We are currently remodeling our website.
Please have patience while we update and expand aspects of the site.
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.
March Wednesday Meditations and Discussions
6 Stump the Sensei – Got questions about Buddhism that recently came up in your readings or as a result of our weekly discussion? Go for it. This is a time you can ask any question regarding Buddhism. Monshin will do his best to answer it.If you have a question, odds are that other people have a similar question.
13 Lotus Sutra Ch. 2: Tactfulness – This chapter provides a key teaching in Mahayana Buddhism, considered to be core to the sutra’s message. The primary translations used will be from the Kosei and BDK editions.
20 Dhyānapāramitā– the fifth of the Six Paramitas or Six Perfections, we will examine this important practice (meditation) in recognition of O-Higan, which is from the 17th through the 23rd of March. It is customary to examine the Six Perfections during this time.
27 What is Buddhism III?– We are examining contemporary conceptions and misconceptions about the Buddha-dharma. Using the format in Faure’s Unmasking Buddhism we examine various perceptions of Buddhism that abound in our postmodern milieu.
Other Events in March:
2 Sutra Class and Morning Service, 8:30 – 10:30 AM – From Ch. 1: Interpreting the Lotus Sutra., by Stephen Teiser and Jacqueline Stone. Pp. 1-15. In Teiser, SF and Stone, J (eds.) (2009) Readings of the Lotus Sutra. Columbia University Press. Please Note: originally I thought we might be able to cover the first half of the chapter, but, upon reflection there are several natural breaks in the chapter and we should include the first four sections before we embark upon, ‘ Central Claims of the Lotus Sutra’.
22-24 Spring O-Higan Retreat – (Friday 7 PM – Sunday 1 PM). The Sanmitsu (trans. Three Mysteries, or Secrets) is at the base of many Tendai practices. On this retreat we will practice unifying body, speech and mind and will explore how the sanmitsu can be a means to transform our moment-to-moment experience in our everyday lives. Please sign up, let Shumon or Monshin know. This retreat is appropriate to all levels and there is a minimum and maximum number of people who can attend the retreat.
Please Note:
April 13th (Saturday) Tendai Buddhist Institute clean-up day from 9 AM through 2 PM.the Hondo. Lunch is included. Please bring gloves, rakes and other tools for landscape clean up. The rain day is the following day, April 14th. More details next month.
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.
|
Jushoku’s Thoughts
Buddhism is not a religion, philosophy, or way of life that is intended to make you happy. The goal of happiness as an end in itself is a poor substitute for what Buddhism does offer. Buddhism is a search for the nature of reality. In so doing it is a collection of teachings to liberate sentient beings from dukkha (discontentedness, discomfort, anxiety, suffering) and methods of inspiring people to be compassionate (karuna) through wisdom (prajña), employing skillful or expedient means (Upaya).
The preceding statement is at odds with many books, articles and presentations that would have one think that Buddhism is a panacea to all that ails us physically, emotionally, and psychologically. It is a religion, a philosophy and way of life, that loses its dynamism when we try to turn it into a self-help program.
Delving deeply into Buddhist teachings and practices takes place when we choose to go beyond ideas of what we want Buddhism to be, or notions we accept uncritically. In the next few months we will be examining a book that will challenge many people's conceptions of what they think Buddhism is, or is not. We will examine an entertaining and elucidating book in several parts starting in April. The book is: Donald S Lopez, Jr. (2012) The Scientific Buddha: His Short and Happy Life. Yale University Press. It is short, easily read and direct.
The blurb on the book jacket:
"How Western notions of the Buddha have come to misrepresent his teachings and the traditional goals of Buddhist practice. This book tells the story of the scientific Buddha," born" in Europe in the 1800s but commonly confused with the Buddha born in India 2,500 years ago. The scientific Buddha was sent into battle against Christian missionaries, who were proclaiming across Asia that Buddhism was a form of superstition. He proved the missionaries wrong, teaching a dharma that was in harmony with modern science. And his influence continues. Today the teaching of "mindfulness" is heralded as the cure for all manner of maladies, from depression to high blood pressure.
In in this potent critique, a well-known chronicler of the West's encounter with Buddhism demonstrates how the scientific Buddha's teachings deviate in crucial ways from those of the far older Buddha of ancient India. Donald Lopez shows that the Western focus on the scientific Buddha threatens to bleach Buddhism of its vibrancy, complexity, and power, even as the superficial focus on "mindfulness" turns Buddhism into merely the latest self-help movement. The scientific Buddha has served its purpose, Lopez argues. It is now time for him to pass into Nirvana. This is not to say however that the teachings of the ancient Buddha must be dismissed as mere cultural artifacts. They continue to present a potent challenge, even to our modern world."
You can obtain it now and follow along. This is Buddhism at its most dynamic. One of the notes on the back cover by Janet Gyatso, Harvard University, reads "This edifying and often witty book is not only about busting myths. It also ventures what Buddhism - now purged of the apocryphal 'scientific Buddha' - might indeed teach the world today about altruism and the self."
The discussion that will accompany our reading is intended to bring a new, enhanced, understanding about our path toward awakening. The only preparation needed for engaging this material is an open Kokoro (heart/mind/spirit). Enjoy this sincere exploration of the sacred.
Love and Gassho ..... Monshin
|
