Summer is for ghost stories in Japan, sending chills down spines on hot summer nights. Consider this ghost story involving Shinran Shonin. Continue reading “Ghost Stories and Shinran”
Shared History: Buddhists and Muslims
I first noticed what the Muslim prayer hall and our Buddhist temple had in common: no sign.
Season of Obon
Summertime for many Buddhists means the season of Obon.
Many people associate Obon with Japanese dancing, when crowds of people wear traditional clothes, line up in circles in front of temples and happily dance to folk songs. However, there’s a deeper meaning.
Scholars Debate Meditation and Pure Land
The hot topic was meditation and Pure Land Buddhism, rarely discussed in Jodo Shinshu circles. But that was the theme of the International Association of Shin Buddhist Studies 19th Biennial Meeting in Taiwan last month. Continue reading “Scholars Debate Meditation and Pure Land”