Category: Buddhism

Soto Zen Service Book

Something I haven’t really covered before, but worth talking about lately is a Soto Zen service book I picked up some years ago at Sojiji Temple which is not too far from my wife’s home in Japan.

Back then, we’d visit Japan yearly to see relatives, and let the kids get much-needed language exposure. Also, I was in touch with an expat1 who lived there for 20 years and shared a passion for Buddhist temples. He and I would go “temple hopping” together around the Tokyo area whenever I was in town, and as my firstborn daughter got older, she would come with us.

In any case here is the cover of the service book for Soto Zen home liturgy:

Cover of Soto Zen service book, purchased at Sojiji temple. Title roughly translates as “Soto Zen scriptures for parishioners”.

Inside, you can see the table of contents on the right side. Japanese text is tradtionally written right to left, and vertically (not horizontal):

Table of contents of sutra service book for Soto Zen. Purchased at Sojiji temple.

On the left-hand side is the Kaikyoge, a verse recited traditionally when starting a service. The gist of the verse is that encountering the Dharma is quite rare, and yet we are privileged to read and recite it now. Thus, may we all attain the Buddha way. During my years with the Buddhist Churches of America, we read a very similar liturgy in English. The concept is almost universal in Buddhist services.

Also, notice that the text in the Kaikyoge is Chinese characters (kanji), but with hiragana text to the side as a pronunciation aid. This is because most liturgy in Japanese Buddhism was originally adopted from China, and thus requires pronunciation guides (same is true with Korean Buddhism too, iirc). At the very bottom-left is smaller text helping to explain the meaning of this verses.

The photo below is the first part of the verse section of the Kannon Sutra (a.k.a. chapter twenty-five of the Lotus Sutra). Again, we see vertical lines of Chinese characters since the original edition was recorded in old literary (not modern) Chinese, and phonetic hiragana script beside each character. The large circle mark indicates a ring of the bell if you have one. As with above, it is read from right to left, vertically.

A copy of the Kannon Sutra, version section, from a Soto Zen service book, from Sojiji temple.

What I really like about this particular sutra book is how clear and readable the hiragana text is. Some books use a font that’s hard to read if you are a foreigner (or even Japanese possibly). This makes reciting difficult. But here, if you can read hiragana script, it’s easy to follow along.

A close up of the Kannon Sutra as printed in a Soto Zen service book, purchased at Sojiji Temple.

By the way, below is an example of verses that are not recorded in Classical Chinese: an excerpt of the Shushogi, chapters three and four. Since the Shushogi was recorded natively in Japanese, there are fewer Chinese characters, and the style of language is more readable to a native speaker. To me, as a language student, it’s still pretty difficult since the source text by Dogen was composed in the 13th century. The grammar is quite different 800 years ago. This section also includes explanations at the bottom for modern native speakers.

Because of the popularity of the Shushogi among laity in the Soto Zen tradition, all five chapters are recorded in this sutra book.

The rest of the content is pretty typical, and I explained the full contents in an older post, but what I liked about this particular sutra book was the quality, readability, and thorough content.

Side note: it turns out that there is also an eBook version of the service book (originally linked here) available in both Apple Books and Google Play formats. The eBook version is a lot nicer than I expected, and closely follows the physical book (the subject of this post), with a few slight differences:

  • The kaikyōge (verses on opening of the sutra) uses Sino-Japanese, the service book uses a mixture of native Japanese and Sino-Japanese
  • Similarly, the Sankiraimon uses native Japanese in tbe eBook version, but Sino-Japanese in the physical book.
  • the eBook version has a really nice altar image (gohonzon). A person who can’t access Buddhist altar goods could print it out, and install in a Buddhist altar (obutsudan).

But I digress.

For some reason I find sutra books fascinating, and if readers enjoyed this post, please let me know. I might try to make more posts on the various books I’ve collected over the years. I have service books from practically every sect in Japan.

