the DharmaRealm

Institutionalism, anti-institutionalism

Scott — Fri, 18 May 2012 15:30:52 +0000

We pick up our conversation from last time about the attrition problem in American Shin Buddhism, its possible causes, and solutions. This time we focus on our listener’s suggestion that there is an essential anti-institutionalism within Shin Buddhism. We’re on the fence on that one; we want to be cautious about reading too much of our own cultural and historical biases into very different cultural and historical contexts. Was Shinran’s understanding of “institution” the same as ours? Or was he advocating for a completely different kind of community? Of course, we’ve inherited centuries of temple bureaucracy and hierarchy, and it’s absolutely important to be self-critical and question how we do things as an institution. Can we think of new ways to envision Shin community in contemporary America?

Listener question: challenges facing the BCA

Scott — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:30:30 +0000

A listener wrote in to ask about the problem of attrition in the Buddhist Churches of America (or Jodo Shinshu more generally) and suggested a few possible doctrinal reasons for declining membership including Shinran’s seemingly anti-institutional and anti-ritualistic understandings of Buddhism. Harry and Scott tackle these questions starting with the assumption that membership is declining. It brings up some important sociological questions about who is and who isn’t “a Buddhist” or who is “religious”? (Not to mention how the BCA counts and tracks members.) We also discuss the important question of how Shinran’s doctrinal understandings of Buddhism translate to the motivations behind lay members coming to temple (or not). The question is a good, deep, important one, giving us an opportunity for personal and institutional self-reflection.

Love and Creation

Scott — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:03:58 +0000

Inspired by conversations in our last two episodes, today we discuss creativity, art, and love. What does Buddhism have to say about the creative process? Is it merely a kind of desire? Or attachment? And what about familial and romantic love? (It is almost Valentine’s Day, after all!) Classical Buddhism suggests that we ought to remove all attachment and desires; but the flip side is the compassion of the Buddha, often spoken of in terms of a sort of universalized familial love. Believe it or not, we still find room in all of this to talk about art, music, film, and — of course — Star Trek!

Suspension of Disbelief

Scott — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:58:59 +0000

We’re not done with TRON yet! Well, sort of we are. We use TRON — film, art, music, anything really — as a jumping off point for discussing the suspension of disbelief. What is it about our expectations or preconceptions that sometimes get in our way, that keep us from appreciating certain kinds of films? This is a jumping off point for us get into Abhidharma and Yogacara philosophy, to talk about how our perceptions often determine our reality, and how often times we are unable to see things as they are.

Buddhism and TRON

Scott — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 17:00:02 +0000

We’re going to talk about Buddhism and sci-fi again! Get ready for several episodes about sci-fi, movies, music, the creative process, and Buddhism.

In this episode we talk about TRON: Legacy, a movie that probably only the two of us and, like, three other people ever saw. But it’s got specific and explicit Buddhist references. And its star, Jeff Bridges, has said he has a Buddhist practice. Does this make Tron a Buddhist movie? What does it even mean for something to be a “Buddhist” movie? We talk about these issues as well as the specific Buddhist elements in Tron, the creative process, Buddhism, art, and music.

Startling Superficial Soteriological Similarities

Scott — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 15:00:41 +0000

Inspired by a listener question, we explore some of the superficial similarities between Pure Land Buddhism and the monotheistic religions. After considering the difficulty of really knowing the historical origins of Mahayana Buddhism and Pure Land Buddhism, let alone what sort of connections may have existed between South Asia and the Near East, we think about the idea of universalism between religions. What lies behind this longing to see similarities between religious traditions? What is our attachment to the idea of a universal religious Truth? Can we live in difference with other traditions, or even other Buddhists? All this and more in this episode!

Episode 51: We’re back!

Scott — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 15:00:34 +0000

It’s been six months since our last episode. Where’ve we been? What did we do all summer? Now that we’re back in the “studio,” we recap some of the stuff we’ve been working on and promise to release new episodes this fall. After a short chat about what it’s like to be a professional Buddhist, we talk about some of the projects we’ve been working on including research on Buddhism and the media and encounters between East and West. We want to encourage our listeners to keep sending us their questions, and keep listening for new episodes soon!

Buddhism, freedom, and the pursuit of happiness

Scott — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:48:15 +0000

Hey! This is our fiftieth episode!

This week, we take up our conversation from last time about aspects of American culture and their intersection with Buddhism — this time, talking about freedom. What does freedom mean in an American context? And how is this more political understanding different from or similar to soteriological concerns of freedom from samsara in Buddhism? This conversation leads us into the murky waters of the “happiness industry” and the growing connection in America between Buddhism and happiness. We argue that Buddhism challenges us to go beyond simplistic dualisms between happiness and sadness and critically examine our own selves and our own lives. This sort of radical honesty leads to being truly human. We wrap things up with a discussion of the importance of being critical of own’s own cultural baggage (no matter where that baggage comes from) and being open to having a true dialogue between Buddhism and American culture.

