Jushoku’s Meanderings – April 2026
Most people see the surface of Tendai Buddhist Institute when they attend events in-person or virtually. What occurs beneath the face of TBI is more complex. There is nothing to hide, though some of the work involves pastoral care where people’s privacy is honored....
Jushoku’s Meanderings – March 2026
For the last few weeks, I’ve hunkered down trying to stay out of the snow as much as possible. In Albany, over 300 cars were towed during the first snow emergency this winter. Longtime residents weren’t surprised, but Albany tends to be a city full of visitors, people...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – February 2026
I travelled by train next to the Hudson River, from Hudson, NY to New York City, the first leg of my trip to Budapest, Hungary. It was snowing so hard I could barely see the trees and bushes beside the track, let alone much of the river, or the islands. I enjoy the...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – January 2026
Part I - Akemashite Omedetou - 明けましておめでとう This year, 2026, is the East Asian Year of the Fire Horse. The year comes in with unstoppable energy that can overwhelm us if not prepared. It’s bold, fast-paced, and deeply personal, pushing us to take steps forward—even if...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – December 2025
We began 2025, the 30th anniversary of Tendai Buddhist Institute and 20th anniversary of the hondo, with a story of Tendai Buddhist Institute in the Shingi. This Shingi I would like to end the year in a similar vein. The anniversary observance last June included an...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – November 2025
Earlier this month, my family and I travelled to Japan for two weeks. For reasons I will explain in the following, I had my own reason to go. Additionally, my children are at an age where it would be feasible (10 and 7), Marcie and I felt it was a great opportunity to...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – October 2025
Last month, September, was a somewhat typical month at Tendai Buddhist Institute. A little bit busier than usual but not uncharacteristic. There were regularly scheduled events, most of these events are hybrid, both in person and on Zoom. Each Wednesday evening there...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – September 2025
September has a certain feel about it. I have a set of expectations regarding September. Following a summer of vacations and a break from normal routines we prepare to become more productive, get back to school, a busier time at work, sports and cultural events abound...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – August 2025
There is something wonderful about knowing one’s location, the people we see day in and out, at the grocery, on the street. You know who to turn to when there is a need and they can depend on you. That’s wonderful. It is a joy to feel part of place, though we may not...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – July 2025
OK folks - It’s a wrap! June was a busy month at Tendai Buddhist Institute. We conducted the 2025 Betsuin Shugyo (Tendai Buddhist clergy training) that lasted two weeks, held a Goma (fire ritual) on the 8th, and on June 14th hosted a public Tokudo (formal ordination...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – June 2025
Story of Tendai Buddhist Institute: Part IV – June 2025 This month (June 2025) we will see approximately thirty Tendai Buddhist soryo (clergy) traveling from Japan to our corner of upstate New York, 200 km (120 mi) north of New York City, near the Massachusetts...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – May 2025
The following Meanderings was first published in May 2018. It is worth reconsidering the message and how it applies to us today. Right View or Right Understanding is the first of the Noble Eightfold Path’s teachings. These teachings were given in one of the first...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – April 2025
The first gathering for discussion and meditation was on Thursday, April 20, 1995. See the newspaper photo below. Shumon and I were in the middle of renovating the main house on the property, now the Kuri (abbot’s residence). The discussion was in the living room with...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – March 2025
The following is a reposting of a Meanderings I wrote in 2018. The piece I originally intended for this month requires more crafting. Please accept this (slightly edited), not as a rehashing, but as a glimpse of how the events that swirl around us seem to be cyclical...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – February 2025
On the first Saturday of each month many of us gather for a deep study into a Buddhist sutra or other important Buddhist work. This started almost thirty years ago, soon after Tendai Buddhist Institute was established. Originally it was called ‘A Survey of Buddhism’...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – January 2025
Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu – (Happy Year). This is the year (2025) of the Wood Snake. According to East Asian astrology 2025 will be a mix of opportunity, difficulties, potential and renewal. Snakes shed their skin and emerge anew. In a similar fashion we should...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – December 2024
According to sutra Shakyamuni saw the morning star at dawn on the 8th day of the 12th month of the lunar calendar and attained awakening. This occurred after six years of arduous practices which prepared him for this final period of realization. He embarked on an...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – November 2024
Last month, I was fortunate enough to attain Enryakuji’s Endon Jukai, on Mt Hiei, Japan. This is the formal ceremony of taking the 10 Major and 48 Minor Bodhisattva Precepts as outlined by the Tendai school’s founder Dengyo Daishi Saicho. Though my time on the...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – October 2024
Thirty years ago this month Shumon and I returned to the states after living abroad, first in Brazil and about six years in Japan. For almost two years before returning to the States we had planned on starting a village temple, modeled on Tamonin, the village temple...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – September 2024
In our spiritual communities we often focus on the leaders of these groups. In the Buddhist sangha we hope to support all the sangha members in their contributions to community. Leadership, both clerical and laity, are important in organizing and maintaining the...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – August 2024
Periodically we have an occasion to present shōmyō at Tendai Buddhist Institute. This is a form of classical chanting sutra and other sacred works in Japanese Buddhism, especially among Tendai and Shingon lineages. Boasting a history of more than 1,200 years shōmyō...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – July 2024
This last month, we held the Tendai-shu New York Betsuin 2024 Doshu/Soryo Gyo, a training period for aspiring Tendai priests. We are fortunate to be able to conduct this training, and one pivotal factor in being able to do so is by benefit of our community, our...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – June 2024
A Japanese term one hears when being introduced to Tendai Buddhism is Mikkyō. This refers to esoteric or tantric Buddhism. Esoteric Buddhism is often translated as the ‘secret teaching’. Esoteric Buddhism is Vajrayana (Vajra vehicle) and is practiced in...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – April 2024
Part 1: The Gift of Spring. This past winter was one of the warmest experienced in the Northeast U.S. in my lifetime. It seems that almost each month for the last few years has been the warmest in history. Snow fall, ice storms, and other ‘usual’ weather events were...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – March 2024
The Alabama ruling dealt with embryos being stored in an In Vitro Fertility clinic in Alabama. This case is a direct result of the upturning of the Roe vs Wade decision by the Supreme Court last year. It deals with many of the same issues that are involved in abortion...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – February 2024
Smṛtyupasthāna -The Discourse on the Foundations of Mindfulness - is often referred to as the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. The term Smṛty means to remember the dharmas, which allows one to see the true nature of phenomena or reality. The foundation of mindfulness...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – January 2024
Part 1: Year of the Dragon Each Of the twelve animals in the Chinese astrological cycle the dragon is the only mythological beast. This creature is featured both as a symbol of state power and one of the primordial animals that is responsible for the creation of the...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – December 2023
Where’s Shumon and Monshin? Last month Shumon and I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Honolulu attending the 50th anniversary celebration of the Tendai-shu Hawai’i Betsuin (Tendai Mission of Hawai’i), the installation of Rev. Tanaka Shojun as the new abbot, and...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – November 2023
By way of a disclaimer, I am a Buddhist-Jewish American. I support the origins and continuity of Israel, but do not support the ways Israel has become an oppressor of the non-Jews within and outside its borders. October 7th – 25 days ago – Hamas. an Islamist militant...
Jushoku’s Meanderings – October 2023
Recently I officiated a wedding ceremony in Vermont, outside, on a hilltop with a mountain vista behind the wedding party. It was underneath a chuppah (a canopy under which a Jewish couple stand during their wedding ceremony). A lovely setting in early autumn. As with...