Dharma Wheel

I guess people are not that familiar with these authors lol

Bombus are gonna bombu, I know how you feel I often am frustrated as well. Since there is nothing you can do about it, though, worrying and being frustrated is just hurting yourself for no reason. Focus on the nembutsu, and Amida, try not to dwell on this situation. Rest in the knowledge that your t...

Hey all, Occasionally I'll see quite a big spider in my house, I live in the Philippines. I am a big arachnophobic, unfortunately as a child I had a horrible experience with spiders, I cannot even get near them. My method as of now is just throwing something in their general direction to get them to...

Hello All, It's been a long time since I've posted on the forum, happy to be back. I've been spending a lot of time studying as well as taking the BCA Jodo Shinshu Correspondence Course, and talking to several priests and mentors and have found myself settled on the Shin path. I am wondering what th...

Hello all, I was wondering what people thought about the *reasons* we wish to be reborn in the PL. If we desire to be reborn in the PL purely to save ourselves from death and rebirth, will we go? Some things I have read claim that we won't, some say its irrelevant. Wondering what you all thought. I ...

OK, I understand this, but does that mean that not all of Amidas vows are fulfilled?? The 13th specifically says his lifespan will be never ending...

I see. I guess my question is, though Amida will go into parinirvana, does the Vow still work throughout all time (even after Amida's parinirvana)? If so, why?

As a Shin practitioner, I feel that the biggest difference is that Shinran encourages one to do lots of investigation called 'deep listening' (reading the sutras, asking questions to clear up doubts etc.) to receive genuine faith (like a gift from Amida), while Honen's approach was to say the nembut...

Hey everybody! Been a LONG time since I posted, I've been moving around quite a bit as well as reading a lot of Dharma and am currently writing this from Vietnam! Good to be back and I hope to interact more now that I am more well-versed in Pure Land =) I had a question for you all, I recently heard...

Empty Desire, Thanks for that, friend. I am assuming now, you do have Faith and it gives me hope that I can receive that from Amida. I honestly want genuine faith more than anything else in the world. I want to know that my birth is settled, that great burden lifted. I am coming to the realization t...

Monlam, Thanks for your reply, the comment you posted by Honen/Shinran really resonated with what I'm feeling. I have been reading a lot about shinjin, and felt that maybe it was my lack of gratitude that was holding me back from receiving it, but as you just demonstrated, it seems like Shinran felt...

Hey all, I am having trouble feeling gratitude, it's really a life long problem. My parents used to chastise me for being ungrateful, I think it's a part of my extreme selfishness. As per master Shinran, he says we should say the nembutsu in gratitude for what Amida has done for us. I believe Amida ...

'Calculation' to me is somewhat confusing; in my understanding, it consists of performing any of the self-power practices for either attaining birth or liberation, or thinking that there is anything we ourselves can do for our own liberation. Does it also apply to saying what we should and should n...

Sounds like whoever you're talking with can't defend their views so they vilify people who disagree with them. This modern idea that there's no such thing as Amida and it's just a keyword for something inside ourselves is very modern and has nothing to do with classical teachings in Chan. The idea ...

thanks for the replies everyone, I hadn't considered the whole issue of karma, and being born in a position not be able to hear the Dharma. These comments really cleared this up for me. I appreciate everyone helping me out, this forum has been an ENORMOUS resource for helping me figure this stuff ou...

Hello All! Sorry for so many questions, lol, I am in between jobs and as such am dedicating my time to studying more in depthly and many questions are arising lol. a person I have dharma discussions with keeps telling me that essentially any 'calculation' is not consistent with the Middle Way, its a...

Hello All! I have a question involving disability and its relationship to PL. In Honen/Shinran's writings in particular I see the PL gate as being mentioned as the gate for everyone, but while contemplating this, I started to ask 'what about the disabled?' In their time I am sure there were people b...

Well, for laypeople sexuality and sexual misconduct are not really the same. That is, laypeople are not expected to abandon all forms of sensuality so we have the Precepts to refrain from overtly harmful actions instead. Some people interpret sexual misconduct as covering homosexuality. I personall...

Outside of Pureland though, does the Buddha teach that you must become a man before reaching Buddhahood?

I guess I'm ok with seeing this as cultural tampering entering the Buddha Dharma, because otherwise I can't seem to make sense of it in my mind. Its the same thing with the Larger sutra that says women must become men first to enter Sukhavati; while we're here is there any scholarship on that line ...