America, Buddhism, and Individualism

Scott — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 16:47:17 +0000

Inspired by a Dharma Talk at the BCA National Council Meeting, Rev. Harry starts us off by suggesting that individualism is a point of contact between Buddhism and American culture. This seems somewhat counterintuitive given that individuality seems at odds with Buddhist ideas of interdependence, no-self, or non-attachment to the ego. But we think there may be a way for Buddhist notions of individualism to engage in dialogue with American ones while finding a balance between a complete denial of the self and egocentric narcism. This conversations takes us into Shin Buddhist philosophy, the Tannisho, and brings us back to Yogacara conceptions of reality itself.

A Buddhist view of History

Scott — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 15:32:49 +0000

For some reason, we thought we’d start talking about the Seven Masters. But we get immediately sidetracked by Herbert Güenther, a Buddhist scholar who wrote about the Madhyamaka and Yogacara schools of Buddhism. Interestingly, his discussion of the development of these schools isn’t exactly historically accurate from a Western point of view — but it is from a traditional Tibetan scholastic one! This different way of reading history sets us off on a discussion of how our understandings of history itself is colored by our often uncritical acceptance of a Western/European/progressive view of history that suggests human civilization is getting better all the time. But this raises all sorts of ethical and philosophical and even Buddhist problems that we take up in this episode.

In this episode, we also make mention of the Spring 2011 Ryukoku Lecture happening at the Institute of Buddhist Studies. Check out the IBS website for details and the IBS podcast in the coming weeks for audio and video from this event.

Ichinen-sanzen (part two)

Scott — Sat, 19 Feb 2011 01:28:14 +0000

In this episode, we continue our conversation on ichinen-sanzen, but take the conversation up a notch. We’re wrestling with some difficult issues in Buddhist philosophy; namely, if we understand samsara to be the realm of delusion and defilements and nirvana to be a purified realm, how do we reconcile this dichotomy with a generally non-dualistic perspective in Buddhism? And what is the mechanism by which we can transform ourselves from one state to another? In Mahayana thought, this issues is dealt with by focusing on the identity of samsara and nirvana; to borrow a phrase, form is emptiness and emptiness if form. In this view, samsara and nirvana are two sides of the same coin. But Tientai takes this even further by suggesting that there aren’t two sides; it’s all the same thing. Thus, both samsara and nirvana totally interpenetrate. This perspective, though, has profound implications on ethics and how we judge whether our actions are good or bad, right or wrong. We suggest that Buddhism at its best is critical, that it forces us to critically examine our subjective perspectives on what we think we know while (hopefully) leading us toward better wisdom and compassion.

Ichinen-sanzen (part one)

Scott — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 16:00:21 +0000

Rev. Harry brings up the complex idea of ichinen sanzen — three thousands things in a single thought moment — from Tendai (Tiantai) Buddhism. In short, ichinen sanzen says that each thought moment contains within it all of existence — wait, what? How does all of existence exist within each thought moment? Whose thought moment? Mine? And how long is a thought moment? Somehow all of this is related to broader Buddhist concepts of interdependence but also reincarnation and the six (or ten?) realms of rebirth — not to mention Shinran’s understanding of birth in the Pure Land. And all of this complex philosophizing is all well and good, of course, but how does it help us with the more visceral experiences of life and death?

Buddhism and belief

Scott — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 15:45:03 +0000

Inspired by a listener question/discussion on Facebook, we tackle the issue of belief in (Shin) Buddhism, specifically when it comes to Pure Land imagery. Are we expected to believe in it in some substantive, literal sense? Or do we take it as metaphorical? Symbolic? Symbolic of what exactly? We start by suggesting that wrestling with these questions allows us to think critically about what the point of Buddhist practice is in the first. Why do we practice? Because in some sense we believe it will work. But is this belief in the efficacy of Buddhist practice any different from other forms of religious belief? These are some of the questions we wrestle with in this episode.

Buddhism and humanity

Scott — Fri, 08 Oct 2010 16:00:26 +0000

In this episode, we wrap up our conversation about humanism and Buddhism and what the two might have to say to one another, starting off with a question about what Buddhism might say regarding the value or importance of humanity. Humanism seems to suggest that humanity is rather important. But in Buddhism we find ourselves, at best, one kind of sentient being among many. At worst, especially in Shin Buddhism, we’re foolish, unenlightened beings caught up in a web of messy karma that challenges the positive idealization of humanity and makes tough work of morality and ethics. We want to thank our listeners once again for sending in such thought-provoking question — keep ‘em coming!

