tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-79171274778280216792012-02-16T14:55:27.664-08:00Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.comBlogger561100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-33395617900162159962011-08-19T03:52:00.000-07:002011-08-19T03:57:38.545-07:00

Please check out the new project Jon (dumbbonbu) has started over at Oroka. "Oroka is a collaborative blog featuring poetry, photography and other artforms, frequently but not exclusively Dharma-themed but always with a spiritual leaning. Sometimes we share the work of others, sometimes of ourselves. Trying to remain humble and aware of our own ignorance, often we’ll stumble."

Kyōshinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13953403567966703577noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-75356376594848867612011-04-26T07:39:00.000-07:002011-04-26T07:39:54.545-07:00

last night between zazen sessions, Sensei felt he had something important to share with us about light only just now being cast upon a particular aspect of his Chomon experience. the religious life, he told us, has two aspects - that which we may term an "inner" and "outer". this inner aspect may be felt as peace, or peaceful awareness, and without its core foundation we can not say we are truly

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-38238837911725067412011-04-15T13:41:00.000-07:002011-04-15T13:54:38.435-07:00

For sometime we've been carrying on a slightly desultory discussion here about parallels between Jōdo Shinshū and Tibetan Buddhism and this post is just a minor annotation to add to the rather vague collection of glimmerings we've been gathering.In a talk I gave, along with Jishin, at Three Wheels temple last year - entitled Encounter and Faith Transmission in Jōdo Shinshū - I said (my emphasis

Kyōshinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13953403567966703577noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-28987296916437571212011-03-21T12:07:00.000-07:002011-03-21T12:07:49.618-07:00

as an after-thought to the previous posting - the other people in a person's life are the motivational condition for an individual's religious awakening. Consequently they are those who have done a great deal for that individual's spiritual welfare. As a matter of course, one comes to understand just how grateful one should be to others.          - Great Living, Kemmyo Taira Sato

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-2635694780132990492011-03-19T08:57:00.000-07:002011-03-19T08:57:11.930-07:00

one of the many pitfalls of any given path is that of complacency. this might manifest in such a readily acknowledgeable form as "put it off until tomorrow" syndrome or it may linger beneath the surface in a subtler manner. a few nights ago, i was discussing with my Dharma mother our respective Chomon experiences. two significant steps foward during introspection are the awareness of how much

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-79969589182610322692011-03-04T13:33:00.000-08:002011-03-04T13:33:11.404-08:00

I was given a wonderful opportunity to meet some erudite priests from the Shinshu Otani-ha (Higashi Honganji) branch of Jodo Shinshu during my recent stay in Japan. I had been invited to an event to begin the preparations for this year's commemoration of the 750th Memorial for Shinran Shonin, and very kindly several of them spent some time with me afterwards. I was quite inspired by their energy

Jishin (慈心)http://www.blogger.com/profile/15450386665499268772noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-45682186552752586392011-02-21T06:17:00.000-08:002011-02-22T08:01:29.118-08:00

The inspiration for this post came from a short exchange over at Echoes of the Name where a friend spoke of his practice as "orientated towards Amida’s pureland, while trying to make our own world come to reflect that land as much as possible". His words were just part of a short greeting and so I have no idea precisely what he meant by this, however it did get me thinking about my own - Jodo

Kyōshinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13953403567966703577noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-79407613268466405192011-02-17T02:54:00.000-08:002011-02-17T02:56:25.324-08:00

"Taya life is a way of living daily life in which one experiences true encounter."- Fragrant Light No.257well, it's a matter of days now until i move down to London and enter into taya life. no doubt it may well be a prevelent theme in my postings here over the coming months. a Dharma friend recently asked me to tell him a little bit about its significance and i replied that the best i felt i

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-6779136607083757422011-02-11T02:24:00.000-08:002011-02-11T02:35:16.852-08:00

oh boy, Egypt. it looks like things are close to tipping point over there and i hold the people in my thoughts. there's already plenty of excellent analysis out there and i don't feel i could really add anything worthwhile to it. there is one thing which caught my eye though. i think it's safe to say that all of Blathering Nonsense's contributors hold the matter of interfaith dialogue very close

