tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-88428477086650542212024-03-14T15:50:47.243+09:00The Stupid WayA few notes on BuddhismPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comBlogger61125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-24721372876497682492021-01-03T23:31:00.000+09:002021-01-03T23:31:04.293+09:00Happy New Year 2021 Quiet new year in Japan. Just a small temple visit to mark the New Year. Here's hoping for 2021.Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-90907212553877711892018-07-01T11:16:00.002+09:002018-07-01T11:16:41.301+09:00道はその日その日の生活の中に : The path is in day-to-day life
Someone sent me a Buddhist card with the Japanese words “道はその日その日の生活の中に”.
In Japanese this reads “michi wa sono hi sono hi no seikatsu no naka ni”.
The meaning of the words is:
道 (michi): path, way, road
その日その日 (sono hi sono hi): each day, from day to day, day-to-day
生活 (seikatsu): life, living
の中に (no naka ni): in, within, inside, in the midst of
So altogether it means something like “the Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-84504798114715994952017-03-08T17:19:00.000+09:002017-03-08T17:20:27.036+09:00Grace before meals – a Buddhist version
We used to say “grace” before our meals sometimes when I was growing up in Ireland. My parents didn’t make a rule of saying it at mealtimes, but every once in a while we would. It wasn’t a big deal, but it was nice to say it together like that sometimes.
In Japan, people usually say “itadakimasu” (i-ta-da-ki-ma-su) before starting a meal. There are plenty of different Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-4135422931313073102017-02-27T01:17:00.002+09:002017-02-27T01:44:26.284+09:00Japanese Prime Minister Doing Zen Meditation (and a little Zen story)  The Japanese Government have just started a campaign called “Premium Friday” to encourage businesses to let workers finish up at 3 pm on the last Friday of every month. The idea behind the campaign is to stimulate the economy by giving people more time to get out and spend money at the end of each month – which is right around payday - and to also cut down on excessive Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-8446283870778453562017-02-22T11:15:00.000+09:002017-02-22T11:15:06.850+09:00Zen Buddhist Meditation in Tokyo
Just a note to say our Saturday zazen classes in Tokyo will be starting up again this Saturday, February 25. Click here for more information. Beginners are welcome. 🔰
Pete
Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-34643709733856472052015-02-25T12:32:00.003+09:002015-02-26T12:25:09.081+09:00Gudo Nishijima Sensei Interview - Sept 2008
This is a short interview with the late Gudo Nishijima Roshi (1919 - 2014), my Buddhist teacher, in which he talks about his idea about practicing zazen (meditation) everyday in daily life, and some other topics. The video runs for about 6 minutes. Thanks to Ingrid for the video.Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-8453757929563721172014-07-26T18:33:00.001+09:002014-07-26T18:33:16.509+09:00Zen Meditation Retreat at Jampa Ling Centre in County Cavan - August 1 to 3, 2014  We'll be holding a Zen meditation retreat at the Jampa Ling Buddhist Centre near Bawnboy village in County Cavan over the weekend of August 1-3. The retreat is suitable for anyone interested in Buddhism and/or meditation, and beginners are welcome. The retreat will run from Friday evening until Sunday afternoon. At the retreat we'll be practicing sitting and walking meditation, and Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-15033659001037351522014-03-06T15:56:00.001+09:002014-03-06T15:56:54.212+09:00Couple of essays for the present moment    A friend of mine has written a couple of essays relating to the present moment for a magazine called “Culture Counter”. The first one is called “Phenomenological eco-mysticism”, which is about some experiences he had in the US and Japan recently. The second one is called “Overcoming the cult of the present moment”, which compares what is sometimes meant when people talk about Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-23261929153942163142014-02-04T23:49:00.001+09:002014-02-05T10:57:54.923+09:00Master Gudo Nishijima’s Wake  My Buddhist teacher, Master Gudo Wafu Nishijima passed away on January 28 at the age of 94. I attended his wake tonight in snowy Tokyo. It was a very nice service with his family and friends and many of his students in attendance. We chanted