This month marks two years that we have been living through this pandemic experience. Temple activities, family gatherings, and our friendships have all been affected, but looking back on the ways Covid-19 has impacted our lives, it seems to me that the greatest challenge for me was having our kids out of school and studying from home for over a year. Doing our best to support their online learning, while also attending to our responsibilities with work and household matters made us feel pushed to the limit. We struggled daily to set boundaries to keep our sons on task with the work they needed to do and steer them away from the distractions and mischief that would interrupt their learning.
Continue reading “The Kind Eyes of the Buddha”Sila (Discipline)
Six Paramitas
The Six Paramitas describe the characteristics of a well-lived Buddhist life, and endeavoring to practice them in everyday situations is a lifelong journey.
Continue reading “Six Paramitas”Dharma Discussion: Śīla (July 19, 2020)
Please review the Bodhisattva Precepts
Discussion Questions
- How do you practice these precepts in your daily life?
- Is there meaning in doing one’s best, even though one is not able to practice these perfectly in daily life?
- Which of these do you think our world needs most at the present moment?
Honen’s Perspective on upholding precepts (from The Passages on the the Selection of the Nembutsu in the Original Vow)
If the original vow required us to make images of the Buddha and to build stupas, the poor and destitute would surely have no hope of birth, but the fact is that the rich and highborn are few, while the poor and lowborn are exceedingly many.
Continue reading “Dharma Discussion: Śīla (July 19, 2020)”Bodhisattva Precepts
In Mahayana Buddhism, the following Bodhisattiva Precepts are commonly taken by both lay and monastic practicers to affirm their commitment to the ideals of Mahayana Buddhism:
The Three Treasures
- Taking refuge in the Buddha
- Taking refuge in the Dharma
- Taking refuge in the Sangha
The Three Pure Precepts
- Do not create Evil
- Practice Good
- Actualize Good For Others
Ten Grave Precepts
- not killing
- not stealing
- no debauchery
- not lying
- no trafficking in intoxicants
- not talking of the faults of other members of the sangha
- not praising oneself and belittling others
- not bringing harm through stinginess
- not letting one’s anger lead to resentment
- not denigrating the Three Treasures