Throughout the history of the Hossō Buddhist sect in Japan, descended from the Yogacara school of thought from India, no one doctrine has caused more controversy or sparked debate with other schools than the Five-Natures Doctrine, or goshō kakubetsu (五姓各別). I don’t necessarily endorse nor criticize this doctrine myself, but I am a big believerContinue reading “Hosso Yogacara Buddhism and the Five Natures Doctrine”
Category Archives: Buddhism
Compassion
I grew up as a teenager watching the old TV show, Kung Fu, on syndicate. I was a big fan, and although the show hasn’t always aged well, it was my first naive introduction to Asian culture, Buddhism, etc, so it holds a special place in my heart. I found this clip on Youtube recentlyContinue reading “Compassion”
Of Famine and Excess
Recently, I was re-reading an old book in my personal library about the life of the Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (also mentioned here). The Ashikaga Shogunate, that is the military government in Japan from 14th to 16th centuries,1 started out fairly strong, but quickly ran into a series of succession crises and bad governance that culminatedContinue reading “Of Famine and Excess”
Wisteria
Posting this a bit late (been busy with new puppy), but I wanted to share a tweet I saw from the famous Kasuga Grand Shrine, one of the holiest Shinto shrines in Japan. With all the attention on cherry blossoms and such, it’s sometimes easy to forget other flowers in bloom. The wisteria (fuji 藤Continue reading “Wisteria”
Hamamatsuri 2023: Of Puppies and Parental Stress
Hello readers and happy Hanamatsuri to those who celebrate the birthday of the Buddha, Shakyamuni (a.k.a. Siddhartha Gautama). This past week has been crazy, mainly because we have a new addition to the family: Her name is Cherry, and she is a 12-week old pug/beagle mix that we adopted. She was abandoned by her originalContinue reading “Hamamatsuri 2023: Of Puppies and Parental Stress”
Happy Birthday, Honen!
Today, April 7th in the Japanese-Buddhist calendar, is a holiday called Shūso Gōtan-e (宗祖降誕会) which celebrates the birthday of a monk named Honen (法然, April 7, 1133 – February 29, 1212). Ostensibly, Honen was a monk of the Tendai sect in Japan, but went on to be a founder of the Jodo-Shu or “Pure Land”Continue reading “Happy Birthday, Honen!”
A Life of Pomp and Regret
In Professor Donald Keene’s biography about the life of Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (足利 義政, 1436 – 1490), includes a poem composed by Yoshimasa, now retired and living in his villa, the Silver Pavilion, ruminating on his former life as the supreme military commander of Japan: Japanese Romanization Translation くやしくぞ Kuyashiku zo Today I recall 過ぎしうき世をContinue reading “A Life of Pomp and Regret”
My New Buddhism Book!
I did it, I finally finished it. For years I wanted to write a book about Buddhism, especially Mahayana Buddhism, and each time I struggled to get past a certain point and keep point. Recently while cleaning out some files on the computer, I discovered that in early 2020, during the first months of theContinue reading “My New Buddhism Book!”
The Great Buddha of Kamakura
Still catching up on blog posts from our latest trip to Japan, but today I wanted to share some photos from the Great Buddha of Kamakura, or in Japanese Kamakura no Daibutsu (鎌倉の大仏).1 The Great Buddha is one of two major attractions in the old city of Kamakura, the other being the grand shrine ofContinue reading “The Great Buddha of Kamakura”
Every Day Is A Good Day, Kind Of
Soon after I wrote this post, I was reminded of a certain Zen aphorism in Japanese: 日日是好日 which is read as nichi nichi kore kō nichi. This usually translates as “every day is a good day”, or “each day is a good day” or other such things. It is originally attributed to a Chinese ZenContinue reading “Every Day Is A Good Day, Kind Of”
Gleanings in Buddha-Fields 