A Fistful of Sand

  One of the most enduring assumptions in spiritual life is that compassion comes "after" awakening. We imagine a sequence: first we struggle, then we attain wisdom, and only afterward does compassion flower. This picture is understandable and pedagogically useful. It encourages discipline and perseverance. Yet it also carries a subtle implication that deserves to be questioned: that wisdom and compassion are two separate attainments, one preceding the other. The doctrine of original enlightenment (Hongaku) invites a far more radical possibility. If enlightenment is truly "original," then nothing essential to Buddhahood can be absent from it. Original enlightenment cannot be merely emptiness awaiting completion. Nor can it be bare awareness that later learns to love. If it is truly the ground of all reality, then it must already contain, inseparably, both perfect wisdom and perfect compassion. This changes everything. Compassion is no longer understood as a moral ac...

When the time came to release him, he didn’t run away in fear. He looked at me, chattered a sound that was not quite human and not quite animal — a sound that meant goodbye . I visited him through the seasons, bringing nuts for him and his companions. In winter he would dart from the branches, always waiting, as if to remind me that love doesn’t vanish when form changes. After ten months he disappeared into the wide green world. That too was a farewell, quiet and complete. It has been two years now. I still visit the squirrels. I still bring offerings. I still think of Matisse every day. He was my teacher, the Buddha of Greenleaf Street. Through him I learned Dharma without sutra, compassion without doctrine, and courage without ceremony. He taught me impermanence not as sorrow, but as participation — that to love anything truly is to let it go again and again, without closing the heart. Sometimes, when the wind stirs the leaves or a squirrel pauses to meet my gaze, I feel him near....

Mushin  "no-mind" In an era of collapsing attention spans and spiritual branding, it has become common to hear people claim the title of “Buddhist” while disavowing or bypassing the core practices of the Dharma. Meditation is often seen as optional. Dharma quotes adorn social media posts alongside self-help slogans. “Mindfulness” is marketed like a weight-loss product. But can someone truly be called a Buddhist if they do not meditate? Is compassion alone enough? The Threshold: What Makes Someone a Buddhist? In traditional Buddhism, one becomes a Buddhist by taking refuge in the Three Jewels: the Buddha (teacher), the Dharma (teaching), and the Sangha (spiritual community). This act is a conscious turning of one’s life toward liberation. In this view, practice may begin small, and perfection is not the measure — sincerity is. So yes, a person who has taken refuge, who aspires to walk the Path and live ethically — even without formal meditation — can be considered a Buddhist. ...

  On the morning, June 13, 2025, my wife and I were walking through downtown of our city. I spotted a small mouse on the sidewalk. It was shaking and seemed confused. We at once recognized the fragile beauty had fallen victim of the standard practice of poisoning rodents, a practice I vehemently oppose based on its inherent cruelty. A mouse wants happiness and tries to avoid pain and death every bit as much as you do or I do. Initially I thought having the mouse in peace would be a kind choice but seeing that there was a great deal of foot traffic, and it looked like rain. My wife and I decided to let put the mouse in the wooded area away from the sidewalk. I took her into my hands and lifted her up to the wooded green space away from the concrete. The wobbly little mouse wandered off into the leaves and disappeared to die in familiar surroundings and in peace, well, as peacefully as possible when one is dying of internal hemorrhage.   Once the experience of sadness dissi...

Art by Nembutsu Art Shinjin , often translated as "true entrusting" in the Pure Land tradition, is more than private faith; it is a radical inner liberation that resists external control. In a world governed by fear, manipulation, and power hierarchies, Shinjin affirms that salvation does not come from systems, authorities, or status—it arises from turning inward and entrusting fully in Amida Buddha’s boundless compassion. This simple, direct awakening undermines the authority of regimes that thrive on obedience, guilt, and conformity. Shinjin proclaims that liberation is freely given, not earned, and cannot be taken away. For the oppressed, this is an act of spiritual defiance: to entrust oneself to a Buddha beyond the reach of kings and tyrants. In Shinjin, one lives with dignity not granted by society but revealed through awakening. It says, “I am already saved,” and in doing so, breaks the illusion that worldly power holds the keys to worth or freedom. How does shinjin in...

  One of the problems of teaching Dharma int the United States is that not many people here actually speak English. They speak something similar to but not precisely like English. Let’s look at the word “meaning,” for example. As a noun it ought to have the definition of what is meant by a word, text, concept, or action. But as an adjective it refers to intended to communicate something that is not directly expressed. To say something has meaning is to say it has importance, consequence, moment, weight, significance mean a quality or aspect having great worth or significance. Importance may also imply a value judgment of the superior worth or influence of something or someone. To say that something has no meaning is an attempt to negate the experience of someone’s experience. In the reality of life, nothing is more important or less significant than anything else. Everything has the right to be simply because it does, conditions support the existence of a thought, a word, or a...