Category: Buddhism

What Does It Mean To Be Human?

DROXINE: But what else can they [the Troglytes] understand, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: All the little things you and I understand and expect from life, such as equality, kindness, justice.

Star Trek, “The Cloud Minders” (s3ep21), Stardate: 5818.4

This is another one of those deep thoughts I’ve been having lately. Discrimination and bias once again rear their ugly heads in our society, and it’s really disheartening. It’s as if we’ve made so little progress after all these generations, struggles, achievements and so on.

It also makes me wonder something: how much of this discrimination is taught, and how much of it is ingrained? In other words: nuture (taught) versus nature (ingrained). Are some people just born inherently more xenophobic, or does the environment cultivate a more heightened sense of identity at the expense of others? Are we still just mostly hairless apes, fighting over more sophisticated tribal forms, or does our human nature give us the power of reason to override this?

Anyhow, the reason why I posted the Star Trek quote above is that I think what Spock says is true: discrimination and xenophobia are self-centered, and the opposite of goodwill. If a person has empathy and puts themselves in the shoes of another, it’s a lot hard to discriminate against them.

An illustration of the Buddha, dressed in ochre robes and a halo around his head, placing his hand gently on the head of an elephant that has bowed down before him.
An illustration of the Buddha, Shakyamuni, placing his hand gently on the head of an elephant that had been riled up by his cousin Devadatta, to trample the Buddha out of spite.

In the venerable Buddhist text, the Karaniya Metta Sutta (Sn 1.8 of the Pali Canon), the Buddha says simply (emphasis added):

Whatever living beings there may be;
Whether they are weak or strong, omitting none,
The great or the mighty, medium, short or small,
The seen and the unseen,
Those living near and far away,
Those born and to-be-born — May all beings be at ease!

Translation by The Amaravati Sangha

The Buddha didn’t equivocate: goodwill towards others must be equitable, and toward all.

Still, this is, admittedly, easier said than done: developing such a level of goodwill takes work, introspection, and such. For some, their sense of goodwill and empathy towards others is somehow stunted, or in some cases completely absent. If it were easy, why don’t we all just be kind towards others?

I think this is where our biological nature gets in the way sometimes. As hairless apes, our basic instinct is to still fight and defend, even if the specific causes of conflict are different than our ancient ancestors. The way our blood gets boiling when we’re competing with someone, or someone makes us mad is no accident. That’s evolution. But, at least through introspection and mindfulness, we can catch these feelings as they arise and make intelligent decisions. Breaking out of our own self-centered viewpoint is what it’s all about, and is one thing that separates us from other animal lifeforms.

Namu Shakamuni Butsu

Misery

Suffering is endemic to this world, whether it be a stripper hustling just to make $20, refugees who lose their homes, or soldiers fighting to defend their homeland, or children who are simply neglected and unloved.

If you stop to think about all this suffering, pain and misery, it’s completely overwhelming, heartbreaking.

Even if you had all the money in the world, and give it away, it provides only temporary relief. If you held all the power in the world, you could only affect so much change. Worse, you might fall into hubris.

From the game Fire Emblem: Three Houses

I think this is why the Buddha-Dharma is so helpful.

Photo courtesy of the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper. This is the fumetsu no hōtō (不滅の法灯), the “Unextinguished Lamp of the Dharma” at Mount Hiei.

A candle flame doesn’t seem like much, but in a very dark place, that candle flame really stands out.

The majestic light of the Buddha Amitāyus is the most exalted….If, sentient beings encounter his light, their three defilements are removed; they feel tenderness, joy and pleasure; and good thoughts arise. If sentient beings in the three realms of suffering see his light, they will all be relieved and freed from affliction. At the end of their lives, they all reach emancipation.

The Immeasurable Life Sutra, translation by Rev. Hisao Inagaki

I often think about the old stories of Honen, the 12th century monk who spread the Pure Land teachings in Japan. It was a time of rampant disease, warfare, and income inequality. Honen couldn’t fix any of these things but he taught a simple message to any who would listen. If nothing else, it gave hope and a sense of direction in a directionless world.

A multilingual sign posted at the front of Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, Japan. Reads in English: "This is the road of respectful affability toward Chionin temple. It is the road to encounter Master Honen. It is also the route to obtain the way of Buddhism. For the old, the weak, women, and children are lead to brightness, peaceful, and the meaning of life by collecting wisdom from the Buddha. To free tiresome beings, to let them gain dignity, and to accept the true happiness ingenuously. This is, Buddhism."
A multilingual sign posted at the front of Chion-in Temple in Kyoto, Japan.1

Sometimes, small, sincere gestures of kindness can be the best help of all.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. an older post on the same subject.

