Author Archives: tommymanyo

This Dharma Glimpse was initially presented on 12/6/2020 as part of my participation in the Lay Ministry Program of the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. There is a common saying “never say never”. It’s application varies situation by situation but basically it’s another way of saying “nothing is impossible”. This week, I received aContinue reading “A Dharma Glimpse: Never Say Never”

This Dharma Glimpse was originally presented on 1/1/2020 as part of my participation in the Lay Ministry Program of the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. As a young child, I had a lot of issues processing and expressing “negative” emotions. While some of this could certainly be identified as a product of not havingContinue reading “A Dharma Glimpse: Taking Care of our Emotions”

This Dharma Glimpse was originally presented on 9/27/2020 as part of my participation in the Lay Ministry Program of the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. Just prior to my beginning to write this Dharma Glimpse, I submitted my final assignment as required for my Bachelor of Arts in Religion. This Sunday (the day onContinue reading “A Dharma Glimpse – Two Roads, One Life”

This Dharma Glimpse was originally presented on 8/23/2020 as part of my participation in the Lay Ministry Program of the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. Most of us are likely familiar with the timeless riddle that goes “If a tree falls in a forest but nobody is around, does it still make a sound?”.Continue reading “A Dharma Glimpse: Unheard Sounds”

This Dharma Glimpse was originally presented on 8/9/2020 as part of my participation in the Lay Ministry Program of the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. We live in dark times. It is indisputable that there is much new and unnecessary suffering in our nation and the global community as a whole. All we haveContinue reading “A Dharma Glimpse – Light in Every Dark”

A few weeks ago, I was in a virtual class meeting where each classmate was offering a report on the text that was currently being looked at in this section of the course. At the conclusion of the session, one of my classmates briefly mentioned that they were confused as his page numbers and contentContinue reading “Laughter”

This Dharma Glimpse was originally presented on 7/5/2020 as part of my participation in the Lay Ministry Program of the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. This past week, my wife and I spent a few days in our hometown and wider area of South Jersey together, visiting her parents who both had a fewContinue reading “A Dharma Glimpse – Who am I?”

This is a dharma glimpse that I originallyed presented on 5/24/2020 as a participant in the Lay Ministry Program of the Bright Dawn Center of Oneness Buddhism. This month marks two years since I participated in a Ti Sarana Confirmation Ceremony with a Bright Dawn Lay Minister, Levi Shinyo Sensei. I initially stumbled upon SenseiContinue reading “A Dharma Glimpse – Ti Sarana”

In Buddhism, a major practice found throughout Mahayana is Nembutsu or the chanting, reciting or calling to mind the name of Amida Buddha. In Japanese, one way of doing this is “Namu Amida Butsu”. When I sit in a serene state at a shrine or some other sacred spaceNamu Amida Butsu When I celebrate anContinue reading “Nembutsu”

Throughout countless streams of Buddhism, spiritual practice and secular society in general, there persists an inclination that all are one, all is the same. At times, this leads to the desire for folks to repress whatever they may feel sets them apart as themselves, instead opting for a stone-faced demeanor out of the desire forContinue reading “A Brief Thought on Oneness”