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-87021385454930284822011-02-07T06:06:00.000-08:002011-02-07T06:06:57.774-08:00

last week, whilst browsing the mighty internets i came across the following joke - What's the difference between a Buddhist and a non-Buddhist? A Buddhist knows there is none. a brief smile, but then i got to thinking about it a little bit more and something began to bug me. of course, jokes aren't meant to be taken seriously but i saw no good reason why that should stop me so let's plunge

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-73487595650903390022011-01-27T05:31:00.000-08:002011-01-27T07:35:51.929-08:00

The essence of ethics is to love one another. However, since there is no absolute standard for good and bad, all ethical acts are relative. Usually, though, when one makes an effort to achieve some goal, one tends to consider one's efforts as being absolute, rather than relative. when this psychological tendency manifests itself in a self-centered way, our ethical consciousness becomes a source

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-409935438599479422011-01-16T16:23:00.001-08:002011-01-16T17:07:02.315-08:00

Jon asked me recently if I'd guest-write for this blog, an offer I gladly accepted. We have spoken often about Dharma and explored commonalities in one another's traditions. I think this dialogue is immensely important.Anyway, for my first post as a (somewhat daunted!) guest I thought I'd begin with a matter central to both Jodo Shinsu and Vajrayana: the primal vow of Amitabha and his Pureland of

Ven. Kunga Dondrupnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-27665724716598416852011-01-09T12:33:00.000-08:002011-01-09T12:33:07.636-08:00

prayer's a rather problematic topic for me, one that nonetheless seems insistent on raising its awkward little head and butting into my thoughts. it's a word that can be multifaceted in interpretation and meaning but i hazard a guess that the most immediate or apparant image which springs to mind is asking for something from some bearded guy way up in the sky. this example is aka petitionary. it

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-23480608804539301812011-01-04T08:03:00.000-08:002011-01-04T09:13:53.844-08:00

I know all the details of karma, but I do not really believe in it. I have heard a lot of Dharma, but never put it into practice. Bless me and evil-doers like me That our minds may mingle with the Dharma  - Patrul Rinpochethis is going to be one of those "Jon thinks he has something halfway worth hearing to say " type posts, so don't say you weren't warned. over the past few days the issue of

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-30153814417060829722010-12-31T08:39:00.000-08:002010-12-31T08:39:29.960-08:00

Whenever I catch sight of others, By thinking, "It is through them, That I will reach awakening," I'll look with sincerity and love.- Shantideva namu amida butsu

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-5113822451567047932010-12-20T05:25:00.000-08:002010-12-20T05:25:03.957-08:00

there's some big changes coming my way in 2011 so it may be a slow start of the blog front. in the meantime, i'd like to thank you all for reading and chipping in. paticular thanks to Kyoshin, whose contributions to the Tibetan-Shinshu dialogue have added a vital, new voice which BN was missing. be sure to head over to the excellent Echoes of the Name for more. also, i should point you towards

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-77151704833430407962010-12-17T06:15:00.000-08:002010-12-17T06:15:53.233-08:00

just to add to the the prior discussion of muryoju, i came across this quote from Kanamatsu's Naturalness which seemed pertinent -  Amida's revelation is not to be sought after by our own efforts; it comes upon us by itself, of it's own accord. Amida is always in us and with us, but by means of our human understanding we posit him outside us, against us, as opposing us, and exercise our

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-24132198082418717572010-12-07T09:37:00.000-08:002010-12-07T09:43:59.359-08:00

last week my good friend Kunga D wrote a piece over at his blog, Why are we amazed? myself being an admitted hopeless romantic, prone to burying my head in books of haiku, dreaming of misty-mountain revelations and deep sunyatic realisations awoken by the smell of falling plum blossom, i must admit the frankness of his squawking at first ruffled me. however, once i'd straightened out those

