Buddhist Education Committee

Shōshinge: Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu (Session 13)

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Wednesday, September 8, 2021

We welcome you to join us via Zoom Meeting from the comfort and safety of your own home on Wednesday, June 9 for this free Dharma Study Class.

6:00 p.m. Shōshinge Sōfu Chanting

Chanting Shōshinge embodies the heart of daily Nembutsu practice in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism.  Join us to experience the settled the mind through focused breathing and meditative listening.

7:00 p.m. Reading and Discussion

This month we enter into the section of Shoshinge that is based on the teachings of the Seven Masters who transmitted the Pure Land teaching westward across Asia over the course of two millennia.

The masters of India in the west, who explained the teaching in treatises,
And the eminent monks of China and Japan,
Clarified the Great Sage’s true intent in appearing in the world,
And revealed that Amida’s Primal Vow accords with the nature of beings.

Full text of Shōshinge

Handout

To join us for this online Dharma Session, CLICK HERE and sign up for “Study Classes and Seminars”.

Why I Abandoned Sundry Practices

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Wednesday, September 1, 2021

7:00 p.m.

Alexander O’Neill

Ph.D. Candidate, University of Toronto

Visiting Researcher, Taisho University, Tokyo

Alexander O’Neill is a PhD Candidate at the University of Toronto. His research focuses on Mahāyāna Buddhism. He does research on Mahāyāna sūtra literature and the Newar Buddhism of the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. His recent publications have focused on the worship of sūtras in manuscript form, both in India and in Nepal. He came to Japan to perform research on Sanskrit ritual manual manuscripts at Taisho University, under the supervision of Ryugen Tanemura, as part of the Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai Canada fellowship. Due to the pandemic he continues to collaborate with local scholars by Zoom, and currently lives in Kamakura.

We welcome you to join us via Zoom Meeting from the comfort and safety of your own home on Wednesday, September 1 for this Dharma session.

To join us for this online Dharma Session, CLICK HERE and sign up for “Study Classes and Seminars”.

Shōshinge: Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu (Session 12)

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Wednesday, August 11, 2021

The nembutsu is the easy path to awakening because its liberating power does not come from our own efforts.  In this month’s gathering we will explore the challenges of entrusting our lives to Amida Buddha’s compassionate Vow.

For evil sentient beings of wrong views and arrogance,
The nembutsu that embodies Amida’s Primal Vow
Is hard to accept in shinjin;
This most difficult of difficulties, nothing surpasses.

Full text of Shōshinge

Handout

To join us for online Dharma Sessions, CLICK HERE and sign up for “Study Classes and Seminars”.

Shōshinge: Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu (Session 11)

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In this session we reflect upon the Dharma truth expressed in the lotus, a symbol of pure awakening that blossoms, not in pristine clear water, but from the messy muck of everyday life.

All foolish beings, whether good or evil,
When they hear and entrust to Amida’s universal Vow,
Are praised by the Buddha as people of vast and excellent understanding;
Such a person is called a pure white lotus.

Full text of Shōshinge

Handout

To join us for this online Dharma Session, CLICK HERE and sign up for “Study Classes and Seminars”.

Shōshinge: Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu (Session 10)

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This session will delve into the meaning expressed the following metaphor of the sun that shines through clouds and mists, and how the Buddha’s wisdom illuminates our lives even in times of difficulty and confusion.

The light of compassion that grasps us illumines and protects us always;
The darkness of our ignorance is already broken through;
Still the clouds and mists of greed and desire, anger and hatred,
Cover as always the sky of true and real shinjin.

But though light of the sun is veiled by clouds and mists,
Beneath the clouds and mists there is brightness, not dark.
When one realizes shinjin, seeing and revering and attaining great joy,
One immediately leaps crosswise, closing off the five evil courses.

Full text of Shōshinge

Handout

To join us for this online Dharma Session, CLICK HERE and sign up for “Study Classes and Seminars”.

Shōshinge: Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu (Session 9)

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This month we consider the following verse which illuminates the the profound transformation that occurs with the arising of the one thought-moment of joy.

When the one thought-moment of joy arises,
Nirvana is attained without severing blind passions;
When ignorant and wise, even grave offenders and slanders of the dharma, all alike turn and enter shinjin,
They are like waters that, on entering the ocean, become one in taste with it.

Full text of Shōshinge

Handout

To join us for online Dharma Sessions, CLICK HERE and sign up for “Study Classes and Seminars”.

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Shōshinge: Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu (Session 8)

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This month as we celebrate Sakyamuni Buddha’s Birthday, the following verse from the Shoshinge expresses our appreciation for the meaning of his appearance in this world:

Sakyamuni Tathagata appeared in this world
Solely to teach the ocean-like Primal Vow of Amida;
We, an ocean of beings in an evil age of five defilements,
Should entrust ourselves to the Tathagata’s words of truth.

Full text of Shōshinge

Handout

To join us for this online Dharma Session, CLICK HERE and sign up for “Study Classes and Seminars”.

Shōshinge: Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu (Session 7)

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This month we reflect upon the following verse as it relates to our journey to the Other Shore of enlightenment:

The Name embodying the Primal Vow is the act of true settlement, The Vow of entrusting with sincere mind is the cause of birth;
We realize the equal of enlightenment and supreme nirvana Through the fulfillment of the Vow of attaining nirvana without fail.

Continue reading “Shōshinge: Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu (Session 7)”

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Be the Refuge: Raising the Voices of Asian American Buddhists

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Wednesday, March 3, 2021

7:00 p.m.

Chenxing

Han

Institute of Buddhist Studies Alumnus

and Buddhist Author

A conversation with the author and SMBT Sangha members Juliet Bost, David Chin, Hailey La Monte, Michiko Mukai and others

We welcome you to join us via Zoom Meeting from the comfort and safety of your own home on Wednesday, March 3 for this Dharma session.

To join us for this online Dharma Session, CLICK HERE and sign up for “Study Classes and Seminars”.