What Makes a Good Friend?

What Makes a Good Friend?

Thus spoke Shakyamuni Buddha in the Squirrels’ Feeding Ground Of the Bamboo grove at Rajaghriha (a translation from the Sigalovata Sutra)   These traits make a person a true friend: If that person is good hearted to you If that person treats you the same...
Basic Rites of Passage in Shin Buddhism

Basic Rites of Passage in Shin Buddhism

SHO SAN SHIKI (FIRST- VISIT- CEREMONY) This is a presentation to the temple of a new baby. If there are lots of new babies, it is held once a year. If there are fewer babies, the babies are brought to the temple when they are 33 or 100 days old. It is a joyous...
Ringing the Temple Bell 108 Times

Ringing the Temple Bell 108 Times

A Buddhist tradition of ringing the big, outside Temple bell 108 times at year’s end is both welcomed and significant. And, if it is not possible to be among those gathered at a temple to observe this tradition, the home Obutsudan (shrine) or a quiet place where...
Why Meditate?

Why Meditate?

Very simply put, it is a quieting, a balancing, of the mind and other senses (the mind is one of the senses in Buddhism). Meditation is a means to discover what is in our mind and discover how what is in our mind affects us. It is not a means to Enlightenment for us...
The Monks' Robes

The Monks' Robes

The Monks’ Robes came to be because of the wishes of those who were followers of the Buddha. As ascetics, they were nude or nearly nude. As monks, their clothing was more modest since they traveled and encountered many people. Also, they had decided that they...