A Fistful of Sand

            Art by Philip Chiang  But deranged men do not perceive their madness;   The blind are unaware of they blindness. Born, reborn, and still born again, Whence they have come they do not know. Dying, dying, and dying yet again, Where they go in the end they do not know. — Kukai (Daishi Kongo) The Bhavacakra, commonly translated as the “Wheel of Life,” is more precisely the “Wheel of Becoming” or “Wheel of Existence.” It is among the most recognizable images in Buddhism, yet its significance is easily underestimated. It is often presented as a diagram of Buddhist cosmology illustrating the six realms of rebirth, karma, and the twelve links of dependent origination. While all of this is correct, the Bhavacakra is considerably more than a map of places into which beings may be reborn. It is a visual anatomy of conditioned existence itself. It describes how samsāra is continually produced, how beings come to experience themselves as separate ...

  One of the most pervasive misconceptions in spiritual practice is the belief that enlightenment or liberation is about becoming a perfected version of oneself. This belief, deeply ingrained in human psychology, is at odds with the core Buddhist insight that the self is an illusion. Even within advanced traditions such as Pure Land Buddhism and Vajrayāna, there is a tendency to interpret spiritual attainment as the evolution of an individual into a higher or more enlightened being. This article explores how this misconception arises and how it can be resolved through a deeper understanding of non-duality. The Ego as an Illusion From a Buddhist perspective, the ego is not an enduring entity but a construct, a fabrication — a temporary aggregation of thoughts, emotions, memories, and conditioned patterns. However, because it feels real, we instinctively try to preserve and enhance it. This manifests even in spiritual practice, where instead of deconstructing the self, many practitio...

Being Overwhelmed The Buddha taught that I person willing to hate is willing to commit any atrocity. He called it an “evil mind”. It corrupts all of our motivations, even those that are quite honorable. Hatred creates in us the ultimate narcissist.   It broods the illusion in the mind of the angry hater that their views, opinions and beliefs are so important that everyone must listen and obey them and believe as they believe. “He who hates his brother is a murderer and a murder does not have eternal life.” The line is from 1 John 3:15 in the New Testament, the Christian Dharma. I used it in an interfaith teaching not long ago. I was admonished by a couple of ministers who were also presenting who told me that John, the spokesman for God in this case, meant this verse only to refer to hating Christian brothers and not persons outside that faith. So, is it okay to hate everyone else? It seems a legalist interpretation of a universal truth. Unfortunately, I have heard s...

 — 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...