P.P.S. Two days and I am already violating my own blog schedule. 🤦🏼‍♂️ This was an impromptu post I wrote after yesterday’s political disaster.

1 the sign above reads in Japanese:

親しみ慕われる知恩院への道。それは法然さまに出会う道。そして、お念仏のみ教えをいただく道。仏さまの智慧をいただいて、老若男女すべての人が、明るく正しく仲よく生きることに通じる道。人生の疲れを癒し、生きる尊さ、喜びを素直にいただくことができる道。それがこの道。智慧の道。

In English I would roughly translate this as:

This is a path toward closeness with Chion-in Temple. That is to say the path for encountering Master Honen. It is also a path for receiving the teachings of the nembutsu. One receives the compassion of the Buddha, regardless of age or gender, a path that leads to a bright, upright, affable life. A path that heals weariness, reveres life, leads to sincere joy; this is that path. A path of Compassion.

In Ukrainian via Google Translate:

Дорога до улюбленого храму Чіон-ін. Це шлях до зустрічі з Хонен-самою. І шлях до отримання вчення Нембуцу. Шлях, який веде до людей різного віку, чоловіків і жінок, які живуть яскраво, праведно та гармонійно завдяки мудрості Будди. Шлях, який дозволяє зцілити втому життя та насолоджуватися гідністю та радістю життя. Ось цей шлях. Шлях мудрості.

In Arabic via Google Translate:

الطريق إلى معبد تشيون إن المحبوب. هذا هو الطريق لمقابلة هونين-ساما. والطريق لتلقي تعاليم نيمبوتسو. طريق يؤدي إلى الناس من جميع الأعمار، رجالًا ونساءً، للعيش بشكل مشرق وصالح ومتناغم من خلال حكمة بوذا. طريق يسمح لك بالشفاء من تعب الحياة والاستمتاع بكرامة الحياة ومتعتها. هذا هو هذا الطريق. طريق الحكمة.

In Spanish via Google Translate:

El camino hacia el querido templo Chion-in. Ese es el camino para encontrar a Honen-sama. Y el camino para recibir las enseñanzas del Nembutsu. Un camino que lleva a personas de todas las edades, hombres y mujeres, a vivir de manera brillante, recta y armoniosa a través de la sabiduría de Buda. Un camino que permite sanar el cansancio de la vida y disfrutar de la dignidad y la alegría de vivir. Ese es este camino. El camino de la sabiduría.

Losing A Coworker

This wasn’t the post I was intending to publish today, but on Tuesday everyone at my company was notified that a well-known and well-liked member had unexpectedly died. I didn’t know him as well as some of my coworkers did, but I worked with him enough that I definitely feel the loss. Even more so for my teammates.

I am a little past middle-age, only a few years younger than my deceased co-worker, and I have to face the fact that my health will continue to decline. The emergency surgery I had last year was a close call, and it’s a reminder that this kind of thing may come up again. I can improve my diet and exercise (work in progress) and it is worthwhile, but decline will still happen inevitably. There is no avoiding this.

This really reminds me of is the famous Buddhist parable from the Lotus Sutra, chapter three: The Parable of the Burning House. You can read a good translation here (it’s the second half of chapter 3), or my other post here.

In summary,1 the Parable describes a large, but old and rotten mansion that has caught on fire. Inside are dozens of children, and they are so engrossed in their toys and play that they don’t notice that the house is engulfed in flames. Meanwhile, the father is outside calling out to the children begging them to get out where it is safe, but initially they refuse. The Buddha likens himself to the father, calling to his children (other sentient beings of the world),2 exhorting them to leave the burning world behind before it is too late.

A screenshot from Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, where Link is on a floating island looking out over a sunset landscape.
A screenshot from the game Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

As one ages, that sense of “too late” looms more and more. What if, like my coworker, I drop dead next week? It’s unlikely now, but will get increasingly likely as time goes on. Thus, it is essential to settle your affairs, both temporal and spiritual, before it is too late.

And yet, as Lady Izumi wrote, this is easier said than done.

Namu Amida Butsu

1 There is more to this parable that what I am summarizing here, especially relating to the myriad Buddhist practices and such, but am focusing on the part that is pertinent for this post.

