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Interesting take on how Shin Yoga supports social activism I don't claim to fully understand Tom Pepper's "The Radical Potential of Shin Yoga." But then, I don't claim to fully understand anything . The vestiges of other-worldly mysticism remaining in my mind have found Pure Land Yoga both utterly unbelievable and also strangely compelling. After all, what's not to like about reciting Namu Amida Butsu and earning a ticket to Nirvana Land? Sure beats other forms of Yoga that require you to engage in all sorts of arduous practices, including back-breaking, mind-numbing meditation for ever and ever (almost). But Pepper presents a view of Shin/Shinran Yoga that tosses out its unbelievable aspects and leaves a philosophical system that makes pretty good sense. That said, his essay is sufficiently intellectually dense that I found it difficult to understand much of it on a first reading. Here, though, are excerpts that will give you the gist of Pepper&#

Early Morning Buddhist Inspiration - 6/28/2013 "We have negative mental habits that come up over and over again. One of the most significant negative habits we should be aware of is that of constantly allowing our mind to run off into the future. Perhaps we got this from our parents. Carried away by our worries, we're unable to live fully and happily in the present. Deep down, we believe we can't really be happy just yet-that we still have a few more boxes to be checked off before we can really enjoy life. We speculate, dream, strategize, and plan for these "conditions of happiness" we want to have in the future; and we continually chase after that future, even while we sleep. We may have fears about the future because we don't know how it's going to turn out, and these worries and anxieties keep us from enjoying being here now." ~Thich Nhat Hanh Technorati Tags: Buddha Buddhist Buddhism Meditation Dh

The Path To Success: How To Get Motivated By Your Past And Future Self There it was… that one question that people ask you so many times during job interviews: where do you see yourself in 10 years? I was fresh out of school and had never thought about it that much. Strange, right? You grow up, choose a direction in school and you seem to also be determined at the age of 14 what your life will be like. So there I was, with a mouth full of silence. What should I say to the interviewer? Needless to say, the answer didn't come then. It still intrigued me and I started thinking. Read more » Read More @ Source The space between the logs This is from a poem that I love. It's called, "Fire" by Judy Brown. What makes a fire burn is the space between the logs, a breathing space. Too much of a good thing, too many logs packed in too tight can douse the flames almost as surely as a pail of water would. So building fires requires atte

Early Morning Meditation Inspiration - 6/24/2013 Posted: 24 Jun 2013 05:01 AM PDT "A human being is like a television set with millions of channels.... We cannot let just one channel dominate us. We have the seed of everything in us, and we have to recover our own sovereignty." ~Thich Nhat Hanh Technorati Tags: Buddha Buddhist Buddhism Meditation Dharma Read More @ Source Dumping the conditioned Posted: 24 Jun 2013 02:00 AM PDT Those who become deeply interested in studying Buddhism to experience what Siddhartha did when he became awakened, that is, became Buddha, realize that they have to dump all their Western ideas about religion as well as their presuppositions about Buddhism.  In other words, they have to dump the strategy of seeking the unconditioned using, so to speak, the compass of the conditioned. Buddhism is a unique religion.  In it, there is no God or Savior who is going to carry us to the other shore.