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-60979692429409705782010-12-02T11:23:00.000-08:002010-12-05T12:41:32.285-08:00

not so long ago an article appeared in The Guardian regarding the 2000 foetuses found in a Bangkok Temple. the article told of how the discovery had prompted a push toward political reform regarding Thailand's abortion laws which was subsequently being hindered by prominent figures in the Thai Sangha who held considerable political (and public) sway. my initial response upon reading the article

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-1704098506626194382010-11-19T02:09:00.000-08:002010-11-19T02:41:05.519-08:00

There used to be a regular visitor to our temple who I shall call 'Will'. I'm not sure how he would have defined his religious stance, quite probably 'romantic' in the tradition of Wordsworth and Coleridge, but he often told me about his enjoyment of regular skirmishes with the significant number of self-identified atheists at his place of work.One interesting argument he used in these sparrings

Kyōshinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13953403567966703577noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-38645093859490607782010-10-27T04:14:00.000-07:002010-12-01T02:14:07.630-08:00

Jon kindly asked me to write another post for this blog and on reflection I thought it would be good to try and carry forward the Jōdo Shinshū - Tibetan Buddhist* dialogue we started recently. The following isn't really a fully fleshed post as such but just some musings that might provoke input from more knowledgeable folk.Jon and I just got back from a retreat at our home temple, which is in the

Kyōshinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13953403567966703577noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-90870026006505827972010-10-15T12:37:00.000-07:002010-12-08T02:22:30.827-08:00

Self-power is the effort to attain birth, whether by invoking the names of Buddhas other than Amida and practicing good acts other than the nembutsu, in accordance with your particular circumstances and opportunities; or by endeavoring to make yourself worthy through mending the confusion in your acts, words, and thoughts, confident of your own powers and guided by your own calculation. - Lamp

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-4308224537160210362010-09-23T01:48:00.000-07:002010-09-23T01:48:06.235-07:00

idly leafing through The Taoist Experience, Livia Kohn's comprehensive compedium of Taoist texts, i was struck by a verse from the Qinjing jing (Scripture of Purity and Tranquility) - Use emptiness to observe emptiness, And see there is no emptiness. When even emptiness is no more, There is no more non-being either. what caught my attention was the similarity with Nagarjuna's comments on 'the

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-67647998868823211102010-09-20T10:44:00.000-07:002010-09-21T08:04:59.291-07:00

‎"The more we allow ourselves to be the servants of having, the more we shall let ourselves fall prey to the gnawing anxiety which having involves"- Gabriel Marcel every once in a while the feeling that i've gorged myself at the great dining table of materialism until my sides are fit to burst overtakes the desire and craving which, until this point, has driven me forward.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-41651885558309595302010-09-05T10:05:00.000-07:002010-09-05T15:10:45.983-07:00

two weeks ago my Grandmother died and last thursday i found myself standing over her coffin with my mother, in the viewing room of the funeral parlour, hours before her funeral. i'd seen her a month prior to this, as she lay in a hospital bed, scared and confused, the life slowly draining away from her, quite visible to see by the change in her physical appearance. in the last ten years or so of

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-90049954278278458822010-08-18T08:31:00.000-07:002010-12-06T10:35:20.771-08:00

one of the things we come up against time and again in Shinran's teachings is this issue of the purity of our intentions. though we might like to believe our motivation behind a given action to be sound, dig a little deeper and we quickly come to realise how mired in self-servitude we are - for example, how often do we resent not receiving praise or thanks for an act of generosity? can we in all

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-21713393807669249382010-07-22T13:23:00.000-07:002010-07-22T13:26:06.213-07:00

This is the first post for Blathering Nonsense from my good Dharma friend Kyoshin and the first to kick off our discussion....  Thank you Jon for inviting me to participate in this informal discussion of the book The Words of My Perfect Teacher by Patrul Rinpoche. I have to admit that Tibetan Buddhism is probably my weakest area of knowledge and experience when it comes to the Buddha-dharma so I

Kyōshinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13953403567966703577noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-23192827409200464202010-07-22T13:22:00.000-07:002010-07-22T13:31:27.138-07:00

up to this point the blog has really just been myself blathering and reflecting on various things - my experiences in Shinshu, discussion of teachings, interfaith dialogue, art and Dharma etc. recently i began to read "The Words of My Perfect Teacher" by Patrul Rinpoche, and being outside of the tradition the text belongs too, was eager to discuss it with a Vajra friend. he suggested we hold the

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-46410821450125443052010-06-13T19:49:00.000-07:002010-12-08T02:24:23.646-08:00

not sure if i'll have the chance to post much, if at all, over the next month as i'm taking a TEFL course. in the meantime though i'd like to share this article by Paraskevopoulos. despite Shinran's mentioning Ashvaghosa twice in the KGSS (once in True Buddha and Land and again in Transformed Buddha-Bodies and Lands) both references are brief, with only the former quoting directly from The

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-39107359380197787742010-05-23T16:48:00.000-07:002010-08-18T08:48:44.361-07:00

as an interesting footnote to Keenan's comments on interfaith dialogue (and Christian-Buddhist dialogue more specifically), i came across this quote taken from James Frederick's essay Jodo Shinshu's Mission to History in Engaged Pure Land Buddhism - [...] dialogue partners must not be too hasty in affirming the similarities which unite their traditions. The point of dialogue is not to discover

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-15708122561485950392010-04-18T02:52:00.000-07:002010-08-18T08:50:04.258-07:00

once again, Killing the Buddha throws up another great reflection from someone struggling with and working through their own faith (and doubt, as the case may be). it came at just the right time, as i'm currently making my way through Kempis' much loved Imitation of Christ. i'm not going to attempt to retell what Prothero says, such a personal reflection deserves to be left to speak for itself.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-85865354842977207702010-04-14T18:21:00.000-07:002010-12-06T10:36:33.248-08:00

Often what seems to be love is really an unspiritual emotion, because there is usually some trace of natural inclination, our own wishes, the hope of repayment and the desire to further our own ends - Thomas a Kempis, Imitation of Christ: XV We should not express outwardly signs of wisdom, goodness, or diligence, for inwardly we are possessed of falsity. - Shinran Shonin,  KGSS III: 13

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-29490969521424005552010-04-11T07:41:00.000-07:002010-12-08T02:25:31.058-08:00

Taitetsu Unno in River of Fire, River of Water tells a wonderful story about his grandmother, a devout nembutsu-sha. answering a call one afternoon, the young Taitetsu hears her arguing angrily with a gentleman on the doorstep. after a while the door slams shut and his grandmother returns "huffing and puffing". the man in question, it transpires, goes around conning the elderly out of their money

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-2471303920143937312010-04-09T04:35:00.000-07:002010-12-06T10:43:06.745-08:00

And a subtle breeze stirs, so that marvelous sounds of the Dharmaflow from that tree into all the buddha-realms in the ten regions of the universe.- Larger Sukhavatiyuha Sutra, v.82

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-29095292060468458442010-03-10T12:10:00.000-08:002010-08-18T08:55:21.735-07:00

continuing to make my way through Merton and Buddhism, in particular his experiments with zen calligraphy, a number of questions formed in my mind not entirely unrelated to the dialogue which took place over on Echoes not so long ago. namely, what difficulties and challenges are encountered in the act of creating sacred art? further, how aware of the space in which the art is to be present must

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-14724773478763626472010-03-03T10:36:00.000-08:002010-08-18T08:56:37.675-07:00

right now i'm making my way through Merton and Buddhism, a collection of essays about his encounters and exchanges with the Zen, Theravadin and Tibetan traditions. i'm finding it an interesting and worthwhile read at the moment and being new to Merton's thought, an easy way in. in particular i was interested to come across several comments in a chapter discussing the limitations of his knowledge

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-39315111847370916132010-02-17T08:23:00.000-08:002010-08-18T08:58:15.121-07:00

several friends and family are undergoing or about to undergo retreat over the next few weeks and having recently returned myself, this makes me very happy to hear. getting back to "the real world" here in Hull is proving, perhaps inevitably, to be a bit bumpy post-Chomon. i am after all, still very much the same person with the same hang-ups and delusions. i guess there's a danger if we enter

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-78432528599239945712010-02-01T03:32:00.000-08:002010-08-18T08:58:47.222-07:00

on the wall of the ground floor hall in Toho Taya hangs calligraphy bearing the characters for the word "ignorance". it served as a much needed reminder of my true nature as i made my way to and from the temple each morning and evening.

