan was a major discovery when I was an exchange student in Tokyo in the early 1980s—the perfect fusion of a Western-style bread and Japanese-style sweets. In the 2010s, I…
JUST SAY MAHALO® 