Individual practice, community practice

Scott — Fri, 24 Sep 2010 23:06:06 +0000

Even though this week’s episode isn’t really about humanism per se, we pick up where we left off last time, allowing Scott a moment to clarify what he meant when he said that Buddhism doesn’t care about the individual. This week is really all about individual practice versus community practice, what does it mean to practice, and what do you do when you don’t live anywhere near any other Buddhists? This is a question we get asked a lot by folks who are “distant members” or “solo practitioners,” and it’s an especially important and difficult one for Jodo Shinshu which seems to place so much emphasis on community-based practice. But perhaps in these isolated and new communities we can see glimpses of the future, individual practitioners who are unencumbered by older and rigid communities, folks who are more engaged in multi-yana perspectives. All this and more in this week’s episode. Enjoy!

Buddhism and Humanism

Scott — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 21:21:50 +0000

We’re back!

Using a couple of related listener questions as a jumping off point, we start a conversation about what Buddhism might have to say about (secular) humanism or what humanism might have to say about Buddhism. Apart from anything humanism may have to say about the rejection of a supernatural or religious foundation for ethical behavior, humanism also has something to say about about humanity’s place in and our relationship and responsibility to the world. So what does Buddhism have to say about humanity’s place in relation to other sentient beings? We don’t stop there, of course, and discuss the issue of whether or not Buddhism really is a rational and scientific religion as many claim (or want) it to be. All of this leads Scott to close the episode by saying some terribly silly things that he’ll no doubt recant in some future episode. So stay tuned!

It’s Summertime

Scott — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 23:16:45 +0000

It’s summertime. So here’s an important announcement and a hearty thank you!

Live show part two: nembutsu and music

Scott — Fri, 07 May 2010 15:00:04 +0000

In the second installment of our live show, we answer two listener questions. First, we received a question about Shin Buddhist nembutsu practice and the concern that chanting the nembutsu might be something of a crutch, that while making one more calm it might distract us from very real world social problems. We frame this in a conversation about the middle way, the path between extremes of self-doubt and self-indulgance, and how difficult it is to actually walk that path. Our second question came in via Twitter during the live broadcast and was about, generally, the appropriateness of translating Japanese gathas, songs, or chants into English. We focus mostly on the music side the question, exploring the appropriateness of ease of setting English language songs to traditional Japanese musical styles (or vice versa).

Live show part one: cosmology

Scott — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 19:41:27 +0000

Our second live recording — actually live this time and broadcast via webstream across the Internets — was recorded in the lobby of the Jodo Shinshu Center. This is the first installment of that day’s recording. Our jumping-off point is our previous conversations about science fiction and Buddhism, focusing here on the issue of cosmology and world view. There are all sorts of ways that we form world views, many different types of cosmology in pop-culture or music. And certainly Buddhism has a distinctive cosmology itself. We suggest, though, that there’s a big difference between the world view of Star Trek fans and Buddhism in part because the later actually challenges us to question our assumptions about cosmologies and world views. We circle around a bit before getting back to some of the concrete ideas within traditional Buddhism cosmology (such as multiple Buddhas, the six realms of rebirth, and so on) and ask, is any of this relevant in our modern world? We make a strong case for its continued relevance regardless of whether or not you take it as literally or merely symbolically true.

Stay tuned for future releases from our live show in the coming weeks!

live show: poster

Scott — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 17:06:01 +0000

Download, print, and spread the word.

This show will be available as a live webcast! Click here for more information.

For more info, check the Facebook event listing, or follow us on Twitter.

Thanks much to Amy Umezu for creating this awesome poster on such short notice!

Buddhism and sci-fi (part two)

Scott — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 19:54:15 +0000

Picking up from where we left off, this week we ask what does any of this sci-fi stuff have to do with Buddhism?! On the one hand, while there may be parallels between sci-fi and Buddhism, often they deal with similar issues in very different ways. How movies like Alien or Starship Troopers deal with otherness, for example, is to suggest that the other is completely alien and dangerous and must be completely destroyed. But in (Shin) Buddhism, otherness is the compassion of Amida, something that completely embraces us. In our further explorations of the genre, we recognize how sci-fi forces us to think differently about simplistic ideas such as good and evil or what we assume reality is, pushing us to question our own motivations or preconceptions. Harry makes the mistake of asking Scott about time travel (don’t get him started on time travel!) which takes us off into a conversation about karma, free will, and predestination. All of which we wrap up with a question about whether or not our mediated experiences are taking us away from reality or are just a reflection of a different type of reality.

