Bodhi-Awakening. The secular or the sacred?
It has been claimed that there are two types of life: the secular and the sacred. The secular is the human life with all of its rites of passages, its […]
Bodhi
The Dharma
The Dharma; practising wisdom and compassion
In this series of articles of the Dharma, we have looked at it from many different perspectives: Dharma in 21st century Japan; Dharma at O Bon time; the Dharma Stream
The Dharma
Hearing the Dharma: the turtle.
In Buddhism, sound is a powerful key to enlightenment. Everyday, twice a day, we chant extracts from the sutras. We strive to keep our mouths pure at all times so
The Dharma
Dharmata or Tathata: the essence of enlightenment
Dharmata or Tatatha: the nature or essence of fully enlightened Buddhas. So, what is a fully enlightened Buddha? It sounds scary and unreachable for most of us. It also
The Dharma
Dharma-kaya: the body of Truth
The world is filled with beauty – beautiful skyscapes, landscapes, people-scapes, both microscopic (not visible to the human eye) and macroscopic (visible to the human eye). We are all momentarily
The Dharma
Dharma Crisis
Throughout this cycle of articles based on the Dharma, I have focused on Japanese attitudes to the Dharma and Buddhist notions in general. Today, there are few lay Buddhist orders
The Dharma
The Dharma Protectors
In posts on this theme so far, the term ‘The Dharma’ has been used frequently. We now need to introduce the idea of Nirvana too. If ‘the Dharma’ is the
The Dharma
The Dharma Stream.You can choose.
The Dharma is often seen as liquid, fluent, flowing. As we elevate our faith, we can become a bigger vessel so that we contain more of this magical substance, the
The Dharma
The Dharma is everywhere and everything, present, past and future.
You may have heard this word ‘Dharma’ bandied about, but see it as a rather vague and perhaps mysterious term which only people in the know are qualified to use.
Japanese Rituals
O Bon: the return of the spirits to the visible world
It is sizzling summer here which induces a panic in non-natives used to more temperate climates. We cannot survive without air conditioning, so it is difficult to stay long in