A Fistful of Sand

by   Sensei Mui When speaking of emptiness there seems to be a distorted sense of what that term means. It often comes across as some incredibly deep metaphysical reality separate from the day-to-day humdrum of modern ‘civilized’ being. It’s an easy belief to develop. It’s all empty and I am the co-creator of reality. It is easy to fall into the belief but having the belief does little good for us. It’s just a belief. There is no one, vast emptiness ‘out there’ somewhere. Emptiness is one, vastness you create by letting go. Emptiness is a way of approaching perception, a way of looking at experience. In this approach nothing is added to and nothing is taken away from the raw data of physical and mental events. We simply look at events in and of themselves as they appear in the mind and the senses without evaluation or assessment of whether there’s anything lying behind them. This approach is called emptiness because it’s empty of the conjectures and beliefs we usually a...

Upali lived during the time of Buddha and was the follower of another religion and went to the Buddha in order to argue with him and try to convert him. But after talking to the Buddha, he was so impressed that he decided to become a follower of the Buddha. But the Buddha said: “Make a proper investigation first. Proper investigation is good for a well-known person like yourself. “Now I am even more pleased and satisfied when the Buddha says to me: ‘Make a proper investigation first.’ For if members of another religion had secured me as a disciple they would have paraded a banner all around the town saying: ‘Upali has joined our religion.’ But the Buddha says to me: Make a proper investigation first. Proper investigation is good for a well-known person like yourself’.” (Majjhima Nikaya 2.379) * * * * * * * I sometimes use the Amitāyus Sādhana as a practice during mini-retreats. The Amitāyus Long Life Mantra is  om amarani zewänteye söha .  This...

Going To All the Wrong Places I am not complaining, I merely state an observation: most people are knowledgeably ignorant. The pseudo-spiritual say that in order to understand reality “you have to go inside” but they never tell you inside of what. I’m already inside my office so where else is there to go? Well, maybe to the bathroom after I finish this cup of coffee.   Shades of the pop culture "New Age Gurus”, who teach people to keep telling us to go inside ourselves. Students and well meaning “spiritual people [whatever the hell that means], shout “Go inside yourself and you will find all your answers”. You can hear them militantly shouting from the highest rooftops [in Chicago that would be Willis Tower, formerly the Sears Tower].   If you don’t understand what is inside and what is outside then you go to all the wrong places.   What or where is “inside” exactly? Is it your body? Your body accumulated over years of time. What is accumulated can b...

 — The Matrix of Practice Dengyo Daishi once wrote, "A devout believer in the Buddha's Law who is also a wise man is truly obliged to point out to his students any false doctrines, even though they are principles of his own sect. He must not lead the students astray. If, on the other hand, he finds a correct doctrine, even though it is a principle of another sect he should adopt and transmit it."  Because of this Tendai has always been diverse in its practices, adaptations and this shows in the many lineages found within the Sect. When Tasogare Shinju came to the United States to inaugurate the Compassionate Lotus lineage in the West, of which Hongaku ( 本覚 ) Jōdo ( 浄土 ) is the Western lineage assembly, he had the Bodhisattva Vows in mind, especially the one that challenges us to master  all  Dharmas. This may be the motivation for maintaining such a wide array of undertakings within the Tendai sect. It is because of the determination to offer pr...

The recent bombings and increased activities of religious extremists have provoked a myriad of responses, both rational and irrational. In the United States people of power tend to react instead of responding. The reaction is normally superficial and immature. They miss the point by creating their own, much like the main behind the curtain in the Wizard of Oz. The genuine issues are often ignored, hence the term “ignorance.” The Buddha made much of this word. With the recent bombings in Paris, at least 30 Governors, the vast majority conservative Republicans in the United Sates, who seem to hold humanity disdain anyway, found an excuse to apparently attempt an unlawful move to block the intake of Syrian Refugees. Well, the “American dream” idea never did mean all that much to them anyway. They make a weak claim that their decision would make America a safer place in which to live; but so would putting every man woman and child under house arrest, but this is not realistic, is it...