What can your comfort character teach you?
faith
Bow & Be
ThatTooTimeless&NewbornCaperingThroughWhat loveCan leave on thoseTraces of EarthEnduringThe rivers andAll that May be trueMaybe.My whole past, too.My heart.The lost partOf the brain.Cutting like a Samurai’s swordTouching the grassOr taking off a tight shoeDeath the wayRam Dass felt it. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry […]
Wry and Kind Piety: Revisiting Donald Scripps in “The History Boys”
Just under a decade ago, I went through a The History Boys phase (both the play and film)—perhaps due to lingering memories of my high school years in an all-boy’s institution and reliving echoes of the camaraderie, bravado, and insecurities that dog such a testosterone-saturated environment. I resonated with one of the characters so much […]
The Delta
I don’t know why I became an atheist,Yet some days I can tastethe divine. It sits still in mymouth, as a pair of crouchingeyelids in the tall, midday grass. George Cassidy Payne is a poet from Rochester, NY. His work has been included in such publications as the Hazmat Review, Moria Poetry Journal, Chronogram Journal, Ampersand […]
Master Huijing’s Dharma Words About Faith in Pure Land
For now, we are not just born to be human beings, but also to encounter the Buddhist teachings, and the Pure Land teaching, in particular, the real teaching that enables us to be liberated in this lifetime. It is the result of Amitabha’s compassionate and sagacious guidance in many lives, so that we can be […]
Burn the Bridge After Crossing It
Master Jingzong; English translation by Foyuan, edited by Fojin If a man finds faith in the Dharma in the course of secular learning, he should give up that learning and devote his energy to his new-found faith in order to derive the maximum benefits from the Dharma. This is called “burning the bridge after crossing it” […]
Mindful Christmas! Remembering Our Values
We managed to get a couple of the few remaining seats for the Christmas Oratorio, having only this morning decided to go to the concert. I’ve been brought up with Bach and so it doesn’t come as a surprise when my eyes fill with tears and my throat contracts with emotion as the sweet-sombre chords […]
Embrace your advantages and deploy your blessings for the good of others
Every day I choose a quote from a Buddhist source that runs on the homepage of Buddhistdoor Global. Tuesday’s theme is Pure Land-inspired, and today I picked one that seemed particularly thought-provoking to me: “Being born as a human, having heard of the Buddhist teachings, and encountered with the unsurpassed great teaching of Amitabha’s deliverance, […]
Hearing and Seeing
Master Jingzong; English translation by Foying, edited by Jingxing We may develop trust in someone by listening to their words. But sometimes that does not suffice, and we need to observe, investigate, gather facts and have firsthand experience before believing. Which of these two approaches shows greater confidence in the other person? Both Amitabha-recitation and Amitabha-contemplation take […]
Am I a Buddhist?
Graham Lock I have recently seen a few YouTube vids of talks and discussions in which renowned Dharma teachers assert that there can be no Buddhism without rebirth, and in a couple of cases they go as far as to say that those who don’t believe in rebirth shouldn’t call themselves Buddhists. Debates about this […]