Buddhist Education Committee

Dharma Discussion: Suffering from Birth (September 27, 2020)

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Consider your own birth, including the following factors:

  • Your family relationships (parents, grandparents, siblings, etc.)
  • Your family’s circumstances when you were born. This could include race, ethnicity, economic status, etc.
  • Where you were born (country, city, local community, etc.)
  • Time: what were some important events in the world around you that have shaped your life since you were born.

Discussion Questions

  1. What challenges and difficulties have arisen in your life as a result of the circumstances of your birth?
  2. How did the circumstance of your birth create the conditions for you to seek the Dharma hear the Nembutsu?

What is Essential? Finding the Nembutsu in COVID-19

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Wednesday, October 7, 2020

7:00 p.m.

John Mullins

Ministerial Aspirant

Institute of Buddhist Studies

We welcome you to join us via Zoom Meeting from the comfort and safety of your own home on Wednesday, October 7 for this free 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 1)

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In this first session in the Shōshinge Study Class Series, we explore the meaning of the Shōshinge and how it applies to our daily lives, beginning with the opening verse: I take refuge in the Tathagata of Immeasurable Life!
I entrust myself to the Buddha of Inconceivable Light!

Continue reading “Shōshinge: Hymn of True Shinjin and the Nembutsu ( Session 1)”

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Dharma Discussion: Incense (August 30, 2020)

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Click here to read about incense offering etiquette in the Jodo Shinshu school, as well as other schools of Japanese Buddhism

Discussion Questions

  1. What is a fragrance that brings you peace of mind?
  2. Have you ever encountered someone who you felt was “adorned with the fragrance of light”?
Continue reading “Dharma Discussion: Incense (August 30, 2020)”

Dharma Discussion: Wisdom/Prajñā (August 23, 2020)

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Click here to read about the Buddhist Virtue of Wisdom

Discussion Questions

  1. What is a difficult situation that Buddhist wisdom has enabled you to accept with peace of mind?
  2. What is a difficult situation that Buddhist wisdom has given you to courage to work to change?
Continue reading “Dharma Discussion: Wisdom/Prajñā (August 23, 2020)”

Dharma Discussion: Concentration/Dhyāna (August 16, 2020)

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Click here to read about the Buddhist Virtue of Concentration

Discussion Questions

  1. Have you ever experience a state of deep concentration that enabled to you do an activity skillfully and without distraction, sometimes described as a “flow state” or being “in the zone”? What gave rise to that state of mind? Were you able to replicate it on more than one occasion?
  2. Has Buddhist practice in general, and the Nembutsu specifically, helped you to cultivate a concentrated mind at times?
  3. What the greatest obstacles you face in maintain mental concentration?
Continue reading “Dharma Discussion: Concentration/Dhyāna (August 16, 2020)”

“The Origin of Jodo Shinshu: Roots/History” Special Dharma Lecture by Rev. Giei Sasaki

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「浄土真宗の源流：roots / history」

特別講師：佐々木義英先生

Sunday, September 13, 2020

5:00 p.m. (Pacific Time)

２０２０年９月１３日（日曜日）午後５時（米国太平洋時間）

Rev. Giei Sasaki

Hongwanji Guiding Dharma Teacher

Director of the Research Office for Doctrine and Propagation at the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji Research Institute

Chuo Bukkyo Gakuin Buddhist Seminary Instructor

佐々木義英先生

本願寺派司教、浄土真宗本願寺派総合研究所教学伝道研究室長、中央仏教学院講師。

Continue reading ““The Origin of Jodo Shinshu: Roots/History” Special Dharma Lecture by Rev. Giei Sasaki”

Dharma Flowing in Minneapolis during Challenging Times

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Wednesday, September 2, 2020

7:00 p.m. (Pacific Time)

Rev. Todd Tsuchiya and Rev. Chiemi Onikura Bly will join us via Zoom from Minneapolis to share insights and experiences from their interfaith and community activities in Minnesota in the wake of George Floyd’s killing.

Twin Cities Buddhist Association Sangha

Rev. Todd Tsuchiya

Rev. Tsuchiya is a Minister’s Assistant at TCBA and ordained in the Jodo Shinshu Nishi Hongwanji tradition in Kyoto, Japan and part of the Buddhist Churches of America.  He was born and raised in Minnesota and is a retired dentist. Rev. Tsuchiya is familiar to the SMBT Sangha from his past presentation on the History and Activities of the Twin Cities Buddhist Association Sangha.

Rev. Chiemi Onikura Bly

Raised in a Jodo Shinshu temple family in Fukuoka Japan, Rev. Onikura Bly graduated from a Jodo Shinshu high school and college. She moved to the United States in 2000. Chiemi has lived in Minnesota for 20 years. She teaches Japanese Language Arts and Social Studies to high school students at the Minneapolis Japanese School. Chiemi is ordained in the Jodo Shinshu Nishi Hongwanji tradition in 2016. She is an Assistant Minister of the Buddhist Church of America, and serves at the Twin Cities Buddhist Association.

Check out this Buddhist Hamilton Parody written by Rev. Tsuchiya and performed by Koichi Mizushima

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

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Wednesday, September 9, 2020

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

6:00 p.m. Shōshinge Sōfu Chanting

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

7:00 p.m. Reading and Discussion

We will be explore the meaning of the Shōshinge and how it applies to our daily lives, beginning with the opening verse: I take refuge in the Tathagata of Immeasurable Life!
I entrust myself to the Buddha of Inconceivable Light!

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