Dear Sangha, It has been a few weeks since we began reading and hearing about COVID-19 with every headline and every news report. All other news has been relegated to an afterthought as news, information, misinformation and speculation about the COVID-19 pandemic...
After spending a year living in Kuji, Japan, Stian and I spent two weeks traveling in Korea before returning to the United States. We spent fourteen days in the most oppressive humidity imaginable: walking all over Seoul, hiking in national parks, risking our lives on...
IN September I traveled to Mt. Hiei, the Tendai monastic complex located near Kyoto in Japan, to receive Nyuudan Kanjo and Endon-kai (a specific form of jukai or receiving the precepts). Th ese two events are traditional milestones for Japanese Tendai monks. There are...
ALL around us we are inundated with disasters, human-made as well as natural. Hurricane Katrina was devastating. In New Orleans the loss of life and the potential for the disappearance of a unique culture saddens me beyond words. It has been predicted that this...
BUDDHISM is often presented in the West as a form of psychology; using the language of psychology; and portrayed as one among many sorts of therapy. Indeed, the Four Noble Truths do expound the nature of sorrow, discontent and suffering, their cause, and the way to be...
JUNE 25th was a joyful and historic occasion. We consecrated the main hall, Jiunzan Tendai-ji, performed eye opening rituals for our new Dengyo Daishi (Saicho) statue and Yakushi Nyorai (Healing Buddha) honzon (image), and celebrated our tenth anniversary. Altogether...
