the DharmaRealm

I’ll be honest. We spent the first half of this episode geeking out on Star Trek, talking about how this vision of a utopian future hinges on the civilizing influence of an alien culture and that the Federation, being created by humans, is actually less of a utopia and more of a homogenizing galactic empire. And it isn’t even until the last four minutes that we get around to actually defining the word “utopia.” But, really, we do talk about Buddhism (seriously!) by noting how, in analyzing the causes of suffering and offering a solution, Buddhism posits a kind of vision for a better world. So, this episode is basically all about the cultural and religious narratives that we go to for meaning and value in our lives. And, if not that, then…aliens. (Literally.)

Picking up where we left off (in our D&D episode), we wrestle again with the questions and challenges of Buddhist ethics. We begin with the assumption that a basic Buddhist ethical framework is based on compassion and informed by the wisdom of seeing the world clearly, as it is. But this clarity of vision is necessarily an attribute of an awakened being, a Buddha. The challenge posed by Shinran’s experience is the question of whether or not we, as unenlightened beings, can know good from evil? Check out the whole episode for our insights and interpretations of these important issues.

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That title should really be “Dungeons and Dragons (and Ethics).” Or “D&D, Star Wars, and Cats (with some Buddhism sprinkled in).”

In our first episode for 2016, we wanted to begin a conversation about social ethics — somehow we got sidetracked by Dungeons and Dragons, the classic role playing game that we both grew up with. Seriously, though. Is there a way to reconcile the D&D ethical and moral alignment system with Buddhist ethics? Unsurprisingly, we go off on several tangents before getting to the notion of absolute good and evil that seems implicit in the D&D system and that (some) Buddhist traditions seek to transcend. And we end, of course, talking about cats.

Happy new year!

Image of Tempel Kenninji in Kyoto, Japan copyright: © 2010, Christian Kaden

The rumors of deaths have been greatly exaggerated.

In response to a listener question, we discuss the variety of Pure Land practices outside the Shin and Japanese traditions. We begin by noting that Honen and Shinran set up distinct schools and institutions devoted to a single Pure Land practice (nenbutsu) whereas across the Buddhist world, Pure Land is best understood not as a distinct school but as a cluster of related texts, practices, orientations, and cosmologies that find expression in a wide array of approaches to awakening. Some of these approaches include the recitation of the name, others include contemplative or meditative approaches. Some are focused on Amitabha and Sukhavati, others aren’t. All of which points to the wide dispersal of Pure Land Buddhisms and the diversity of practices.

Approaching the Land of Bliss

The Contemplation Sutra

Pratyutpanna Samadhi Sutra

Image: “Dancing flames at Po Lin Monastery, Lantau Island, Hong Kong” by kartografia.

Following up on our conversation from last time, we tackle a list of listener questions that we thought would be simple but took us off in really different directions. The first question is whether or not Japanese Buddhist traditions rely on the Pali canon — yes? no? maybe? we don’t know! We (well, really, Scott) might be overanalyzing this question, but depending on what the question means, maybe yes, maybe no. This question is not unrelated to the second question — the profound “are different Buddhist traditions teaching the same thing in different ways or are they teaching different things?” On the one hand, we want to argue for some continuity in the larger flow of Buddhist history; on the other, it’s more than a little possible that the Buddha himself taught different things to different persons depending on their capacities. And that might not be a bad thing.

Image courtesy Jan.

In response to a bunch of listener questions that we thought would be pretty straightforward, we bring you several episodes to discuss, first, the differences between Japanese Buddhist schools of Jodo Shu, Jodo Shinshu, and Nichiren. What unites these traditions are their founders’ experiences in the Tendai tradition and eventual dedication to a single path of practice. For Nichiren, the exclusive path was reliance of the Lotus Sutra; for Honen and Shinran it was the Pure Land path and recitation of the name of the Buddha Amida. But there are differences of focus between them that lead to the establishment of separate traditions.

Rooflines, Myohoji Nichiren Buddhist temple, Honolulu by Joel Abroad

Reflecting on the sad news of Rev. Dr. Taitetsu Unno’s passing this past month, we thought we’d do a special short episode to acknowledge his influence in our own lives as well as appreciating our good Dharma friends and teachers. We’ll be back in a couple of weeks with full-length episodes answering listener questions. Thanks for listening and happy new year!

In memoriam: Rev. Dr. Taitetsu Unno

Okay. Some big questions this time around, none of which we’re gonna answer but we have a good time talking around the issues. Does (Shin) Buddhism give us a way to act? Are there guidelines on how to be good and avoid evil? Is it right to even judge persons as good and evil or should we talk about good and evil behavior instead? Are these categories even native to (Shin) Buddhism or are we asking questions from a non-Buddhist context? Doesn’t Shinran mention the foolish beings of good and evil? What the heck is evil anyway!? It’s a good ride. Scott says some things he’ll probably regret, Harry is as insightful as always, we run through good, evil, the Tannisho, the Golden Chain and magic and end up places we didn’t think we’d get to. Enjoy!

Photo credit: Singapore Dragon Silk, by Drriss & Marrionn

We’re doing a post-modern meta show about the show where we talk about the show. It’s been six years, this is episode number eighty, and we want to take stock and talk about what we’ve done and where we’re headed. Actually, we have a really hard time remembering what we talk about once we post these things on the web, so we’re not going to talk much about what we’ve said as much about how we think about the show. We think of the last six years as part of a long — and ongoing — learning process, and we really appreciate all our listeners sticking by us. You’re awesome!

Image courtesy bebouchard