Buddhist sutras and offered incense, and remembered his great life and kindness to us all. The photo above is of the altar with Master Nishijima’s Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-42381762283900961122013-05-23T10:09:00.001+09:002013-05-23T10:16:09.588+09:00Tokyo Meditation Class on May 25  I’ll be holding a Zazen meditation class in Tokyo this coming Saturday, May 25. Anyone interested is welcome to attend, and attendance is free. The first part of the class will be from 11 am to 12 noon, and the second part will be from 12.30 to 2 pm. You’re welcome to come to both the morning and afternoon parts, or to either one. The schedule is: 11.00 – 11.25  Zazen 11.25 – 11.35Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-81491113708724685202012-09-30T21:56:00.001+09:002013-07-09T17:03:50.143+09:00Retreat in Cavan
We held a retreat last month at the Jampa Ling Buddhist Centre in Bawnboy in County Cavan. It was our first time to hold a Zen retreat there, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But it turned out to be a real nice retreat with a real nice group of people. Some people were trying a Buddhist retreat and meditation for the first time, while other people had been at a retreat before and had beenPeterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-90653264307453031792012-05-21T11:08:00.001+09:002012-05-21T11:35:05.005+09:00The Sun is Eclipsed by the Moon    The first album I ever bought was a cassette tape of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon”. That was back in the days before CDs and MP3. My brother had borrowed the album from one of his mates, and he played it constantly on our old record player for a week or two. We had no headphones in our house, so we all ended up listening to whatever was been played. It took me a while to Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-26864202112061923772011-12-15T10:24:00.001+09:002011-12-15T10:25:56.808+09:00Not a Long Way to Tipperary for the January Buddhist Retreat    My friend Harry Bradley is organizing a Zen Buddhist retreat next month in the lovely Glen of Aherlow in County Tipperary. The retreat will start at 7 pm on Friday 20th January and end at 5.30 pm on Sunday January 22nd.   The focus will be on zazen (seated meditation), kinhin (slow walking) and samu (work periods). There will be no chanting or formal ceremonies, although Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-43713178919519899512011-11-21T11:20:00.001+09:002011-11-22T11:46:14.573+09:00A Question of Existence and Time     Time and existence are as important for Buddhists as for anyone else. But the Buddhist idea about time and existence is different to most other ways of thinking about them. In general, we tend to think of time and existence as two separate things. I know I do anyway. Time is one thing, and existence or reality or whatever you like to call it is something else. The Buddhist Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-36353409778827860202011-11-14T15:09:00.001+09:002011-11-14T15:09:03.747+09:00I Know a Way to Eliminate Suffering from Life    My friends Ingrid and Jiku-san came to Tokyo recently from Chile for a short visit. Ingrid is a student of Gudo Nishijima Roshi and Jiku-san is a student of a Japanese monk named Daisetsu Tangen Roshi. They both became interested in Zen Buddhism after they had been practicing yoga for a while. Ingrid’s first experience with meditation was at a yoga class in Chile. After doing Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-74800628310460180212011-09-09T14:04:00.001+09:002011-09-09T14:04:26.976+09:00Zazen Practice in Tokyo      Just a note to say that our zazen class in Tokyo will be starting up again tomorrow after the summer break. The class is suitable for beginners, and anyone interested is welcome along. The times are: 11.00 - 11.25  Zazen 11.25 - 11.35  Kinhin (slow walking meditation) 11.35 - 12.00  Zazen 12.00 - 12.30  Break (for lunch or a rest)Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-91560315652038552502011-06-02T22:00:00.001+09:002011-06-02T22:00:49.482+09:00I Knew You Were Going To Ask That    Here’s a question someone asked me a while ago: Do you have a sixth sense?  