2 From the same chapter:

The Thus Come One [the Buddha] has already left the burning house of the threefold world [i.e. the Universe as a whole] and dwells in tranquil quietude in the safety of forest and plain. But now this threefold world is all my domain, and the living beings in it are all my children.

Buddhism and Parenting

True story, I had some spare time one day recently to sit and meditate,1 first time in a while. I set the app to 10 minutes, and sat on the ol’ cushion. About five minutes into this, my youngest child walked in and asked me to unlock the parental control on his tablet.

Concentration broken, oh well.

This is a frequent issue with being a parent and being a Buddhist, but it’s not a new one.

In the Buddha’s time, he distinguished the “householder” followers with the “renunciant” ones. This wasn’t meant to denigrate one versus the other, but it was intended to differentiate those who fully could devote themselves to the Dharma (the “renunciants”), to those who had other, competing obligations (the “householders”). Because the renunciants could, in theory, devote themselves full time to practice, and had cut loose any personal obligations and bonds, they could progress a lot further along the Buddhist path. The lay followers (householders) could still progress, but they would be hampered by their mundane obligations, social “entanglements”, and such.

However, because the Buddhist path was intended to help all, the renunciants would set aside certain days of the lunar month for outreach, helping lay followers through teaching and shared practice. This is known as Uposattha in the earliest Buddhist communities.

In later centuries, especially through the Mahayana tradition, Buddhist thinkers and communities sought to expand Buddhist practice to be more engaging toward lay Buddhist followers. The goal of such practices was not intended to replace the traditional monastic establishment, but (I believe) to help fill in the gaps. By expanding the available gates of Buddhist practice, people from all walks of life could find a place to start, and progress. In other words, an even more inclusive Buddhism.

Which comes back to my situation.

If we think of daily life as a box, there are only so many Lego bricks we can fit in there. Most of those Lego bricks, as a parent, are already spoken for, so that leaves only a bit of space left for “me time”. Within that spare time, self-help can be time-consuming, impractical. Or, one is just too mentally exhausted to do anything else but space out. In some ways, life as a “householder” hasn’t changed all that much since the Buddha’s time. We suffer less from hazards like dysentery and Viking raids, but the distractions and obligations are still there.

In any case, until the kids leave the nest, and especially after retirement, I have to be realistic in my own expectations. Simple practices such as the nembutsu, the odaimoku (a la Nichiren Buddhism), the Mantra of Light, or the Heart Sutra, combined with upholding the Five Precepts amidst daily life, are a helpful way to keep up one’s training while being realistic about time and energy. Even reciting something as simple as the nembutsu deepens the karmic bond with the Buddha and hopefully makes the world a slightly better place.

Also even a bit of forward momentum is better than to squander one’s life staring at a screen. 😉

1 my meditation routine has always been very … inconsistent.

Small Things Make a Difference

With all the turmoil going on lately, I figured it would be a good idea to re-post some helpful tips from the NOAA to help keep the planet healthy. You can also access them here, or the original source here.

A while ago I talked about Eco-Buddhism and the Buddha Amida. Amida Buddha, like any “cosmic” Buddha (a.k.a. Vairocana, or whichever) is often seen not just as another character in the Buddhist pantheon, but the embodiment of existence. Such a Buddha embodies the Dharma (the principle of existence), and the Dharma embodies reality. Seen in this light, Amida Buddha and his rays of light that shine across the Universe reinforce the idea of all things being interconnected. It’s not that “all is One”, in a New Age sense. It’s that what one thinks or does or says affects others even if we never meet them. Similarly, what they do affects us.

This is true in an ecological sense too. The tips provided by NOAA above are small steps, but each one helps others in ways you might not expect. Even one plastic bottle recycled helps keep it out of the landfill for the next 500 years, or the tree you plant now may help generations later. Choosing to not use plastic straws, plastic shopping bags, or adopting public transportation one day a week, shutting off lights in the house, picking up one bit of trash, and so on all benefit others and ultimately ourselves. Imagine if 10 people do this, 100, 1000, and so on.

Even if we cannot rely on government policy to help us keep the Earth healthy, we can do plenty ourselves by making positive choices, and inspiring others to do the same.

Self-Reflection

The moral, therefore, of my sermon on this small mount is this— even a mirror will not show you yourself, if you do not wish to see.

Roger Zelazny, Lord of Light

Self-reflection is one of the most important aspects of the Buddhist religion, and a critical component of emotional intelligence. And yet, self-reflection is surprisingly difficult to do. Peering into oneself, seeing the ugly sides of our personality, and not running away from it is a difficult thing to do.

