What you say matters. What you think matters. What you do matters. Your thoughts, words and deeds create your Karma. Buddhism’s teaches that unhappiness begins with illusion, which is based on earthly desire. Through the thoughts and actions that result from illusion, we create karma, and as a result of that karma, we experience suffering.
The twelve-linked chain of causation is an explanation of how this three-tiered causal relationship (illusion, karma and suffering) applies to the reality of our lives. The eighth clause in the twelve-linked chain is Ai (want). It refers to awareness of feelings of fierce craving that result from pain and pleasure, as when a thirsty person craves water. When pain is sensed, one experiences a strong craving to try to avoid the hateful feeling, and when pleasure is felt, the experience creates an intense desire to try to maintain the sensation. The ninth clause is Shu (taking). It refers to the act of physically or verbally choosing to take or reject something. While the previous clause referred to the heart’s burning desires of love and hatred, “taking” refers to real actions that are taken in response to such emotions. Plundering what one wants, and getting rid of, wounding or killing what one hates, are examples of such actual conduct.*
Visit Myosenji Temple Sunday, June 30th, to hear our Chief Priest explain how your Karma works and how you can eradicate your negative karma and gain absolute happiness in this lifetime.
Learn how to chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and properly use the Juzu Beads, Buddhist prayer beads.
Q&A with our Chief Priest.
The meeting starts at 2:00 pm and concludes around 3:15 pm. Open to the public and free.
“Seeking mind” means to want to draw closer to the state of life of the Buddha, even if only by a little. Seeking mind means to summon a deep desire to part with shallow whims and attain the supreme enlightenment. This is expressed as one of the Four Universal Vows of the Bodhisattva — the vow to attain the supreme enlightenment.
Everyone has desires of some sort. What a person yearns for the most, and how strongly he or she struggles to obtain it, says a lot about that person’s approach to life.
No matter how strong the spirit to seek, as long as what is sought is confined to things like wealth, power, acclaim, position, health and the like (in other words, as long as the desires are for “treasures of the storehouse” or “treasures of the body”) it has no relation to what is known in Buddhism as a “seeking mind.” A yearning cannot be called a “seeking mind” unless what you are seeking is at least to improve your character, achieve growth as a human being, or aim for a more elevated way of life. Make “treasures of the heart” your ardent desire.*
Buddhism’s Ten Worlds Introductory Lecture – SUN June 16, 2024
Visit Myosenji Temple this Sunday, June 16th, at 2:00 pm for a brief lecture by our Chief Priest Rev Sakabe. He will explain how Buddhism will teach you how to create a beautiful mind and keep you on the road to happiness with your daily Buddhist practice and understanding the core Buddhist belief of the Ten Worlds.
Chief Priest brief lecture on the Ten Worlds
Learn how to chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and properly use the Juzu Beads, Buddhist prayer beads.
Q&A with our Chief Priest.
The meeting starts at 2:00 pm and concludes around 3:15 pm. Open to the public.
. . . even if the ebbing and flowing of the tides were to halt, or even if the sun were to rise in the west, the prayer of a votary of the Lotus Sutra would never fail to be answered . . . . Even if a votary of the Lotus Sutra is insincere, even if his wisdom is on the level of a fool, even if his body is impure and even if he does not possess virtue from keeping the precepts, if he chants Nam-Myoho-Renge-Kyo, [the Shoten Zenjin] will never fail to protect him.
written by Nichiren Daishonin, 13th century Japan
Our primary Buddhist practice is chanting Nam Myoho Renge Kyo (called Daimoku). Our supplementary practice is the recitation of the Hoben (2nd) and the Juryo (16th) chapters of the Lotus Sutra. We call it Gongyo. We perform five prayers in the morning and three prayers in the evening.
First Prayer: Facing East
In morning Gongyo, for the first prayer, we face east and offer our Daimoku (chanting) to the Shoten Zenjin. The innate protective functions and powers of the universe are called Shoten Zenjin. The Shoten Zenjin are nourished by Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and function through the power of Nam Myoho Renge Kyo. In the first prayer, we offer Daimoku to the Shoten Zenjin, with central focus on Dainittenno (the powers and function exhibited by the sun), and pray that their protective functions may thereby increase.
Sunday, June 16th, our Chief Priest, Rev Sakabe will share his Introductory lecture on the core Buddhist concept, the Ten Worlds. You will also learn how those who chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo are protected by the innate protective functions and powers of the universe (Shoten Zenjin).
Learn how to chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and properly use the Juzu Beads, Buddhist prayer beads.
Q&A with our Chief Priest.
The meeting starts at 2:00 pm and concludes around 3:15 pm. Open to the public.
We all want to become happy, stronger and more resilient in our daily life. Yet our worries cause us suffering. Uncovering and revealing the world of Buddhahood is the fundamental source for attacking the root cause of suffering in human life, and for resolving every possible form of distress. To learn what “Buddhahood” means and how we can achieve this life condition in our own life, in our current environment, you need to understand what the core beliefs are in Buddhism.
Buddhism’s Core Beliefs & Practice
Visit our Temple (Online) this Sunday, May 26, 2024, for a brief video presentation and lecture by our Chief Priest, Rev Sakabe.
The meeting starts at 2:00 pm and concludes around 3:15 pm.
If you have decided to become a Buddhist or are interested in learning how to become a Buddhist, after Sunday’s meeting (about 3:30 pm) Rev Sakabe will be performing the Acceptance of the Precept Ceremony, the ceremony where you become a Buddhist.
Visit Myosenji Temple to hear Chief Priest Rev Sakabe share how you can awaken and gain a new perspective on KARMA and Buddhism and the world around you.
For many Americans, karma is sparking curiosity and confusion in equal measure. Here’s why — Karma encompasses both positive and negative aspects, capable of opening opportunities, alleviating suffering, and creating joy, as well as disrupting or damaging one’s life. Every individual in this world possesses both positive and negative karma. Our only option is to confront and overcome our karma in order to attain peace and happiness in life.
Brief lecture on Karma & Buddhism by our Chief Priest, Rev Sakabe on Sunday, May 19, 2024 (in-person at Myosenji Temple or via Myosenji’s Live Stream)
Learn how to chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo and properly use the Juzu Beads, Buddhist prayer beads.
Q&A with our Chief Priest.
The meeting will begin at 2:00 pm and ends about 3:15 pm. Open to the public.