P.S. Happy 4th of July to readers in the US. Also, happy (belated) Canada Day to readers there. To my ancient roman readers happy … (checks notes) … Battle of Adrianople?

1 via online Buddhist circles, namely the long-dead E-Sangha forum. IYKYK.

Soto Zen: A Tale of Two Founders?

A while back, I talked about the history of Zen [particularly Rinzai Zen] and the samurai class in pre-modern Japan. Rinzai has a particularly convoluted history compared to other Buddhist sects in Japan due to its multiple waves of immigration from China, each unrelated to one another. Soto Zen’s history is notably different, but fairly convoluted in its own way, since it has two founders.

This concept of two founders started in the 19th century, after certain Soto Zen temples got into a spat about who was the actual founder of Soto Zen. If you’re reading this and know something about Japanese Buddhism, you might think that the answer is obvious: duh, it’s Dogen since he was the one who went to Song-dynasty China, and brought the tradition back. That was Eiheiji temple’s position at the time.

Conversely, Sojiji Temple took the position that it was Keizan’s influence a couple generations later that actually allowed it to flourish in Japan, establishing it as a proper sect, and not just an isolated temple. Further, until the 19th century, Dogen’s writings were kept secret, so very few Soto priests and students ever read it. So Dogen’s actual influence in the sect would be thus smaller than expected. Or so the argument goes.

Needless to say, eventually the two groups came to a compromise and agreed that both monks contributed to the growth of Soto Zen in Japan, each in their own way. Thus, in the Soto Zen tradition since, they are known as:

  • Dogen – “high founder” (高祖, kōsō)
  • Keizan – “great founder” (太祖, taisō)

Thus every 29th of September the Soto Zen liturgical calendar holds a memorial service for both founders known as Ryōsoki (両祖忌, lit. “dual founders memorial).

Even today, if you look at a Soto Zen obutsudan in Japan, you often see altar images like the ones linked here and here: namely an image of Shakyamuni Buddha in the middle, and Keizan on the left (facing right), and Dogen on the right (facing left). This is not an entirely unusual arrangement, by the way: in the Jodo Shinshu tradition, the Buddha Amida is in the middle, and often flanked by Shinran the founder, and Rennyo the restorer. Sometimes in Tendai Buddhism, you also see Shakyamuni Buddha flanked by Saicho the Japanese founder, and Zhi-yi the original Chinese founder.

The concept of “trinities” often appear in Buddhism, though not in the Western-Christian sense.

In any case, I am glad to see that Soto Zen was able to reconcile this dispute in a way that feels harmonious to me. I have visited Sojiji a couple times over the years (since it is thankfully pretty close to my wife’s house),1 and it is a pretty neat temple. I haven’t visited Eiheiji yet as it is in a remote prefecture in Japan, but I am sure it’s quite a nice place to visit. Just like Keizan and Dogen, each temple enriches the Soto Zen community in its own way, and this helps broaden the community and make it more inclusive.

It is tempting to look at Japanese-Buddhist history and assign one sect to one founder, etc, but both Soto Zen and Rinzai Zen have histories that tend to defy this mold, and it’s important to recognize that religious history is organic and complicated, but also quite fascinating.

Namu Shakamuni Butsu

P.S. Moving back to two posts a week, now that the backlog is caught up.

P.P.S. Posting late, sorry! Made a scheduling mistake. 😅

1 The present location of Sojiji is actually fairly recent. It was in Fukui Prefecture (same as Eiheiji) for many centuries, and was a branch temple of Keizan’s main temple of Yōkōji (永光寺). Ironically, as Yokoji declined, Sojiji gained in prominence. But, history is funny this way.

Gollum

‘I am sorry,’ said Frodo. ‘But I am frightened; and I do not feel any pity for Gollum.’

‘You have not seen him,’ Gandalf broke in.

The Fellowship of the Ring, J.R.R. Tolkien

One of the most iconic characters in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy is Gollum.