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-86960455160586410082010-01-10T08:52:00.000-08:002010-08-18T08:59:33.681-07:00

as my last post before i fly out on thursday i'd like to share a quote taken from Ashvaghosa's The Awakening of Faith. it feels, to my mind, particularly significant held under the light of everything i've experienced over the past year and is something i'd like to hold in mind as i undergo Chomon. see you at the end of the month. All beings since their first aspiration till the attainment of

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-13185135977547873542009-12-31T09:24:00.000-08:002010-08-18T09:00:32.355-07:00

 to see the year out, a much loved haiku from a much loved friend (whom i stole the blog title from in case you didn't know) - Trusting to Buddha Good and bad, I bid farewell To the parting year Issa had a hard life, filled with tragedy. yet his entrusting to Amida carried him through the stormy waters of the saha world to the Pure Land. happy 2010 folks :-) namu amida butsu

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-16820387320457513762009-12-29T11:18:00.000-08:002010-12-08T02:26:42.427-08:00

currently making my way through Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You  the tome which served as a great inspiration for Gandhi's peaceful resistance movement. Tolstoy presents a pretty radical view of Christianity, one that i imagine wouldn't sit well with a lot of Christians - he pretty much rejects anything other than the Gospels for example - and it doesn't surprise me that its

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-16445885758212131542009-12-25T23:29:00.001-08:002010-08-18T09:05:59.301-07:00

i spent christmas day alone. often when someone hears this i get a response of surprise or sympathy. it's not as bad as it sounds - for the past few years i've spent the run up to the day itself visiting friends and loved ones and having lots of little "mini-xmas" celebrations. then i work through the night during the main holidays. but in a way, it's not entirely true to say i spent christmas

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-36694090028214237882009-12-25T00:41:00.000-08:002010-08-18T09:06:47.029-07:00

...just to share a seasonal haiku before heading to bed... The darkening sea. A wild duck calls - in a blur of whiteness  - Bassho also, head on over to Echoes of the Name for a very moving...well, just head on over. merry xmas namu amida butsu

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-80182745998008762312009-12-17T12:29:00.000-08:002010-12-06T10:44:13.833-08:00

further to "Amida is foolish too", reading through the Vimalakirti Sutra i was struck by a passage which in my mind seems to affirm this aspect of enlightened activity actively seeking out and participating in sentient beings suffering - "Manjusri, my sickness comes from ignorance and the thirst for existence and it will last as long as do the sicknesses of all living beings. Were all living

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-36662733942131415872009-12-14T10:24:00.000-08:002010-08-18T09:09:17.680-07:00

just returned from a great weekend spent with family (my niece's first birthday - where'd the time go?) and samgha. this visit to Three Wheels felt particularly special for several reasons. firstly, my mother was able to attend with me and it made me so happy for her to be glad to share in this fundamental part of my life, meet my Sensei and close Dharma friends and gain a better insight into my

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-74769386361922009972009-11-24T04:24:00.000-08:002010-08-18T09:10:21.333-07:00

you may or may not know that there's this guy whose life and work i'm frequently given to bouts of mad raving about called Bas Jan Ader. i first came across him while writing a paper on Dutch conceptual artists and was immediately struck by a raw and powerful image of  the artist in tears, captioned with the words "i'm too sad to tell you" an explanation of his grief was never given, only the

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-19782788922140888972009-11-21T05:13:00.000-08:002010-12-08T02:27:37.065-08:00

"[...]But when I reflect it seems to me that Amida is foolish because Amida is never apart from us, who are foolish, and all the world, which is foolish too. Amida participates in our foolishness in order to relieve it. Amida doesn't cast out sinners in anger. Those who are hardest to reach are given the lion's share of Amida's compassionate attention." - Jeff Wilson, Buddhism of the Heart