But it can also be an illuminating experience if you are willing to face your darker self, and wind it backwards and figure out why it is there, why you feel or think the way you do.

As much as we like to think we are responsible, good people, the reality is is that our “shadow self” (to paraphrase Jung) is there, and it makes a mockery of many things we do. It doesn’t mean we are bad people or fake, just that we have to acknowledge that we are still motivated by basic needs, and that these are irrational and selfish. Hairless apes, in other words. 😉

Namu Shakamuni Butsu

One Damn Thing After Another

Life’s incessant ceremonies leap everlasting,
humans spring eternal on hope’s breast,
and frying pans without fires are often far between…

Roger Zelazny, Sign of the Unicorn

This quote from the Chronicles of Amber series, a hugely underrated fantasy series these days, sums up many aspects of life nicely. Life is, in many ways, one damn thing after another, with only brief respites in between.

Of course, this is what the Buddha warned in the first of the Noble Truths. He described life is being marked with dukkha. It doesn’t mean we are always writhing in agony, it’s just that life is marked with dukkha, and it rears its head from time to time.

But what is dukkha?

The analogy frequently used back then was the example of a potter’s wheel:

Photo by Mochammad Algi on Pexels.com

A potter’s wheel that runs smoothly and easily was described using the term sukkha. But dukkha is more like a potter’s wheel that wobbles, grinds when it turns, and requires effort to keep it spinning. Similarly, life feels like a grind sometimes.

Of course, someone may point out that’s the point of life:

MCCOY: Well, that’s the second time man’s been thrown out of paradise.

KIRK: No, no, Bones. This time we walked out on our own. Maybe we weren’t meant for paradise. Maybe we were meant to fight our way through. Struggle, claw our way up, scratch for every inch of the way. Maybe we can’t stroll to the music of the lute. We must march to the sound of drums.

Star Trek, “This Side of Paradise” (s1ep25), Stardate 3417.3

The Buddha didn’t necessarily say life is “evil” or “awful”, but pointing out the obvious: there is no rest, no lasting refuge. Also, even though sometimes life really does feel awful, life still goes on.

It is this need for a lasting refuge, a way beyond the great Cosmic Rat Race, that leads people to the Dharma.

Namu Shakumuni Butsu

P.S. apparently I’ve written another post with the same title two years ago. 😏

Looking Back on Twenty Years As A Buddhist

As of writing, it is late January in 2025, and it occurred to me recently that I’ve been a Buddhist now for twenty years. I can’t exactly remember exactly when this happened, but I definitely how it came about.

Let me clarify. I grew up as a Mormon in my youth, though my family wasn’t devout. I think my parents just wanted us kids to have some kind of spiritual upbringing, rather than explicitly following Mormonism. By my teens, I was exploring “Eastern thought”, and dabbling in many ideas and concepts. I was inspired by the TV show Kung Fu, and the cool flashbacks by Master Po (played by Keye Luke):

Note the first scene with the image of the Buddha in the background. I saw scenes like this, and having never seen Buddhism, I became very curious. In my teens, I continued to explore and dabble in Buddhism, Taoism, but still went to various churches (Mormon, Protestant, Catholic, etc) and such.

I didn’t really become a Buddhist, as in explicitly taking refuge in the Three Treasures, until my 20’s. When I met my future wife, she was raised Buddhist, and approached it very differently. I quickly realized that I had serious gaps in my understanding of Buddhism. Reading books about Buddhism, and being Buddhist in one’s life are two different things. I realize now that, until you take refuge in the Three Treasures, and choose to uphold the Five Precepts, the Buddhist path won’t 100% make sense.

Still, the big moment came when, after we got married, we went to Japan to meet her extended family. We also used the opportunity to visit Kyoto, Nikkō and such. Being at Chion-in temple in Kyoto, I saw a monk chanting before a statue of Amida Buddha, while striking a wooden fish to maintain rhythm. That really made an impression on me. Later, we visited my father-in-law’s hometown, which had a large temple devoted to the Medicine Buddha. The fact there was a Buddha entirely devoted to healing and well-being in Buddhism had never occurred to me.

Soon after coming home, I found the Jodo Shu Research Institute’s (JSRI) English website about Jodo Shu-Buddhism1 and that very night, I was so inspired that I recited the nembutsu for the first time. The rest, I guess, was history.

