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Tag: meditation

  • Higan Reflections: Causes and Conditions

    Higan Reflections  In March, on the occasion of Shunki Higan, the Spring Equinox, when day and night are in exact balance, Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji Buddhists put their busy lives on pause and reflect upon the people, causes, and conditions that brought them to the Path of Nembutsu, and Amida’s Vow to Save All. NamoAmidaButsu! “Such…

  • Buddhism and Leadership: Mindful, Selfless, Compassionate

    Buddhism and Leadership: Mindful, Selfless, Compassionate

    “To lead, be worth following.” —The Buddha (never said that) As a Buddhist, the essence of leadership is to truly understand that a leader is allowed to lead only because people choose to follow them. This shift in perspective away from our usual “self-centered” way of life to the realization: “I am here only because…

  • Right View: Seeing Reality-as-it-is, not Reality-as-My-Ego-Wants

    Gautama Buddha taught “Right View” as one of the Eightfold Path of the Noble Ones, which is the path of discipline followed by monks single-heartedly pursuing nirvana, the “extinguishing” of “thirst” (tanha or craving), awakening to the Truth, Reality-as-it-is, thus becoming a buddha, an “awakened being.”   In Jōdo Shinshū Hongwanji Teachings, Right View is…

  • When the Winds of Impermanence Blow…in Your Face!

    When the Winds of Impermanence Blow…in Your Face!

    Anicca, the Truth of Impermanence, is one of the Three Marks of Existence, the key Truths taught by Gautama Buddha, the historical Buddha who lived more than 2500 years ago. We all understand, in an abstract sense, all things arising from causes and conditions are anicca “inconstant,” “impermanent” or “all things change”, “nothing stays the…

  • “There’s Too Much Time”

    When I consider deeply the Vow of Amida, which arose from five kalpas of profound thought, I realize that it was entirely for the sake of myself alone! Then how I am filled with gratitude for the Primal Vow, in which Amida resolved to save me, though I am burdened with such heavy karma. Shinran…