How do you experience it? Everybody has a sixth sense, except they don't notice most of the time. In Japan there's an expression "i-shin-den-shin" which means something like "heart-to-heart communication". Without saying anything you can sometimes pick up a vibe from Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-89592362243069943502011-05-04T15:04:00.000+09:002011-05-04T15:12:34.173+09:00Dublin Fundraising Concert For Japan    Here’s some information about a special fundraising concert being held in Dublin next week to aid the Japan disaster victims. Many of Ireland’s very best traditional musicians are taking part, and it sounds like it’s going to be a great night. It’s being held next Tuesday, May 10, at The Button Factory in Temple Bar. All proceeds go to aid Japan and the Japanese Red Cross. Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-29661580794465721932011-04-22T15:35:00.001+09:002011-04-22T15:36:56.557+09:003-day Zen Retreat in Golden Week        If you’ll be in Japan during golden week and wouldn’t mind spending a few days at a Zen temple in the countryside, you might be interested in a retreat we’ll be holding at Tokei-in temple in Shizuoka from April 30 to May 2. The retreat is suitable for beginners, and anyone interested is welcome along. There’s some more information about the retreat here. &#Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-37324815116919808712011-04-17T12:55:00.001+09:002011-04-17T12:55:53.564+09:00My Earthquake Experience     As everyone knows, we had a terrible earthquake and tsunami in Japan last month. Tens of thousands of people were killed, and hundreds of thousands were left without their homes and jobs and belongings. About 150,000 people are still living in temporary shelters at schools and other public buildings. Several towns and villages were completely destroyed. To make things even Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-24299230702443344782010-12-03T20:38:00.012+09:002010-12-03T20:59:50.267+09:00Gudo Nishijima Roshi, 91
Gudo Nishijima turned 91 last Monday. To mark his birthday, we asked him to give a talk last Saturday at our zazen meeting at the Young Buddhists Association in Tokyo. We also invited him to a small birthday lunch afterwards at a nearby Indian restaurant.
I arranged to pick him up at his apartment on Saturday, and then take a taxi together to the place (called “Hongo-sanchome”) where Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-40280724974701111132010-11-21T16:54:00.013+09:002019-10-01T22:27:31.558+09:00Stopping and Silence Bell
If you practice mediation with a group, more than likely someone there strikes a bell to signal the start and end of each mediation period. I don’t know if there’s any other way people do it, although one time we used an empty wine glass and a fork to signal the start and end because we didn’t have a bell.
In the Soto Zen style, we hit a bell three times to start zazen and Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-75543674197673722432010-11-14T10:07:00.038+09:002010-11-14T11:32:26.659+09:00Gudo Nishijima Roshi on Buddhism and Reality
I met my Buddhist teacher, Gudo Nishijima, at his apartment in Tokyo yesterday. He’s 90 years old, but is still active for his age. He gives a Buddhist talk in Japanese every month in Tokyo, and travels to Osaka a few times a year to give a talk there. He’s also working on a new book in Japanese and he gets a lot of email from people interested in Buddhism. He told me he’s happy to be busy Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-91071709107481040702010-11-07T17:01:00.002+09:002010-11-07T17:52:04.041+09:00Early Morning Meditation An Indian friend of mine is interested in Zen Buddhism. He knows about meditation and other practices in India and tells me some ideas the Indians have about meditation. The other day we were talking about good times during the day to do zazen (zen meditation). He told me the Indians consider early morning to be the most auspicious time to do meditation. I don’t know if “most auspicious”Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8842847708665054221.post-72305810193954433832010-06-11T12:28:00.000+09:002010-06-28T10:17:16.550+09:00This is Heaven We held a 3-day zazen retreat recently at Tokei-in temple in Japan. We were a fairly big group, with people there from all parts of the world like North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia and New Zealand. There was even a woman there from the same place as me in Ireland. We'd never met before, but it turned out she’d attended the same school as one of my (very few) old Peterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04790009178764934014noreply@blogger.com12