Frequently it is necessary to remind ourselves that in Buddhism there is no punishment for not doing your practice. In the ten aspects we read rewards and retribution and it would be an easy mistake to think there is punishment in Buddhism. The fact is this phrase only refers to how we might consider the effects of our causes, the primary cause and the environmental cause. If there is no cause made then there is…
On the 24th of August I left Syracuse and drove to Buffalo, NY to attend the Enkyo-ji Buddhist Network retreat to be held at a private farm on the shore of Lake Ontario, one of the Great Lakes of North America. My first stop was to visit a friend who I have known for several who now serves as the Chief Rabbi of Temple Beth Zion in Buffalo, New York. Rabbi Jonathan Frierich and I…
Chih-I refers to the Four Elements as snakes, he wasn’t the first to do so, yet it is his work we are exploring. An explanation for the metaphor of four snakes can be found in the Suvarnaprabhasa Sutra which offers a parable of a man who fleeing from the two bewildering forms of life and death spies a rope (life) and climbs down into the well of impermanence. In this well are two mice who…
What I hope will be a regular weekly feature, here are a few books I recommend. The books will not always be directly about Buddhism however they will relate to the greater truths found in Buddhism and also to things I’m interested in. Sometimes ideas from my outside reading I use as I process the complex theories we study in Buddhism. Please note that the temple will receive a small percentage of any purchase made…
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