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Please have patience while we update and expand aspects of our website. Thank you.
Welcome to the homepage of Karuṇā Tendai Dharma Center / Jiunzan Tendaiji and the Tendai Buddhist Institute, (est. 1997). Karuṇā Tendai Dharma Center is a branch temple of Enryakuji, Mt. Hiei, Japan (the administrative center of the Tendai School and the birthplace of Japanese Buddhism), and an official North American representative of the Tendai School of Japanese Buddhism. We are also the first fully authorized Tendai Buddhist training center for the education of priests and the establishment new Tendai Buddhist Temples and Dharma Centers in North America and beyond.
As Compassion (karuṇā) is a central virtue of the Mahayana Buddhist path, the name for our village temple in East Chatham, NY is “Karuṇā Tendai Dharma Center.” As an branch temple of the Tendai Buddhist lineage, we also have an official Japanese name, registered with Enryakuji Temple on Mt. Hiei, which was given to us by Rev. Shōshin Ichishima: “Jiunzan Tendaiji.” This name means “Compassionate Cloud Tendai Temple,” and reflects the natural surroundings of the Berkshires. The name Tendai Buddhist Institute refers to the educational wing of our organization, which oversees the training and education of priests and the establishment of new Sanghas.
Find here a copy of the Daily Service.
Weekly Meditation
Buddhist meditation services are held on Wednesday evenings, and are free and open to the public. You do not have to be a “Buddhist” to join our service. All are welcome. There is no fee and reservations are not required.
06:00PM, we gather in the main house for a Dharma talk and discussion.
Schedule of topics may be found in our newsletter, The Shingi: Newsletter of the Tendai Buddhist Institute.
07:00PM, meditation service in the Hondo (Main Hall).
08:00PM, potluck dinner in the main house.
Other Regularly Scheduled Events
Sutra Study classes are held on the first Saturday of every month.
Dharma School and Family Service is held once a month.
Special services such as weddings, memorial services, baby blessing ceremonies, refuge taking ceremony, retreats, and annual events and holidays are held throughout the year.
Please contact us if you would like more information.
October Wednesday Meditations and Discussions
3 Guest Lecturer – Roger Whitmer – Discussing the book Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright. A review by Peter Singer – “What happens when someone steeped in evolutionary psychology takes a cool look at Buddhism? If that person is, like Robert Wright, a gifted writer, the answer is this surprising, enjoyable, challenging, and potentially life-changing book.”
10 Shumon and Monshin’s Pilgrimage to Japan – Well it was not exactly a pilgrimage, but, it had some of the same characteristics. A discussion on their recent journey and what is in the planning stages for Tendai Buddhist Institute.
17 What does it mean to’Practice Buddhism’ – There are various terms used for people who consider themselves Buddhists. We use terms like ‘night stand Buddhists’, ‘devotional Buddhists’, ‘sangha members’, etc. Who is Buddhist and what does that mean in the long run. This is not so much definitional, it is more of an exploration.
24 Back to Basics – The Five Skandas- Taken as a whole these five characteristics constitute the conception of self or I. What does this mean exactly, and how does it vary, depending on the school of Buddhism to which one subscribes.
31 What is the Role of Buddhism in the Political Process – How can there not be a role for Buddhism if we are true to the teachings of the Buddhadharma? The real issue is how does this role manifest and how does it direct our thoughts and actions? Let get to it.
Other Events in October:
13 Sutra Class and Morning Service, 8:30 – 10:30 AM – The Maha Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutra (Heart Sutra) is the most often chanted, cited and best known sutra in the Mahayana canon. We will read and discuss two different translations and commentaries (Mu Soeng’s and Red Pine’s) as a set throughout the classes We will be finishing this sutra soon. Join us for the finale, this month or next..
NOTES:
Food Pantry at Jiunzan Tendai-ji – Gratitude is best shown by extending to others the thoughtfulness we have received. Please bring non-perishable food items to the Tendai Buddhist Institute on Wednesday’s. We contribute these items to the Chatham Silent Food Pantry.
Website Guide
For more information about our temple, lineage, and recommended reading list, please see our About Us page.
For more information about Shakyamuni Buddha, the founder of Buddhism, and the other Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Mahayana Buddhist Tradition, see our Buddha Page.
For more information about the teachings and practices of Buddhism, see our Dharma Page.
For more information on temple life, and to see if there is a temple near you, see our Sangha Page.
To learn more about the priests and trainees affiliated with the Tendai Buddhist Institute, please see our Tendai Buddhist Institute Page.
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Jushoku’s Thoughts
Right View or Right Understanding is the first of the Noble Eightfold Path's teachings. These teachings were given in one of the first discourses provided by Shakyamuni Buddha following his enlightenment.
I suspect that a monotheistic world view leads one to compare these teachings to the Ten commandments. These eight principles are not intended as commandments or injunctions. They were, and are, practices for the development of awakening.
The word 'Right' at the beginning of each teaching refers to something which is complete and wholesome in and of itself. Thus, we might think of the first teaching as, 'Wholesome Understanding'. The Noble Eightfold Path is separated into three categories, ethics, mental discipline, and wisdom. Right Understanding and Right Thought are in the wisdom grouping.
This does not suppose that there is only one way 'right way' of looking at something; it refers to the interrelatedness of a fundamental principle of Buddhist thought. Right Understanding is dependent on the conditions around which the understanding is formulated.
Right Understanding is a critical teaching; we must comprehend it as intended. At it's most basic it refers to insight into the nature of reality. It becomes more intricate, interpreted, and subtle, as we dig deeper into what that truly means.
Reality in this case refers first to the Four Noble Truth; the reality concerning the existence of suffering, the origin of suffering, the extinction of suffering, and the path that leads to the extinction of suffering. Here it is worth noting that noble should be translated as ennobling, that is to confer upon someone or something as nobility, dignity or honor, or to put it another way, the realization of this truth, not intellectually, but in the marrow of one's being, awakening.
When first examining Buddhist teachings a person reads this succinct primer on the nature of reality, search a little deeper and then move on to what they perceive are the more sophisticated and 'advanced' teachings. What we often fail to recognize is that this is the advanced teaching. It is the very heart of the matter. All the other teachings are commentary, expansion, and further explication of this vital issue.
We might even move along to more philosophically satisfying teachings because Wholesome Understanding is so profound that its importance is lost in its simplicity, in its elemental context.
One of the earliest interpretations of Buddhism was that its teachings were nihilistic. Dukkha - translated as suffering - is not what we wish to confront. Of course, this is an incomplete rendering of the term. There are times of suffering, discontentedness, pain, and distress. There are times of joy, pleasure, comfort, and contentment. Sometimes the negative seems overwhelming and the positive seems fleeting. These are all subjective perceptions of the conditions within and outside of us, our loved ones, neighbors and those we can only imagine.
Ennobling Understanding is the Kokoro of life in its intricacy, life in its most nuanced. Our joy and suffering is no more or less than that of the brightest star when at its most dynamic or at its eventual collapse. It is the nature of existence that everything is born, grows old, experiences pain, and dies. In between and during these events there is radiance and splendor. To be attached to any of these conditions is to lose equanimity.
Life is not so much suffering as suffering as attachment to the notion that we should be exempt from the nature of life - of the universe. That is why it is necessary when sad to experience sadness and to experience joy as joyfulness. Most importantly, be a force of agency, assisting all sentient beings in constructive ways. You are a part of the universe. No more no less. That is Right Understanding.
Love and Gassho ..... Monshin
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