Gollum a twisted and corrupted being who kept the Ring of Power for countless centuries deep within the mountains, living far beyond his natural lifespan, and his mind growing darker and more sinister in the isolation, plus his obsession with the Ring…

He will never be rid of his need for it. He hates and loves the Ring, as he hates and loves himself. Sméagol’s life is a sad story.

The Fellowship of the Ring

Unlike other villains in the story, Gollum does not crave power, destruction, and dominion over others. Gollum only seeks to survive at all costs, and to get back his “precious” ring. By sheer craving and spite, he endures the elements, eats raw flesh, and lies, cheats, and backstabs his way through life.

For Dungeons and Dragons players, Gollum is the embodiment of the neutral-evil alignment in my opinion.

But why do I mention this?

I feel like we’ve all encountered someone like Gollum in our lives: someone nasty, cruel and devoid of any empathy toward others. I remember as a kid there was a middle-aged man who lived in our apartment complex who hated us kids playing outside, and would glare at us when we were too loud.1 I had a very wealthy, but also petty old woman live next door a few years ago, who constantly belittled others (including me and my yard). Even her helpers clearly hated her. There are people on social media, who do nothing but lie, twist words, and badmouth others simply so they can stay on top.

Frodo’s reaction to Gollum is understandable. Gollum is a contemptible, wicked creature, and Sam is right not to trust him. And yet, Gandalf knows something that Frodo doesn’t, and still pities him, even if he doubts that Gollum will ever change his heart:

Deserves it! I daresay he does. Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends. I have not much hope that Gollum can be cured before he dies, but there is a chance of it.

The Fellowship of the Ring

Gandalf is realistic in that the Ring of Power has so badly corrupted Gollum, that it’s doubtful he would ever return to his former ways, or somehow redeem himself, and yet there is a glimmer of possibility. The second book, The Two Towers, hints at this too just before he betrays the hobbits at Shelob’s lair…

For a fleeting moment, could one of the sleepers have seen him, they would have thought that they beheld an old weary hobbit, shrunken by the years that had carried him far beyond his time, beyond friends and kin, and the fields and streams of youth, an old starved pitiable thing.

The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien

Behind countless layers of spite, rage, craving, self-hate, and so on, Gollum is still a weary l, pathetic, old hobbit (a.k.a. Sméagol) who just wants to be happy. His understanding of happiness is twisted by the Ring of Power, but the basic need is there. Frodo understood this, and pities him, even as Sam berates him.

One can only imagine: if Sam had been more patient with Gollum, would Gollum have still betrayed them?

In any case, one can look at the Gollums in our life and see the same thing. One has to approach such people realistically, they will hurt you if they can, but they are still pitiable creatures. Redemption may not be possible, but it’s helpful to remember who they are deep down.

Namu Shakamuni Butsu

1 A family friend got fed up with his attitude and came over and chewed him out. After that, he never bothered us again. I am always grateful to her for standing up to that bully.

Debating

Another interesting quote from a 13th century Japanese Zen text, the Zuimonki (first described here), about the importance of not engaging in debates with others.

1-10) In a dharma talk, Dōgen said,

Even if you are speaking rationally and another person says something unreasonable, it is wrong to defeat him by arguing logically. On the other hand, it is not good to give up hastily saying that you are wrong, even though you think that your opinion is reasonable.

Neither defeats him, nor withdraw saying you are wrong. It is best to just leave the matter alone and stop arguing. If you act as if you have not heard and forget about the matter, he will forget too and will not get angry. This is a very important thing to bear in mind.

Source: https://www.sotozen.com/eng/library/leaflet/Zuimonki/pdf/zuimonki.pdf

I think there’s only so much one can do to convince others, and if you meet someone who’s already made up their mind, it’s very unlikely you can change it because one’s beliefs are part of their core identity.

Spock: “Humans do have an amazing capacity for believing what they choose and excluding that which is painful.”

Star Trek, “And The Children Shall Lead” (s3ep4), stardate 5029.5

At that point, any effort to convince them is a sunk cost, a waste of energy.