Buddhism and sci-fi (part one)

Scott — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:00:44 +0000

This week, Harry and Scott take up the topic of Buddhism and science fiction, inspired in part by our off-hand conversation about Cthulhu from a couple weeks back and in part by Harry reading Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, the novel that in turn inspired the movie Blade Runner. (Spoiler alert! We give away the ending and lots of plot points, so, you know, listener beware.) This gets us talking about several themes in several seminal sci-fi works that are relevant to Buddhism and Buddhist philosophy including the nature of the self, what it means to be human/a sentient being, what is reality, and, of course, “who am I?” Dick’s story seems to suggest that empathy is the defining characteristic that sets humans apart from artificially created replicant androids. In Blade Runner, memory serves a similar function. But in both the book and the film, empathy and memory can be artificially generated which highlights the way that sci-fi is able to force us to question reality or to see reality in a different way. This of course gets us into Star Trek, The Matrix, Starship Troopers, and Star Wars, among other things. Scott unapologetically calls the original 1977 Star Wars film a “pretty cheesy movie” (break out the fan-boy hate mail!) before we wrap it all up with the question of what any of this has to do with Buddhism — a conversation that is continued in part two.

Don’t forget to check the website for information on our live recording next month and, as Harry recommends at the start of this episode, follow him on Twitter.

Seven Masters (part three): is Cthulhu one of the seven masters?

Scott — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 17:24:53 +0000

Continuing on in our meandering diversion from a conversation about the Shinshu Seven Masters, this episode starts right where we left off last time in a conversation about the promises and pitfalls of “one Buddhism” or a universal religion. The underlying issue here has to do with problems of difference or “otherness,” something that we somehow manage to relate both to post-colonial theory and Mahayana philosophy. (No. Really.) In post-colonial theory we find the urge to both deify and demonize the other (which has particular implications for Buddhism’s transmission to the West); and in Mahayana we find a tension in the perennial debate between the complete otherness of nirvana from samsara versus the form-is-emptiness stance of the simultaneity of nirvana and samsara. And believe it or not, all of this actually brings us back to Genshin — one of the Seven Masters of Shin Buddhism! But don’t worry, we don’t linger there too long; we’re still pretty caught up on Cthulhu and Aliens.

Speaking on Aliens, don’t forget to check out our website for more information on our upcoming live recording in April.

The DharmaRealm Live Recording

Scott — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 19:54:42 +0000

Join us at the Jodo Shinshu Center on Saturday, April 10 for a live recording of the DharmaRealm podcast. Doors open at 1 p.m.

Following a short musical performance, we’ll be discussing, among other things, Buddhist cosmology and imagined worlds. How are Buddhist ideas of rebirth, Pure Lands, and other worlds relevant to our everyday practice? And how can other imagined worlds in pop-culture help us understand Buddhism? You can get a sneak-peek of this topic in our March 19th episode on Buddhism and science fiction.

The show starts at noon and is free and open to the public. Our public shows always include plenty of time for discussion, so come with your questions and we’ll do our best to address them.

You can send your questions to us here by clicking the “Have a question link” on the right-hand side of this page. Or submit questions via our Twitter feed or Facebook page.

This show will be available as a live webcast! Click here at show time to watch live!

Seven Masters (part two): not really about the seven masters

Scott — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 15:00:33 +0000

Some time ago, a listener asked us to talk about the Seven Masters and we dutifully responded with an episode on Nagarjuna. We thought we might take a stab at the other Masters, but this post quickly veers off topic — but the diversion is well worth a listen! The conversation begins with a discussion of how the various Shin Seven Masters are common to a lot of other Buddhist schools suggesting a common denominator or point of contact for intra-Buddhist dialogue. But we acknowledge that each school interprets these great Buddhist teachers in its own way thus highlighting the differences. This leads to a conversation about language and the tendency among some to reduce the whole of the Buddhist tradition down to an easy essentialism and the dangers (as well as potential benefits) of this type of behavior. Be sure to listen to part two in a couple of weeks for the continuation of this conversation.

Listener question: where is the Vow?

Scott — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 15:30:50 +0000

Inspired by a conversation amongst fans on our Facebook page, we take up the issue of vows in Buddhism. Obviously, we need to start with how vows are understood specifically in the Mahayana context, especially Bodhisattva vows. But these aren’t the only types of vows in Buddhism, and we discuss different types of vows. Some are almost future tense (things we’re promising to do) whereas other are definitely past-tense — especially the vows that Dharmakara Bodhisattva made before he became Amitabha Buddha. These vows set up a karmic mechanism by which all sentient beings are able to enter the bodhisattva path and attain Buddhahood. So, where is the vow? It’s the question we try and tackle in this first episode of 2010.

Live show part four: marriage and politics

Scott — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 16:00:42 +0000

In the final episode of our first live broadcast, we tackle more audience questions. To get things started, we field a question about the BCA’s official position on same-sex marriage (a big shout out to Rev. Briones’ officiating at the wedding of George Takei and Brad Altman!). This bounces us around some questions regarding BCA’s political opinions more generally which is hard to pin down with such a large, internally diverse organization. And from there we segue into a conversation about how we got interested in Buddhism and the religious backgrounds we were raised in. Not surprisingly, this takes us back to the earlier question about basic Buddhism the value basic Buddhism can have when you’re just starting out on the Buddhist path.

