By Rev. Ken Yamada
Years ago, Buddhism seemed irrelevant to me, so I quit. Instead I focused on making money, buying stuff and getting ahead. Looking back, I realized I was “asleep.” Fortunately, I “woke up.”
Memory and Amida’s Vow
By Rev. Ryoko Osa
We all know death is a fact of life, but how about our “second death”?
Imagine 100 years after your death, probably no one alive will have known you or met you directly. Like in the movie “Coco,” human beings experience two deaths. The “first death” is physical—the death of the body. The “second death” is the moment no one remembers you. It’s an idea that seems to say memory is what life is really about. Continue reading “Memory and Amida’s Vow”
Pain is My Teacher
In growing older, a woman once told me her knee became sore and weak. She began to use a cane, moving slowly and more cautiously than before.
While taking walks outside, she began to notice other people with difficulty walking. Her eyes couldn’t help but see people who used canes, crutches and walkers, who walked slowly or with limps. Suddenly the world seemed full of people like herself, whose steps were unsteady. She saw them struggle and felt their pain. She worried for their safety and prayed in her heart they would be all right. These thoughts spontaneously arose from within her. Continue reading “Pain is My Teacher”
In Brazil: A Buddhist Life
In Brazil, Rev. Marcos Sawada grew up in a temple and hated the life that came with it. It always seemed busy and there was no privacy. He thought his father, a minister, was selfish and egotistical. The last thing he wanted was to follow in his father’s footsteps. His father and mother, also a minister, wanted at least one of their children to enter the priesthood. “Every time I refused because I really had an aversion to even thinking of becoming a minister.”
My Mother was My Enemy
Rev. Miki Nakura exudes the peaceful bearing one expects of a Buddhist priest. He closes his eyes, ponders a question, and answers slowly with a slight Japanese accent. Every day, he meditates. Such calmness belies a personal history beset by tragedy, dashed dreams and a deep resentment against his mother. At one time, he thought, my mother is “my enemy.” Continue reading “My Mother was My Enemy”
Fighting World Poverty
Buddhist leaders tackled world poverty, the first of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), in an online forum last week. Continue reading “Fighting World Poverty”