So, like Dogen says, better to just drop the subject and let it go.

Namu Shakamuni Butsu

Rubble Into Gold

Shinran (親鸞, 1173 – 1263), founder of the Jodo Shinshu sect in Japan, was a prolific writer. His largest work by far as the voluminous text, the Kyogyoshinsho (教行信証, “The True Teaching, Practice, and Realization of the Pure Land Way“), but Shinran also wrote a number of lesser-known text and commentaries, including the Notes on Essentials of Faith Alone (yuishinshō-mon’i, 唯信鈔文意).

Shinran’s writing style is a bit challenging, even with translations,

because Shinran tended to use subtle turns of phrase that would be lost on readers today. Sort of like a certain Buddhist blogger you might know.

or to make use quotations within quotations…

But I digress. 😋

In the Notes, which are commentaries on an older text written by Genshin, Shinran quotes a certain Chinese Pure Land teacher named Fa-zhao1 as follows:

That Buddha [Amida], in the causal stage, made the universal Vow:

When beings hear my Name and think on me, I will come to welcome each of them, not discriminating at all between the poor and the rich and wellborn, not discriminating between inferior and the highly gifted, not choosing the learned and those upholding pure precepts, nor rejecting those who break precepts and whose evil karma is profound.

Solely making beings turn about and abundantly say the nembutsu, I can make bits of rubble change into gold.


Fǎzhào (法照, 746–838), original source here: https://shinranworks.com/commentaries/notes-on-essentials-of-faith-alone/

The most important phrase here, and one that Dr Taitetsu Unno liberally referred to in his books, is “turning bits of rubble into gold”.

This notion of transformation gets to the very heart of the Buddhist path. It is not limited to Pure Land Buddhism, but speaks to the potential of all beings toward transformation if given the right conditions and training. Or, alternatively, through the compassion of Amida Buddha. If you look at the 48 vows of Amida Buddha, by the way, in the Sutra on the Buddha of Immeasurable Life, there is this vow:

(3) If, when I attain Buddhahood, humans and devas in my land should not all be the color of pure gold, may I not attain perfect Enlightenment.

Translation by Rev. Hisao Inagaki, source: http://www.acmuller.net/bud-canon/sutra_of_immeasurable_life.html

Or, the Buddha’s simile of refining gold in the Pali Canon: the Paṁsudhovaka Sutta (AN 3.102):

“There are these gross impurities in gold: dirty sand, gravel, & grit. The dirt-washer or his apprentice, having placed (the gold) in a vat, washes it again & again until he has washed them away.

“When he is rid of them, there remain the moderate impurities in the gold: coarse sand & fine grit. He washes the gold again & again until he has washed them away.

In both sutras, we see that gold was used to symbolize the purity of one’s inner character. Regardless of one’s impurities, one’s inner character and potential for awakening can shine forth if purified. What makes Fa-zhao’s comment even more extraordinary is the symbolism of little bits of rubble becoming gold, not just a large nuggets.

He describes the compassion of Amida Buddha toward all beings, and his non-discrimination toward them, and how Amida’s compassion extends to all equally, transforms all equally, each according to their background and inspires them to recite the nembutsu out of sheer magnetism.

It’s easy to see why Shinran was inspired by this passage.

But also, if we look at non-Pure Land texts such as the Lotus Sutra, a recurring theme there through similes as the Dragon Princess, medicinal plants, and the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, is that anyone can become a Buddha. Sometimes you just need to believe.

“I know it sounds like a cat poster, but it’s true”… from the original Lego Movie

P.S. I keep quoting the same Lego Movie joke over and over again for some reason. I must be getting old. 😂

1 Pronounced like “fah-jow”.

Roman Buddhas

I have been following the excellent Hellenistic Age Podcast as far back as the beginning of the Pandemic, and I always enjoy when Buddhist history overlaps with the Hellenistic Age of history.