We’d like to thank everyone who helped up pull off our first live show. And you can be sure that there will be more live events in the new year!

Live show part three: abortion and shinjin

Scott — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:26:33 +0000

In part of three of the live show series, our first question has to do with Shin Buddhism’s stance on aborted fetuses. Scott cleverly ducks the question but Harry provides some interesting insight into the Japanese ritual of mizuko kuyo (water baby ceremony) and the efficacy of ritual in Shin Buddhist context. Our second question is the ever-popular, if you had shinjin, would you know? Or, more specifically, given our deluded state as foolish beings, is it even possible to attain shinjin in this life. We both say yes (doctrinally, it has to be possible!), but provide some nuance to what shinjin is all about in the first place — a process, a relational state between the self and Amida’s compassion, like being in love — and we round it off with a good discussion of Shin Buddhism being a Buddhism of failure.

Live show part two: rants

Scott — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:00:31 +0000

In the second installment of our Live Show, we start off talking about the distinctiveness of Shin Buddhism and its difference and similarities to other types of Buddhism. This somehow sets us off on a series of rants against, among other things, The Golden Chain and universalistic Buddhism. (Our apologies to Golden Chain or One Dharma fans out there!) These rants serve a purpose, though, and that is to challenge us to wrestle with difficult questions; it’s this wrestling that allows for spiritual growth, after all. And after these rants, we got our first audience question, a question about stereotypes we come up against as Buddhists. This, of course, sets us off on a couple of new rants about, among other things, Shin Buddhism being not “real” Buddhism and inter-sectarian name calling.

First live show: a certain reality

Scott — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:30:02 +0000

On Friday October 2, we did our first recording before a live studio audience. Setting up in the Kodo of the Jodo Shinshu Center, Harry and I did a little live mixing of our theme music before launching into a regular podcast, this one inspired by a listener question. The question? What’s the Pure Land? No easy task, of course, and our answers — even before a live audience — had our usual meandering quality, touching on such issues as where is the Pure Land, when are we born there, and most importantly, what’s the point of being born in the Pure Land? (Hint: it’s to do Buddha-work here in this world.) This episode’s catch phrase was that the Pure Land has a certain reality which forces us to question our practice and our path.

The live recording went on for a good couple of hours, so we’ll have more episodes from this one event. And this was certainly not the last time we’ll be recording before a live audience. So be sure to check the website or our Facebook page for updates.

Listener question: where are all the bodhisattvas?

Scott — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 19:33:12 +0000

A listener writes in with an extremely interesting question: if Jodo Shinshu claims that when you go to the Pure Land you come back to this world as a bodhisattva, where are all these bodhisattvas?! This begs a lot of questions and raises a lot of issues about Jodo Shinshu Buddhism with the most obvious being, what is a bodhisattva? We can think of them as “Buddhas in training,” real sentient beings doing specific actions; but we can also think of them as “cosmic” or semi-spiritial beings, maybe working behind the scenes. But Harry points out that according to Shinran, birth in the Pure Land leads not to bodhisattva-hood — but to fully enlightened Buddhahood! That, of course, begs the question of, well, where are all the Buddhas? So we do our best to talk about how we can understand these teachings and put them into practice in our everyday lives in both spiritual and practical terms.

We’re doin’ it live!

Scott — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 17:00:21 +0000

The DharmaRealm Podcast: Live!
At the Jodo Shinshu Center
Friday October 2, 2009 at 5 p.m.

Harry and I are going to be recording the DharmaRealm podcast before a live “studio audience.” If you’re going to be in Berkeley on October 2, please join us at the Jodo Shinshu Center.

The event will start with a live performance of Harry’s music followed by a short discussion between Harry and Scott on an as-yet undetermined topic. We’ll turn the mic over the audience for questions after that, so come prepared with your burning Buddhist questions and we’ll do our best to answer them.

The Jodo Shinshu Center is located at
2140 Durant Avenue in Berkeley
at the corner of Durant and Oxford. There is (limited) free parking, but the best way to get there is via BART; the Downtown Berkeley station is just four blocks to the north.

We do all our recording in the JSC’s Kodo which is just up the stairs in the main entrance.

Get there early to check out the BCA Bookstore, the largest Buddhist bookstore in northern California. They’ve not only got a great collection of books but also plenty of altar accoutrement as well as gifts, music and more.

