Author Archives: faran

Since practicing social distancing, I’ve been thinking more about my solitary retreat at Amida Mandala. My first post was about part of that experience, where, during a 48 hour period, I stayed in one room (with occasional outings to the back garden) and chanted the nembutsu. I had very little contact with anyone except Rev.Continue reading “Gratitude and Cherry Tomatoes”

According to many Japanese traditions, today, April 8th, is the Buddha Shakyamuni’s birthday. Happy birthday to the Buddha! Often, I look at my little statue that represents him and feel the jagged parts of me soften. His teachings have slowly sunk into the depths of my spirit, often bubbling up when my bombu nature startsContinue reading “Happy Birthday to the Buddha!”

I just got done watching a video in which a Shingon monk, who goes by Nobu on his YouTube channel, reacts to some negative reception of another video he posted in a Facebook group about a Shingon-based celebration. For those who don’t know, Shingon is a form of what is known as Esoteric Buddhism, whereContinue reading “The Dharma Discourse™”

One of the Three Jewels is the Sangha. Depending on the tradition, this could mean the sanghas of monks and nuns or larger sangha that includes lay people. It could even mean something else. In Amida Shu, there is a piece of liturgy in the Nienfo Book that we often affirm as we take refuge.Continue reading “Namo Sanghaya”

With the COVID 19 (Coronavirus) outbreak, many people have had to make hard choices and major changes. Right now, I’m thinking of those people. The Kucchivikara-vatthu of the Pali Cannon discusses a particular incident when the Buddha and Ananda came upon a monk who was sick. Now at that time a certain monk was sickContinue reading “COVID 19 and Compassion”

Like many people in my particular Buddhist tradition, I adopted a vegetarian diet. Doing so took some time, patience, and a little negotiation with myself. That negotiation would often come int the form of a non-meat food dressed up like an animal product. Lately, I had a craving for scrambled eggs but I was notContinue reading “Upaya and Tofu Scramble”

When I was just starting to practice the nembutsu, I was working as a maintenance helper at a skilled nursing facility. Behind the building, near the maintenance shop door, the air was always moving. It seems that the wind would often be caught at that corner of the facility. It was there that I experiencedContinue reading “The Buddha in the Wind”

Recently, Ninja, a competitive gamer, took issue with the phrase “It’s just a game” on Twitter. It seems that he finds that there is something very wrong with being okay with losing. On February 18 Ninja tweeted, The phrase “it’s just a game” is such a weak mindset. You are ok with what happened, losing,Continue reading “It’s Just A Game”

Today, I got out of a hole. For the last few days, my body was debilitatingly tired but wouldn’t let me sleep much. That tiredness coincided with a severe depressive episode. Last night, my body finally caved and let me sleep and now I’m rested and feeling much better. In the midst of this circumstance,Continue reading “Taking Care Along the Path”

An Amidist faith is simple. In my experience, such a faith is free from any dependence upon conditions. I have, at times, had faith in many things. However, it had to be reasonable. I would spend much of my time trying to think up a reason to have faith in something by having proof. ThatContinue reading “Simple Faith And Simple Love”