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…
Category: Bright Dawn Buddhism
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…
The Need for Quiet.
“It’s important to take time to have some quiet moments in our lives, otherwise we get caught up in the busy-ness of always having something going on.” So opens Gyomay Kubose Sensei on his chapter about Quietness in The Center Within. I don’t know about you, but I know that I am entangled…
Driving, Delusions and the Dharma
I would like to start our my dharma glimpse with a poem from the Venerable Robina Curtin; she is a Tibetan Buddhist nun in Australia, I love its matter-of-factness of her lines. “We’re all mentally ill. We’re all delusional. We’re all junkies. It’s just a matter of degree. “ I like how she embraces…
Three Treasures Reading( well sort of).
This post is about a something that happened to me when preparing for our Sangha’s summer Ti Sarana ceremony. I was typing up our Ti Sarana program when I came to the part after the homage to the Buddha, that says, Three Treasures Reading in bold. Somehow it did not register that this line was…
Unskillful Action: Cultivating Ignorance
The cause of all pain and suffering is ignorance. Gautama Buddha I have been thinking of this lately. About how many of us suffer but we do not know why we suffer, we are ignorant of the real causes and conditions of our suffering. I have also been thinking of a different kind of ignorance….
Deep Listening as Buddhist Practice
A Dharma Glimpse “Deep listening is more than hearing with our ears, but taking in what is revealed in any given moment with our body, our being, our heart.” – Susan McHenry I have been thinking a lot about listening lately. Actually, I think about it a lot. For many years I thought I…
Out of Work Bodhisattvas
Lately I have been thinking of all the out of work Bodhisattvas wandering around smiling with signs saying, “ Will Gladly Share Merit” as people shuffle by with their heads down, some saying, “No thanks, I don’t need any.” Others just pointing at the goody two shoes, laughing at them, “them bleeding heart liberals” they…
Offerings to the Buddhas
In his commentary of the Tan Butsu Ge or the Song of the Buddha; a section from the Larger Sukhavativyuha Sutra, Gyomay Sensei writes, “ Ku Yo, of offering is a very important virtue in the Buddha’s Way…Ku Yo is done in relation to someone who is more worthy than oneself…to do Ku Yo is…
Everyday Nembutsu 