Justice

Scott — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:00:59 +0000

Our first show of the fall season (recorded earlier this summer) was inspired by a bumper sticker of all things: if you want peace, work for justice. Harry and Scott take up the question of what is justice? And what does justice mean in a Buddhist context? Of course never ones to give you a straight answer, we take seriously the notion that there is no “one Buddhism” to which we can turn and recognize that different Buddhists across the world and through history have had different ideas about creating a harmonious society, many of which may raise the hackles of progressive, liberal, American Buddhists. But we do think that justice (in the social, engaged, or ecological senses of the word) is related to three central Buddhist concepts: karma, mindfulness, and compassion. We dig into these pretty deep and leave the question open for future reflection.

And don’t forget! If you’re going to be in Berkeley on October 2, we’re hosting a live recording of the DharmaRealm podcast. Check the Facebook page or the blog for more information.

summer break and news

Scott — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:00:32 +0000

Harry and I are taking a little summer break which, sorry to say, means there’s no new episode this week. But don’t worry. We’ll be back the first Friday in September with more new episodes on Buddhism and the Dharma.

We also wanted to make sure all of our listeners know about a special event coming up in October. For the first time ever, the DharmaRealm is going to be recorded before a live audience. You’ll have a chance to ask us all your Buddhist questions in person without having to wait for the next episode.

The live event is scheduled for Friday, October 2nd and will be held here at the Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley, California. So if you going to be in the area, mark your calendars and come on out.

You can find more information about the event on our website at DharmaRealm.com. Or you can become a fan on our Facebook page for more updates. And feel free to follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/djbuddha.

Thanks as always for listening and all your support. And we’ll see you in the fall.

Seven Masters (part one): Nagarjuna

Scott — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:31:55 +0000

Once again, we take our inspiration from you, our listeners! One of our Facebook fans asks about the Seven Pure Land Masters, so we take up the cause with what may be the beginning a seven-part series. In this episode, we talk about Nagarjuna, a seminal figure whose twin concepts, emptiness (Å›unyata) and the two truths theory, are foundational for the development of Mahayana Buddhism. These conceptions of reality fit squarely within in the wisdom tradition of Buddhism more generally, and we can see a relationship between the ideas of the ultimate truth being beyond language and the inconceivable nature of Amida Buddha. Shinran writes in the Kyogyoshinsho that Nagarjuna was born to “crush the views of being and nonbeing,” which suggests that he was aware of Nagarjuna’s emptiness theories. And of course there is the ever important statement of Nagarjuna that the Pure Land Path is the “easy path” of practice. We talk about all of this and more in this week’s episode.

For some background, here’s a list of the Seven Pure Land Masters:
Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu ( India)
Tan-luan, Tao-cho, Shan-tao (China)
Genshin, Honen (Japan)

And a some of the works we discuss this week include:
Nagarjuna’s MÅ«lamadhyamakakÄrikÄ
The Collected Works of Shinran

Listener question: ordination

Scott — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:00:02 +0000

A listener posed a two-part question via our Facebook page about why there aren’t monks in the Shin tradition and how one becomes a minister. We tackle this complicated issue by going back to the beginning with a quick overview of Buddhist monastic history from Sakyamuni Buddha through the rest of Asia. Things get a bit complicated in Japan, especially when Honen and Shinran seem to turn the categories of “monks” and “laypeople” on their heads. This brings us to the second part of the questions, how one actually becomes a Shin minister. So we talk a bit about tokudo, the actual ordination ceremony, and other rites and procedures. And we wrap it with a discussion about the role of ministers in contemporary Shin Buddhism.

Listener question: the future

Scott — Fri, 15 May 2009 16:00:38 +0000

Prompted by a listener who asked us to speculate on the next century of Buddhism in America, this time around we talk about some current trends and social issues that will no doubt have an influence on the direction of Buddhist sanghas. We start, oddly enough, in the past and consider the surprising twists and turns that Buddhism took through the 20th century as a result of immigration, war, and racial discrimination — all of which begs the question: what unforeseen historical events will shape Buddhist communities in the 21st century? There is anecdotal evidence to suggest that Buddhist communities are pretty heterogenous. Will that trend continue? Whereas Buddhists are a minority in this country, Buddhist ideas are pretty diffuse in popular culture. What impact will that have on traditional institutions as self-identified Buddhists stop feeling the need for “going to church”?

Listener question: Shin Buddhist practice

Scott — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:00:28 +0000

This time around we respond to a listener question about Shin practice, an issue we’ve tried to tackle before, and one that we’re likely to tackle again. Shin practice raises some complex, doctrinal issues. S we begin with a look at Shan Dao’s Five Practices which include, of course, reciting the name of Amida Buddha. But this issues is not as straightforward as one might expect; is it an exclusionary practice? Or is it alright to do other types of Buddhist practice? Or, as Shinran suggests, is it even possible to practice? Or are we not practicing at all except when we hear the Name being recited by the Buddhas? We meander through all these tricky issues before coming to, of all places, a translation of Shinran’s work by D.T. Suzuki and suggest that Shin practice is to live your life, and in that living reflect on your self, your actions, and your thoughts.

