DHARMA TALK BY CHRISTOPHER KAKUYO SENSEI It is interesting how wandering through a bookstore on an unremarkable Wednesday can change your life forever. During one of those Wednesdays, while I was randomly walking the aisles of Ken Sander’s bookstore looking for something to read, I serendipitously found what I didn’t know I was looking for….
Category: dharma talk
Attend to All and Each
Dharma Talk Salt Lake Buddhist FellowshipChristopher Kakuyo Sensei + As I am working on the content for our certified dharma teacher course, I have been thinking about what makes our fellowship unique. First, we are different because the Pure Land tradition and its teachers inspire many of us, but we are not a Shin Buddhist…
In Praise of Failure
Dharma Talk – Christopher Kakuyo Leibow For today’s dharma talk, I want to start with a personal story. Let me paint you a picture. I’m about 43. I am sitting on the floor in a small room in a stranger’s house with my back against a wall. It’s late. I am watching reruns of Perry…
What are you carrying?
For today’s dharma talk, I want to ask first a question, and then I want to share a story. Now I am going to ask you a question, and I want you to think about the question for a few moments and think about it – What are you still carrying? What are you…
Violence as Entertainment?
Today’s dharma talk has been retitled Violence as Entertainment? The seeds of this talk were first planted that moment, some of you know that moment when your kid becomes interested in some violence he sees on the TV screen. That moment when you grab him quick to avert his eyes. Of course, the only thing…
The Gray Parrot & The Bodhisattva Vows
For today’s dharma talk I want to start with a story from a collection of stories from early Buddhism, called the Jataka tales. These tales consist of numerous anecdotes and fables that depict the Buddha in previous lives sometimes as an animal, sometimes as a human. The tales were written to give insight into the…
The Limits of Outrage.
This Dharma talk was given by Christopher Kakuyo Sensei at the Salt Lake Buddhist Fellowship November 4th, 2018 Today I want to share some remarks regarding what seems like an ever deepening polarization of our country and communities – and as of late, an increase of not just polarization but of fearmongering and violence. This…
Interdependence Guided Meditation
In this practice, we’ll be cultivating awareness of our interdependence – “During quietness, you breathe together with the whole world. We breathe as one.” – Gyomay Kubose Sensei GUIDED MEDITATION Breathing in, Breathing out Feel the air filling your lungs as you breathe in and out feeling the air fill your lungs, Honor…
Generosity: The Primary Buddhist Virtue
Last week we were speaking about Dana – or the practice of generosity – from the receiving end and today we are going to talk about it from the giving end – We shared last week that there are preconceptions that Buddhism is all about meditation and kindness and how this is a partial misperception…
Joyful Receiving
Today I want to share a little about the Buddhist practice of Dana, in Mahayana Buddhism, it is called the perfection of generosity and it is one of the six paramitas. For many Westerners, Buddhism is all about meditation but is a misperception. To only practice mediation would be like going to the gym…
Everyday Nembutsu 