Acharya Sujatin (temple host)

Dharmavidya writes:

MERIT TRANSFERENCE

In Buddhist temples we often perform merit transference ceremonies in which we wish for the transference of merit to people in need. We hope that they will be relieved of suffering or helped along their spiritual path. We can understand what is happening in such acts at different levels of…[Read more]

What are you grateful for today? I’m amazed by the beauty of my garden, filled with flowers and birdsong. It changed so much while we were on holiday on the isle of Skye – I’m grateful to have had such a wonderful visit to a magical place.

This would have been my father’s 99th birthday. I’m grateful that he lived well until just before he died in…[Read more]

We know how important they are – and vital for humankind. Here’s an article with ideas to increase the wild flowers in your garden:

While many gardeners prize a well-maintained lawn, conservationists are urging people to leave their mowers in the shed and count wildflowers instead.

Wildflower-studded lawns are an increasingly important source of…

[Read more]

Dharmavidya writes:

In The 37-Bon-Bodai-Bunpo, Dogen says “prevention of that which has not yet occurred is called the Buddhadharma”. This is said in the context of his commentary upon “The Four Kinds of Right Restraint” which is a classical Buddhist teaching. The four are to prevent the arising of bad, to extinguish bad that is already arisen,…[Read more]

Dharmavidya continues the series on karma:

KARMA & REBIRTH
Karma is what is reborn. At the end of a life one looks back. A process of life review occurs. From this review something stands out as the hallmark of the life that has been lived. Perhaps it was a particular meeting: “In this life I met Tom.” Perhaps Tom was the great love of one…[Read more]

Dharmavidya writes:

In Karma 1, I introduced the common idea of karma as a moral profit and loss account in which good is rewarded and bad reaps its corresponding negative effects. However, there are deeper ideas of karma that we can explore that can be useful to contemplate. Real spirituality goes beyond moralism.

There is a close connection…[Read more]

Dharmavidya:

A common way of explaining karma is by using the idea of bija. A bija is a “karmic seed”. We can think of karmic seeds as planted in the ground of the mind. A seed can stay in the ground for a long time before the conditions arrive that enable it to sprout. In the same way, karmic seeds can lodge in the mind waiting for the pro…[Read more]

Dharmavidya writes:

A DIFFERENT PARADIGM

In Western philosophy we have been much concerned with ideas of free will and determinism, guilt and responsibility. rights and laws, and these debates have taken place against the background of religions dominated by the idea of an all-powerful god who made laws and punished transgressors. In the East,…[Read more]