Some helpful resources for this episode include our past reflections on Shin practice which can be found here:
Podcast episode on practice

As well as the Collected Works of Shinran which are available online here:
Collected Works of Shinran

Listener questions: alternative approaches

Scott — Fri, 17 Apr 2009 15:00:21 +0000

This episode was inspired by a listener’s question about the relevance of a “Dharma Punx” model to Jodo Shinshu. We start off talking about how Shin Buddhism and the BCA in particular can be seen as “family Buddhism,” a double-edge sword in that it’s great for families but can be a little off-putting for folks without pre-existing family ties. But this raises the question of what is practice in Jodo Shinshu in the first place? This gets us into everything from the traditional dojo and myokonin stories to contemporary youth groups and bowling. (That’s right. We’re going Dharma Bowling.) All of this may or may not answer our listener’s question directly, but it started a great conversation about the ways that American Shin Buddhism is in transition and makes us think about new and alternative models to engage people in the Dharma.

Heresy

Scott — Fri, 03 Apr 2009 16:34:33 +0000

One of the issues that came up for us in our post-modern conversations was the idea that here in the post-modern world, we’re all free to choose whatever religion we want, to choose whatever we want to believe or practice — which raises the specter of heresy! In this episode, we talk about Buddhist heresy which may be understood simply as “wrong views,” or more appropriately a reflection of the myriad of different ways to approach and interpret the Buddha Dharma. (So heresy really all depends on who you ask!) Our conversation comes back around to Jodo Shinshu and Pure Land Buddhism, a topic rife with different views and interpretations and charges of “divergent views” and heresy. We end by focusing on an important text in the Shin tradition, the Tannisho, a short, pithy but deep and complex work.

Post-modern Shinshu: part two

Scott — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 14:00:13 +0000

It’s been a year since Harry and I started our podcast! But, this episode isn’t really about that — I just thought I’d acknowledge the milestone and take this opportunity to say thank you to all our listeners and fans.

In this episode, we continue our discussion of postmodern Shinshu and Buddhism more or less where we left off in historical Japan. Specifically, we talk about how during the Tokugawa period, the government forbade different Buddhist schools from having debate or dialogue. That isn’t the case today in the United States where the diversity of different Buddhist schools, traditions, and viewpoints almost forces us to come to face-to-face with Buddhists who think or act or practice in different ways from our own. This diversity can be a positive challenge, or it can lead to a type of fundamentalism that effects Buddhists as much as any other religious tradition. We explore these ideas, as well as relativism, ethics, and the many mata-narratives within Buddhism and Jodo Shinshu.

Post-modern Shinshu: part one

Scott — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:54:47 +0000

Somewhat related to our last episode on the one thing that unites all Buddhist schools, this week Harry and Scott talk about a post-modern Shin Buddhism. To really talk about post-modernity, of course, we needed to dwell a bit on modernity and how its use of meta-narratives helped explain the world. But the meta-narratives also ranked and valued different cultures (and since they were the ones doing the ranking, the Europeans usually came out on top). This is what post-modernity reacts to by deconstructing narratives, opening up the possibility of multiple and relative truths. Despite how unsettling that can be, we suggest it’s not such a bad thing to be critical of our inherited narratives, especially in Buddhism. Before running out of time, we touch on the multiple narratives within the Mahayana as well as inter-sectarian debate and dialogue within contemporary Buddhism.

This is part one of a two parter, so don’t forget to check back on the March 20th for the conclusion. (And our one-year anniversary!)

And as always, please feel free to send us questions either through the site or our Facebook page.

In this episode, Scott quotes from Religion and Globalization by John Esposito, Darrell Fasching, and Todd Lewis.

Listener questions: no-self and universal Buddhism

Scott — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 17:28:01 +0000

Prompted by another listener question, we start off clearing up some issues about the “no self” or “anatman” doctrine in Buddhism. Does it mean “no soul”? Short answer, yes with an if; long answer, no with a but. In short, there is a world of difference between the question of a soul in a Christian worldview and anatman in an Indian religious worldview. Moving on from “no self,” we tackle the question of whether or not there’s one thing that unites different Buddhist traditions. Is it “the Buddha”? Or “karma”? Or some other basic tenet or practice that unifies all the various strands of Buddhism? We tackle it head on! By asking if there should be something that unites all Buddhisms? Or should we, to borrow a phrase, celebrate our diversity?

Listener questions: about us

Scott — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 17:12:10 +0000

And we’re back! After a long winter’s break, the DharmaRealm podcast launches its second year “on the air,” so to speak.

