Acharya Sujatin (temple host)

In Buddhist psychology, the aim is somewhat different from most Western psychology. The latter aims to make the person self-assertive, self-sufficient, self-esteeming, and even self-entitled. This is expressed in such phrases such as “You deserve it,” “You’re worth it,” and “Be in control of your life,” This is not the Buddhist way. Buddhist psyc…[Read more]

Dharmavidya:

Buddha came from a “yellow” race, Jesus and Mahommet from a “brown” one. Nobody who claims to follow in the footsteps of these great teachers should be making decisions based on a hierarchy of skin colour. They didn’t. They gave teachings that were universal and gave openly to all.

That there are powerful countries in the world tha…[Read more]

Dharmavidya writes:

BUDDHIST PSYCHOLOGY

On the one hand, Buddhism is a broad church or umbrella under which many diverse ideas and methods can cluster. Currently there are many popular methods that have some Buddhist connection. Thus we have mindfulness, qi gong, and reiki, and there are a range of derivatives such as mindfulness-based stress…[Read more]

SELF-CONSCIOUSNESS IS NOT MEDITATION
We should ask ourselves, what is meditation, really? Meditation is surely not sitting still and silent while one’s mind wanders all over, even if, from time to time, one achieves some self-consciousness of what is happening. Indeed, one must question whether any kind of self-conscious can really be a Buddhist g…[Read more]

Dharmavidya:

I am often asked how one can select a good teacher. How is one to know if somebody is genuine or not? This seems to be a big worry for some people. They are wary of being tricked. For Western people to give up even a smidgen of their independence is such a big thing they may want cast iron guarantees in advance. Unfortunately there…[Read more]

Dharmavidya:

In Buddhism there is a theory of conditioning. All conditioned things are impermanent. Buddhism is a religion that is about transcending impermanence and reaching the Deathless – nirvana. However, by definition, one cannot reach the unconditioned simply by changing conditions.

A fire depends upon a supply of fuel – let’s say f…[Read more]

Dharmavidya:

BRINGING TWO IDEAS TOGETHER

Koans are usually associated with Zen and the term Anjin is usually associated with Pureland so nobody ever writes about a relationship between them. However, if we pan back and look at the general configuration of Buddhism as a whole, it is a spiritual path upon which one or several awakenings occur as…[Read more]

The Service book is :: here

And :: here are recordings

There’s a lot more information about our School etc :: here

Dharmavidya:

Honen said “Out of the elation experienced in the knowledge that birth in the Pure Land is possible through the recitation of one or ten nembutsu grows the joy of the merit of recitation of a million nembutsu.”

There are several points to note here. Firstly, the equation of merit with joy. Merit is happy mind which arises from the…[Read more]

“Maybe it’s wishful thinking, this snaggly faith of mine, or maybe it’s Miles Davis saying, ‘Don’t play what’s there, play what’s not there.’ If courage is not there, if the possibility of things getting better is not there, listen a little harder.”  ~ ANNE LAMOTT

Sometimes the healer is a catalyst. A catalyst is a substance that makes a reaction between other substances possible, yet emerges from the chemical process unchanged, while the other participants have been changed in a way that would not have been possible without the presence of the catalyst. Thus, sometimes one is present when other people are…[Read more]

Dharmavidya:

SELF POWER LEADS TO OTHER POWER

The objective of self power is to extinguish itself. Self power Buddhism is a kind of extinction Buddhism: by the power of the self to bring the self to a zero condition. When the self is zero, all that is not self (i.e. other) is infinite. Thus, in principle, success on the self power path would lead…[Read more]

Amida is calling to me, is calling me, which means that all the Buddhas that ever were or will be are calling me, calling to say “Stop! Look!” “Look at the Dharma we have discovered!”

When I say “Namo Amida Bu” – or any other form of refuge, I am acknowledging the call of the Buddhas. I am saying “Receiving, receiving!” I am allowing their…[Read more]

Regard all things with amazement, admiration and sympathy. Study the beauty and forms of nature. Meet adverse occurrences with equanimity. Know that all that is manifest is remarkable, yet even the most fine and beautiful shall also pass away.

Do your best to be plain and straightforward, sincere in what you say and do. Although social situations…[Read more]