Recently, the podcast featured a fascinating episode that covers the interaction between Buddhist India and the Roman Empire, particularly Roman Egypt.

Interview: “The Golden Road – How Ancient India Transformed the World” with William Dalrymple

Dr William Dalrymple shows how Roman and Indian cultural interaction was much more broad and influenced Buddhist art and culture, and vice-versa. It covers a lot of details that I definitely was unaware.

The podcast in general is great, but for readers here, definitely recommend.

Enjoy!

P.S. Double-post today. Enjoy!

It Can Be Done

I found a neat quote recently from an old Soto Zen text called the Shōbōgenzō Zuimonki (正法眼蔵隨聞記), or “The Treasury of the True Dharma Eye: [A] Record of Things Heard”. We will call it the Zuimonki for short. Dōgen, who brought Soto Zen from China to Japan in the 13th century wrote a massive tome called the Shōbōgenzō, but his chief disciple Koun Ejō (孤雲懐奘, 1198–1280) also recorded the Zuimonki in the 13th. Ejo was actually a few years older than Dogen, yet outlived him by 20+ years or so. He would become the second abbot of Eiheiji temple, and its spiritual successor after Dogen’s passing.

The Zuimonki occupies a similar space as the Tannisho in the Jodo Shinshu tradition: a record of informal conversations between the founder and a trusted disciple. You can find a nice translation of it here on the Soto Zen homepage.1

Near the very end is the following conversation that I wanted to share (emphasis added):

[6-16]. Dōgen instructed,

All the buddhas and patriarchs were originally ordinary people.

While they were ordinary people, they certainly did bad deeds and had evil minds. Some of them were undoubtedly dull or even stupid. However, since they reformed their minds, followed their teachers, and practiced (the Way), they all became buddhas and patriarchs. People today should also be like this. Do not underestimate yourselves because you think you are dull or stupid.

If you do not arouse bodhi-mind in this present lifetime, when can you expect to be able to practice the Way? If you force yourselves to practice now, you will surely attain the Way.

https://www.sotozen.com/eng/library/leaflet/Zuimonki/pdf/zuimonki.pdf

There’s a lot to unpack in this quote, all of it good I think.

First, Dogen reiterates that the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas of the Buddhist tradition were all normal sentient beings at some point, with foibles, bad habits, etc. However, they resolved to change, and in time they became something much more. We saw this in the second chapter of the Shushogi as well, so we can definitely infer that Dogen sincerely believed that everyone could accomplish the Buddhist path if they only applied themselves.

I grew up in a broken home as a kid, with two younger sisters, and a chaotic family environment, and needlessly to say I did poorly in school. I remember year after year my teachers would tell my mom that if I just applied myself, I’d do really well. Finally, in the 10th grade, after reading a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Fellowship of the Ring, I discovered that I really liked reading, and soon my grades improved enough that I could get into the local University and live the life I do now. So, I can attest that “believing in yourself, and applying yourself” really is true.

Second, Dogen is clearly not concerned about Dharma Decline, which was the milieu at the time in medieval Japanese Buddhism. Most sects in Japan had felt that because of the increasing chaos and declining Buddhist institutions, which roughly lined up with some aspects of Buddhist chronology,2 traditional Buddhist practice could no longer provide solutions to people’s suffering, hence alternative solutions arose. However, looking back from the 21st century, 8 centuries later, this may seem silly now. Yet, it was an intensely discussed subject at the time. Presumably, since Dogen had journeyed to China unlike other eminent monks at the time, he saw things from a different perspective and wasn’t convinced that the End Times were nigh.

Finally, Dogen is telling listeners not to lose faith in themselves. Self-doubt for anyone is crippling, but Dogen says even if you think you are slob, or an idiot, or whatever, don’t underestimate yourself.

From the original “Lego Movie”.

But if you’re unsure, start small, know your limits, but don’t give up either. Keep your eyes on the prize. 💪🏼

1 English resources on the Soto Zen website are actually quite good, and if you can read the Japanese pages, they are even better.

