By Laura Bennett Lately, I’ve been on a journey to be more compassionate towards myself. For me, this has meant learning to offer more compassion towards the thoughts, sensations, emotions, perceptions, and habitual patterns that arise. This journey has also naturally lent itself toward learning how to truly receive compassion. When I say compassion here,…
Category: spirituality
A Prayer in Every Breath (It’s ok to suck at meditation)
By Kelly Branan I want to begin with something very simple:the sound of breathing. Let’s start by listening to a few of our own breaths. What do you notice? What parts of your body feel loud right now?Which parts feel quiet? Before we do anything else, before we try to understand anything, before we try…
Build-a-Buddhism: Choosing what spirituality means to you
By Rio Branham I want to start by talking about a favorite book of mine. The Alchemist by Paulo Cuelho. It’s a story about a boy named Santiago who decides to leave all he has and all he’s known behind to follow a dream. Without knowing much about what will come of his pursuit, he…
Not knowing is the most intimate.
Not Knowing – I would like to start today’s Dharma talk with one of the most famous of the Zen Koans – Attention! Master Dizang asks Fayan,“Where have you come from?”Fayan replies, “I pilgrimage aimlessly,”“What is the purpose of your pilgrimage?” asks Dizang.“I don’t know,” replies Fayan.“Not knowing is the most intimate,” remarked Dizang.At…
THE WAY OF THE FOOLISH BEING
DHARMA TALK BY CHRISTOPHER KAKUYO SENSEI The Path of the Foolish Being Preface It is interesting how wandering through a bookstore on an unremarkable Wednesday can change your life forever. On one of those Wednesdays, while I was walking the aisles of Ken Sander’s bookstore looking for something to read, I serendipitously found what I…
Thank you, Jesus!
Dharma Glimpse by Gretchen Seiyo Sensei Given the title of this Dharma Glimpse, you may think I’ve gone completely off the rails. But, stay with me. I’m going to tell you about something people do that I really don’t like, and something I also don’t like about myself. Here’s what gripes me; have you ever…
Haiku as Awareness Practice.
I would like to talk about Kobayashi Issa and Haiku, well technically senryu as practice. Haiku’s focus us usually nature and senryu is like haiku but the focus is primarily on human nature and emotion. For today, when I say haiku I mean both haiku and senryu. So who is this Issa fellow. He…
Kwan Yin Goddess of Compassion
Here is something I wrote for the “blessing of the hands” event that is held each year at the University of Utah Hospital. Traditions from all over the valley come together to give spiritual support for all of the hospital caretakers, from janitorial staff, to surgeons. The blessing of the hands is returning after a…
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…
We Call Upon Ourselves as Kwan Yin: On Mass Shootings in America.
by Christopher Kakuyo Sensei What can one say? I find myself at a loss for words again. Another mass shooting. Here is a vain attempt to share what I am feeling. Any words I could say to the families of the murdered or to their community would feel hollow, self-serving, so I could say my…
Everyday Nembutsu 