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-17433026403156818702009-11-20T13:43:00.000-08:002010-12-08T02:28:11.708-08:00

thinking some more about the question and having talked it through with friends, i'm left wondering if this feeling and urge that i could be doing more or that i'm not doing enough or that there's a conclusion i must come to lying cruelly just beyond my reach is born out of mistakenly viewing Amida's light as constrained or bound by a fixed point in time, missing the crucial point that he is the

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-7483330507863971172009-11-19T03:46:00.000-08:002010-12-06T10:45:14.858-08:00

night-shifts are, as per, slooow at the moment. but a site i'm really enjoying, killing the buddha, is helping the time pass more quickly. reading several articles is also causing me to look back and reflect on my own religious upbringing as the son of a Rector and subsequent shift to Buddhadharma. it's stating the obvious to say that Buddhadharma is still relatively new to the West and i think

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-85339244356399764972009-11-13T11:24:00.000-08:002010-08-18T09:15:22.380-07:00

"It is not  simply due to  actual benefit that I trust in Tathagata, but also due to another important reason. I trust in Tathagata because I realise that my intellect is limited. Except for the period when I was not  serious about life, Ialways felt a keen desire to enquire into the meaning of my life. As a result of that enquiry, I eventuallly reached the conclusion that the meaning of life is

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-10573572649464667312009-11-11T10:19:00.000-08:002010-12-06T10:40:41.095-08:00

it's little over two months now until i take my first flight to Japan in order to undergo Chomon at Shogyoji. to be honest, the whole thing still doesn't appear quite real to me yet. sure i am nervous but in much the same way as i would be visiting any country for the first time, that is to say it doesn't feel like a nervousness based upon the actual purpose of my going. i was told that it's

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-54906774125753084182009-11-05T07:17:00.000-08:002010-08-18T09:19:29.723-07:00

so it's probably come to your attention that tonight is bonfire night. the night we burn an effigy of the last man to enter parliament with honest intentions / a domestic terrorist (delete as applicable). i've always felt a twinge of sympathy for poor Guy, seeing him burnt year after year. and i'm lead to wonder, despite the instruction taught to us from an early age to "remember, remember...",

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-50651469022352289612009-11-03T08:19:00.000-08:002010-08-18T09:20:58.951-07:00

Among all living thingsmountains and rivers,grasses and trees,even the sounds of blowing windsand rising waves -there is nothingthat is not the nembutsu - Ippen during Shokai, while viewing the beautiful slides of Shogyoji a visiting priest kindly brought with him to show us all, a good dharma friend exclaimed to me how easy it is to miss the beauty that is all around us. as pictures of lotus

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-61887335568436199172009-11-01T10:04:00.000-08:002010-12-06T10:41:24.345-08:00

i just wanted to gather together some quotes and sayings regarding a matter dear to my heart at the moment. a lesson that i am slowly learning and in my own clumsy way trying to live by right now. "Enlightenment is to turn around and see MY own mistake. Other's mistake is also my mistake. Others are right even if they are wrong. I'm wrong even if i'm right. " - Master Chin Kung i remember

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-17875681811466832382009-10-31T08:40:00.000-07:002010-12-06T10:45:54.524-08:00

my first night back at work last week after having spent a precious fortnight visiting family and attending Shokai. i walked through the door to immediately hear the unfortunate news that several colleagues have contracted swine flu. now, i could go into detail about how the swine flu pandemic is a convenient excuse employed by government and media to re-affirm and strengthen the culture of moral

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7917127477828021679.post-52902450657930393302009-10-29T04:19:00.000-07:002010-08-18T09:57:01.926-07:00

..this morning before my daily otsutome i had all kinds of thoughts running through my mind, like a monkey swinging from branch to branch (admittedly, most likely brought about by a high caffiene intake!)... but when i bowed before the Buddha it was as if suddenly all these thoughts, worries, concerns were held in the compassionate embrace of the Tathagata. i felt an openness in which to recite

Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17161590790218391743noreply@blogger.com1