2 … using some pretty liberal interpretations of certain old Buddhist texts, and some calculations of the Buddha’s historical birth that no longer are accurate thanks to modern archaeology and research.

Other Power and the Nembutsu

The saying of nembutsu is neither a religious practice nor a good act. Since it is practiced without any calculation, it is “non-practice.” Since it is also not a good created by my calculation, it is “non-good.” Since it is nothing but Other Power, completely free of self-power, it is neither a religious practice nor a good act on the part of the practicer.

The Tannisho, section eight, translation by Dr Taitetsu Unno

This quote comes from a 13th century Japanese text called The Tannisho, a record of conversations between an aging Shinran, the founder of Jōdo Shinshu-sect Buddhism, and his disciple Yui-en.

It’s a strange quote, and many aspects of the Tannisho are also strange at first glance. But the details are important and worth exploring.

Shinran is basically deflating the idea, still common today, that the nembutsu (reciting the name of Amida Buddha) is a practice in the traditional Buddhist sense. Shinran says the recitation of the nembutsu isn’t a magic spell, mantra, or anything that could accomplish a desired result. From Shinran’s perspective, the nembutsu doesn’t do anything.

So, why recite it? From the Jodo Shinshu perspective,1 the nembutsu is simply means calling out to Amida in our hour of deep need. That’s why it’s not a good act nor a practice. Further, Amida Buddha hears all beings and shines his light upon them, a combination of wisdom to illuminate our ignorance, and compassion to embrace us.

The Other-Power described here is called tariki (他力) in Japanese. The idea is that Amida Buddha’s light (i.e. wisdom and compassion) is what transform us. There’s nothing we do that adds or subtracts from this.

Sometimes when I reflect on this, it feels a little bit like sophistry to me, but then I remember an anecdote about Shinran’s teacher, Honen, that helps illustrates this.

One time, someone asked whose nembutsu was better: Honen himself, or Awanosuke, a former-fortune teller who was not well-regarded by others in the community. Honen scoffed at this question and said that there was no difference between his nembutsu and Awanosuke’s because neither skill, nor style, nor conduct, nor grasp of the Buddhist doctrines mattered. It was all through Amida Buddha and not through one’s own efforts.

The whole idea is that in spite of who we are, Amida Buddha’s compassion shines on us all. It is simply that many people may be unaware of this.

Namu Amida Butsu

P.S. Just to clarify, the concept of Other Power wasn’t invented by Shinran and his teacher Honen. It was alreaady prevalent in earlier generations of Chinese Pure Land Buddhists such as Tan-luan and Dao-chuo, but I suppose that Shinran/Honen took it to its logical conclusion centuries later.

P.P.S. I have a backlog of fun things I wanted to share with readers, but the backlog is growing, so I am posting three a week or now just to help catch up.

1 … and arguably the Jodo Shu sect, too. The emphasis of both sects is on Amida Buddha’s compassion, rather than one’s own efforts as depicted in other Pure Land traditions. Sometimes, this feels like a case of “tomayto vs. tomahtoe” to this old Buddhist, but it’s how the various sects of Pure Land Buddhism sometimes define themselves.

Healthy Living: Eating Like A Monk

McCoy: “It might eventually cure the common cold, but lengthen lives? Poppycock. I can do more for you if you just eat right and exercise regularly”

Star Trek, “The Omega Glory” (s2ep23), Stardate unknown

Healthy eating is not difficult, at least in theory.

Of course if it were that easy, how come many of us are overweight? Myself included.

I talked about this recently, but I do not have very good self-control. I work a desk job, so I don’t move around much, and I snack a lot. I don’t eat particularly unhealthy: no alcohol, no soft drinks, etc., and I eat minimal red meat. But I tend to just eat too much junk food, or too many portions.

