A Fistful of Sand

The vipallasas are the distortion of views, perceptions and thoughts affected by either defilements or by the words of another. So my thoughts, perceptions and especially my views about what I am now writing is an example of how these vipallasas work, because a question I was asked influenced them. These four, O Monks, are distortions of perception, distortions of thought distortions of view...   Sensing no change in the changing, Sensing pleasure in suffering, Assuming "self" where there's no self, Sensing the un-lovely as lovely —   Gone astray with wrong views, beings Misperceive with distorted minds.   Bound in the bondage of Mara, Those people are far from safety. They're beings that go on flowing: Going again from death to birth.   But when in the world of darkness Buddhas arise to make things bright, They present this profound teaching Which brings suffering to an end.   When those with wisdom have heard this, They recuperate their righ...

Many of us have made poor decisions throughout our lives. I’m no exception. I made an unskillful decision just yesterday — probably everyday, at least once. This morning I thought about why I had done what I did. As the thoughts arose surrounding the action I realized it came up from my childhood. I was reacting to someone who died many years ago. Was it because I chose to make the choice? Possibly that choice was not so much a choice but an automatic response predetermined because I was conditioned in some predetermined way.   Neither free will nor predetermination explains how any of us make our decisions and choices. Free will cannot be the cause of of our choices because the term implies a truly self-existent and autonomous “me” that makes both skillful and unskillful decisions moment-to-moment independent of and unaffected by causes and conditions that create our environment. It also implies that even the decisions we make have an independent being all their own — like c...

A walker in faith should practice the six recollections beginning with recollection of the Buddha. Then his faith will gain fixity. Vimuttimagga Hongaku Jodo (HJ) is part of the Mahayana Tradition. In particular it began as a strictly Pure Land Buddhist organization, that's what  jodo  means. It means Pure Land. The over all title of the organization is the Hongaku Jodo Compassionate Lotus Tendai Tradition. Both Zen and Pure Land are extremely important to the Tendai traditions. For some Tendai monks, Vajrayana is also quite important. Hongaku can be taken to mean "original enlightenment," which we at Hongaku tend to associate with "original emptiness" relating it to the space between two conceptual thoughts.  Because of the nature of our clergy Hongaku Jodo seeks to remain faithful to the core teachings of the Buddha. This makes Hongaku unique amongst Buddhist organizations and Sanghas in the Mahayana tradition. While these core teachin...