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May 2008 Blog Posts (11)

Does Amida guide my action?

Kaspa’s comment stimulates me. I am looking at myself how Amida Buddha’s wisdom is guiding me. This wisdom is directing me as Nembutsu. I think partly “yes”, but Amida Buddha’s guidance is extremely deeper and more fundamental than I am expecting. Amida Buddha’s wisdom is much bigger than our thought. In this context, I am Bon-bu, foolish person.

The part that I can say “Yes, Amida guides my action” is :

1. When I hear Amida Buddha’s teaching, I feel warm, acceptance and… Continue

Added by Kazuo Yamashita on May 26, 2008 at 14:30 — 8 Comments

25 May 2008 The Cuckoo and Amida

I am living in Cuckoo land. In Cuckoo land the cuckoo bird sings 'cuckoo cuckoo' non-stop from morning to night. I try and sing Namo Amida Bu but soon get caught singing cuckoo cuckoo cuckoo. It's infectious so I join the other cuckoo birds.

So here in Cuckoo land, I sing cuckoo cuckoo while sitting, standing, walking and lying down, whatever I do is cuckoo cuckoo. And all the while, I feel Amida calling back to me 'cuckoo, cuckoo, cuckoo.'

One day I hope to catch sight of…

Added by Susthama on May 25, 2008 at 15:00 — 2 Comments

Amida Podcast: Dharma as Practice

Welcome to the first in a series of Podcasts from Amida Trust. Subscribe to the .rss feed with your reader to make sure you recieve the latest teachings.

We begin with a Dharma talk, given by Dharmavidya, as part of our autumn training period in The Buddhist House last year, in which he talks about Dharma as Practice. The unfolding drama of our lives, and of the Buddhas lives. Buddhism… Continue

Added by Amida Podcasts on May 25, 2008 at 11:30 — 1 Comment

I decide to start a Blog!

I decide to write a Blog. I have written a Blog in Japanese. But, it is a new challenge for me to write in English. I believe English native people accept my English and support me. I have positive feeling right now.

I am back to Japan. Already two weeks pasted. My daily life comes back. I teach social work and communication skills to students and do my counselling interview with my clients. I am enjoying this dairy life. I recognize myself as a Shin-shu Counsellor. This means I… Continue

Added by Kazuo Yamashita on May 25, 2008 at 10:00 — 5 Comments

Pandramatics workshop

Well - I had a great day yesterday.

Disappointingly, less people than had promised to come, but I was determined not to let this dampen my spirits, and in the end, the smaller group was useful for me, as we had time to discuss technique and theory inbetween the action, which may not have happened in a much larger group.

I think we're still having trouble describing what pandramatics is to people - I'm working on a few pieces of writing about it though, an article for the… Continue

Added by Kaspalita on May 25, 2008 at 9:25 — No Comments

Mary Midgley

Mary Midgley, who is a patron of Amida Trust, and whom we hold in grea love and esteem, had a fall and hospital treatment and so was not able to join us this time for the Living Buddhism Conference at the beginning of May. I'm sure that many of you will want to know that I spoke to her today by phone and she is recovering well, walking with sticks, and in good spirits. This is good news. I hope that she will be fully recovered soon.

Added by Dharmavidya on May 25, 2008 at 9:13 — 1 Comment

Newcastle this week

On Tuesday I attended the Newcastle University Staff Welcome event with Mia, one of my Catholic colleagues on the Chaplaincy team. We had a display table, gave out leaflets and chatted to a number of the new staff. It's good to be giving out the message that Chaplains aren't deadly serious creatures to be avoided at all costs, that we are available for support that doesn't necessarily mean one has to 'sign up' to a religion (though one can) and that different religions can get on very well with… Continue

Added by Sujatin on May 22, 2008 at 11:21 — No Comments

London Life

The last 24 hours have encapsulated this varied Amida life. 24 hours ago I was preparing materials for the "Mind Body and spirit" festival, then catching up on emails from around the world and the various groups I am involved with in the UK and Europe. Do i need to add comments about climate issues? should we run a workshop at the climate camp? Do we need to arrange a table at the coming festival? Can we offer something eyecatching for the press at the Leamington peace Festival? Dancing… Continue

Added by Modgala Duguid on May 19, 2008 at 12:53 — 1 Comment

Sunday Service

Well, I've just led my third Sunday Service here at the Buddhist House, we had a couple of people from outside TBH community, which was nice, and I think it was the first service I've led that Dharmvidaya has been around for, if I'd thought of this earlier, I'd have been more nervous, I'm sure.

I decided to type up my talk, rather than just working from a few bullet points, so that I didn't forget anything, and to keep my nerves down.

I'd been reading Tomatsu and Watt's… Continue

Added by Kaspalita on May 18, 2008 at 19:47 — No Comments

Let's all start blog, blog blogging.....

I used to blog a lot, a few years ago - it was a great way for me to connect with other Buddhists, when I didn't have a Sangha that I could meet in person, or meet very often at least, and it was a great place to put all my questions (if everything is empty, why do things seem so full?).

Now I'm surrounded by Buddhists, and that's wonderful, and I have ample space to talk about all these questions, and to be honest I'm not asking them with such urgency now - it all comes down to… Continue

Added by Kaspalita on May 18, 2008 at 11:00 — No Comments

Fifth Living Buddhism Conference

We are now about one day into the Fifth Living Buddhism Conference. Although numbers were somewhat hit by the epidemic of flu that has been sweeping the UK as well as some other mishaps, the quality of the event is proving extremely good and much stimulating discussion is taking place both in the plenaries and in the workshops. The general theme "Does Buddhism Need to Change" has thrown up plenty to talk about and cuts across a wide range of specialisms, whether we are talking about the… Continue

Added by Dharmavidya on May 2, 2008 at 17:46 — 4 Comments