Recently, I dug out an old book of mine from many, many years ago,1 titled What Is Zen? 禅ってなんだろう. It’s a bilingual book I bought in Japan that explores Rinzai Zen life as a monk, but also includes some general thoughts about the tradition for lay followers. My copy has been covered in stickers when my daughter was a little girl, so I kept it both for nostalgia, and because such down-to-earth books on Zen are hard to find in the West.

This is what happens when little girls get a hold of daddy’s books… 😅

Anyhow, this book shows things like daily routines for monks, how they eat and so on. I wish I could repost the photographs because they’re really neat, but obviously that’s inappropriate. Instead, let me shiw you a different example:

An example of shōjin-ryōri (monastic food) at Tenryuji temple in Kyoto, Japan. Photo by 663highland, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

This photo, shows a meal served at Tenryuji Temple, which I coincidentally visited last year. This kind of monastic food is called shōjin-ryōri (精進料理, “ascetic food”) in Japanese, but is a common part of Buddhist cuisine across East Asia. It’s not limited to monks and nuns only, devout lay followers can eat such a lifestyle if they wish. The photos from my book show that the monastic version of this meal is somewhat simpler in presentation (they are monks after all), but essentially the same.

Similarly, when we visited Ryoanji Temple (another Rinzai temple) waaay back in 2005, we enjoyed their version of tofu stew:

Taken by me in 2005, at Ryoanji Temple. This is a vegetarian tofu stew, with turnips artfully sculpted to look like lotus flowers.

This kind of diet is similar to a vegan diet in that it contains no animal products, even the dashi broth is vegetarian. Certain flavors like curry and onions are not used either.

But as with any diet changes, this is not something that should be done hastily or without consulting a physician. The key I wanted to convey here is that (partly as a reminder to myself when I read this six months later….) is that a healthy diet consists of the following:

  • More vegetables than protein
  • Minimal processed starches
  • Little or no animal protein
  • Small portions per meal2
  • Little or no snacking.

But I’ve been inspired by these examples of good Buddhist eating, and so I have been gradually trying to “eat like a monk” lately: smaller portions, avoiding or minimizing animal protein, limit starches, and eating more veggies.

Will it work for a Western desk-jockey like myself? We’ll see.

1 I mentioned this book on my old blog, that’s how long I’ve owned it.

2 My doctor had previous suggested intermittent fasting as a potential solution, or alternatively eating four small meals per day, instead of three big ones. Say, portions the size of two-three fists. The issue hasn’t been the diet, but my lack of diligence especially during the holidays. So, that may be the bigger issue.

The Three Learnings and the Eightfold Path

Hi all,

I found this chart in one of my handy Japanese-language books on Buddhism and I decided to reproduce on Canva, translate, and post here (the original looked much nicer, btw):

The Noble Eightfold Path is one of those foundational teachings that transcends culture and sect. The Buddha (a.k.a. Shakyamuni) taught that making “right”, as in conducive to the Dharma, lifestyle choices led to greater well-being, peace with others and ultimately progress on the Buddhist path toward Awakening.

Thus he divided it up into this path into eight components:

  1. right view
  2. right intention
  3. right speech
  4. right conduct
  5. right livelihood
  6. right effort
  7. right mindfulness, and
  8. right concentration

Some of these are kind of self-evident, others are somewhat abstract. Plus, the list is hard to remember. So, I found this chart really handy, because the eight aspects can be put into three “buckets” known as the Three Learnings.

The Three Learnings, meaning the three things to cultivate on the Buddhist path, are:

  1. Goodwill
  2. Precepts, and
  3. Practice, particularly meditation

If you think of Buddhism as a table with three legs, you need all three, or the table falls over. But while upholding these three aspects, you are also following the Eightfold path.

The precepts part comprises body and speech and livelihood (making an honest, ethical living), while goodwill comprises of view and intention. Finally, the practice part comprises of mindfulness and concentration, two things that arise with meditation.

But all of these require a level of consistent effort. Hence the chart showed Right Effort as a foundation for the others.

Anyhow, I hope this helps. If you like it, please feel free to use the chart.

Namu Shakamuni Butsu