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…
Freed from 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…
Not knowing is the most intimate.
The Master would teach his students, “Understand your true self.” One day, one of his students asked him, “Do you understand your true self?” He said, “I don’t know. But I understand this ‘don’t know’.” From a young age, many of us are afraid to be someone who doesn’t know. Maybe we are afraid…
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…
Honoring the Pure Land: Eco-Dharma and Buddhist Practice
Over the past few months, we have been talking a lot about interdependence – which is found in the teachings of Pratitya–samutpada – co-dependent arising – that all things exist simply from the causes and conditions that have made this moment this moment. This was the heart of the content of the Buddha’s awakening even…
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…
The Grace of Parents and Other People
The past few dharma talks were based on this idea, a quote form Daesan a Buddhist teacher, “ There is a reason why we have two eyes. One is for looking inward and observing our mind, and the other is for looking outward and finding Grace.” In some ways, these simple lines are a…
Oneness and the Four Graces
a dharma talk given at the Salt Lake Buddhist Fellowship July 15th, 2018 For the past few Sundays, we have been talking about gratitude and about some of the things that get in the way of us experiencing the transformative kind of gratitude that can change our lives and lead us to our awakening. I…
Everyday Nembutsu 