If not for my wife, the JSRI, and later Seattle Buddhist Church, I don’t know how my Buddhist path would have turned out. There was so much information that I was missing, and through all these wonderful encounters, I learned a great deal. There’s been many twists and turns, many mistakes, many experiments, bad assumptions, but overall I feel much more richer for the experience. I wonder how things will look 20 years from now.

I’ve tried sharing my experiences since that fateful January night 20 years ago, first on Blogger, and then on WordPress in one form or another. I want other Buddhists, and others curious about Buddhism, to have the full range of information.

When you look at the local bookstore for books on Buddhism, they tend to be dominated by a handful of authors, and tend to be written for either the Zen crowd, or the Tibetan-Buddhist crowd. Such books also frequently downplay cultural aspects of Buddhism, for fear or turning off their Western (read: liberal white) convert audience. Buddhism is much broader than this, and it’s a shame more books aren’t written from the perspective of Asian Buddhists, and aren’t shy about these cultural aspects. Buddhism isn’t just a philosophy for nerds, it’s a living, breathing tradition that encompasses all walks of life.

There’s something for everyone in it, and I hope people feel encouraged to explore the greater tradition, not just what’s filtered through pop culture.

Namu Amida Butsu

1 The site is long gone, sadly, but the Wayback Machine has an archive of the site.

One Big Family

I finished watching the Netflix spinoff series Castlevania: Nocturne, season 2 last week, and I wanted to share this great quote:

Alucard: Your mother and I never met. But when you’ve lived as long as I have, you start to understand. We’re all part of the same story somehow. And these connections run very deep.

Castlevania: Nocturne, season 2, episode 6, “Ancestors”

This inter-connectivity of all beings, all being part of the same story, is a very Buddhist notion.

In Buddhism, especially the Mahanaya tradition (i.e. pretty much all of east Asia, and beyond), there is a famous analogy of the Jeweled Net of Indra (sometimes Brahma). The idea is that within the celestial palace of Indra (or Brahma), there is treasure room, and within that room is a great net woven with jewels at each node.

Now, imagine this great net of jewels, and how each jewel reflects the light of every other jewel. That’s how interdependence works. Shatter, remove, or replace one jewel and the light from the others diminishes as well. So it is with all sentient beings. The effect may not be noticeable, but it does happen.

The entire series of Perfection of Wisdom sutras, including the Heart Sutra, covers this in great detail. The Buddha Vairocana also embodies this truth (especially as described in the massive Flower Garland Sutra); alternatively Amida Buddha does too in some interpretations.

Indeed, there’s many ways to describe it, but the implications are the same: we are all in this together.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. Castlevania: Nocturne is great. It covers a lot of characters from later Castlevania games that I didn’t play (Richter, Juste, Maria, etc), which confused me at first, but season 2 builds really nicely on season 1. Great series and worthy spinoff to the original.

Message From The Past

True story: this week I got the following email from myself from January 2020 from futureme.org. I’ve edited out a few things for privacy reasons:

Dear [me],

This is [me], 2020 edition! How has the last 5 years been? [trimmed for privacy]

Funny you should mention that. The Pandemic happened shortly after.

Have you found what you were looking for with regard to Greek philosophy, or have you found new appreciation for the Buddha-Dharma?

I didn’t study Greek philosophy much after I wrote this. It was a fun exercise, but I didn’t find it particularly practical.

Are you still studying Greek?

As a matter of fact…

Did you keep up your Japanese studies?

Yes, despite some setbacks.

Do you still play D&D Adventurers League, or did you take up new hobbies? How’s your figurine painting going?

Yes, though not as much as I did at the time.

As I write this, it is January 2020, and overall things are pretty darn good. Finances are better than before, and [trimmed for privacy].

I was laid off by my old company two months later, but then found a better job anyway.

Your health-habits are (somewhat) better than before, too.

Some improvements, but also some setbacks here too.

As this is not my first (and probably not my last) FutureMe letter, let me say that as you’ve reach the half-way point in your life, you still have much to look forward to. Never get complacent, always strive for better, and never forget Hierocles’s Circle when you regard other people.

This is something that really felt meaningful in 2025. I talked about Hierocles’s Circle here, and I still think it’s a nice blend Greek philosophy and Buddhist practice.

Happy 2024 (?) ol’ buddy!

Not sure why I said 2024, when I meant 2025. Oh well.

Anyhow, that’s what I wrote to myself 5 years ago. Clearly, I failed to predict some things, some things never changed, and it was also a nice reminder to myself of some things that are important.