On the 22nd of this month there will be an Interfaith Thanksgiving Service at Saint James Roman Catholic Church in Chatham, NY. The local sangha is encouraged to attend. As an interfaith service this is very important because it brings together faith communities from...
A person recently asked me exactly what merit means in a Buddhist context. I had to stop and think about how to answer. From an Asian perspective it is more or less obvious and doesn’t need much explanation. So, it has been with not a little misgiving that we have...
Walking into the hondo (the main building) is a sensory and serene experience. Taking off one’s shoes in the genkan (entryway) and walking up the few steps, stepping over the sill into the sanctuary, one travels from the realm of the mundane to the realm of the sacred...
Tendai Buddhist Institute is in a beautiful rural area nestled in the Berkshire foothills. The bird feeders are always packed with goldfinches, barn finches, blue jays, red winged blackbirds, mourning doves, red breasted grossbeaks, and many more, while the barn...
There are a handful of science and social science research papers that have had a profound effect on the way I see the world. A few will illustrate the point; a group of research articles on the effect of different spectra (colors) of light on human behavior by John...
This month the Tendai-shu New York Betsuin, Tendai Buddhist Institute, will host a Public Tokudo (Ordination) Ceremony. What makes this different from the Betsuin tokudo ceremonies you may have witnessed, why is this important and why is ordination, as a concept,...