Prompted by a listener question about why Buddhism “works” for us, we talk about how we each came to discover Buddhism and Shin Buddhism in particular. Harry talks about his experiences growing up in Japan and later the East Coast and his encounter with Shin Buddhism through a friend’s grandfather’s memorial service. Scott recounts his experience in a community college history class where the truth of suffering was confirmed for him. By and large, our first experiences were primarily intellectual, but over the years of bumming around different Buddhist paths, and even different countries, we both came to find the Shin path, and through graduate school, befriended one another.

Thanks for your patience over the winter break. We’ll be returning to our regular first and third Friday schedule from here on out. Happy New Year!

winter break

Scott — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 19:17:54 +0000

Hello DharmaRealm fans!

It’s the first Friday of the month, and you may have noticed that there isn’t a new episode of the DharmaRealm for you to listen to. What can I say? Harry and I are taking a well-deserved break!

The show’s going to be on winter holiday for December and January as we finish up the semester, move, grade papers, get ready for next semester, spend time with our families over the holidays, and generally deal with this pesky thing called Life.

But have no fear! Brand-spankin’ new episodes of the DharmaRealm will return the first Friday of February. Call it Season Two, if you will. We’ve got a lot of really great ideas lined up, so it’s sure to be a living and engaging season. Or at least a fun way to pass the time while sitting in traffic!

Thanks as always for listening! Have a great holiday (whichever you celebrate) and we’ll see you next year!

Scott

Reincarnation: part two

Scott — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 17:40:54 +0000

In our second conversation about reincarnation, we start off discussing the how the current Dalai Lama’s position is predicated on the belief that he is the reincarnation of the previous Dalai Lama and how his reincarnation and the reincarnation of other Lamas creates a certain amount of consternation for the government of the People’s Republic of China. We don’t dwell there long but instead venture off to hell (and the other realms of rebirth) and use that as way to discuss Buddhist morality and ethics. We also try to answer a listener question about the twelve-fold chain of causation and do our best to explain it in terms of the cycle of rebirth before ending this episode, appropriately enough, on Japanese horror films.

Some of the books and films discussed in this episode include:
the Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen
Hajime Nakamura’s book Gotama Buddha
Nobuo Nakagawa’s 1960 classic, Jigoku
Akira Kurosawa’s 1990 film Dreams

Reincarnation: part one

Scott — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 16:00:41 +0000

In the first of two episodes on the endlessly entertaining topic of reincarnation, we start off talking about whether reincarnation really is even a part of Buddhism (we say yes!) and pop-cultural ideas about rebirth (we reject them!). But getting into the nitty-gritty of it all, we discuss how reincarnation can be possible even with the core Buddhist doctrine of no-self, and how reincarnation is actually a pretty bleak prospect. Samsara — the six realms of rebirth — is place of endless wandering from birth to birth until one finds liberation. So we dwell a bit in these six realms and discuss them in their literal, symbolic, and social interpretations. But there’s still much more to talk about that you’ll have to wait for in part two. Enjoy!

Some of the stuff mentioned in this episode:
Rudyard Kipling’s Kim
The Six Realms (according to Wikipedia, anyway)
A good image of the six realms
A good image of an illustrated Ojoyoshu
More on Genshin

Listener questions: practice

Scott — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 19:51:23 +0000

In our first “listener response” episode, we tackle the question of how to practice Shin Buddhism (or any kind of Buddhism) if you don’t live near a community. Our take on the issue begins, appropriately enough, on the Internet and how the Web can be a great source of information. But, of course, the Web isn’t always so great in creating human connections, and often the Web is little more than a place to read stuff. Reading isn’t for everyone, after all, so we suggest practicing the recitation of the nembutsu (namo amida butsu), constructing an altar (or butsudan) and of course seeking out good spiritual friends (or kalyanamitra).

If you’ve got a question, feel free to drop us a line either through the site or our Facebook page, and we’ll do our best to answer in a future episode.

Mentioned in this episode is the very good web resource, Shin Dharma Net, maintained by Prof. Alfred Bloom at ShinDharmanet.com.

No self

Scott — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 18:58:36 +0000

In this month’s first episode, we decided to take on the difficult Buddhist concept of “no self” or anatman. It can be a frightening prospect to give up the idea that any of us have a permanent self, but don’t be afraid! It’s good to wrestle with these ideas and come to a deeper understanding of how the five skhandas (discussed last month) are interrelated and impermanent. We start off a little silly today, but somehow manage to get to a good place, wandering through the likes of Tan Luan, J.D. Salinger, Enter the Dragon, and the Mahayana doctrine of “two truths.”

Enjoy this episode and don’t forget to send us your questions for future podcasts!

Got a question?

Scott — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 01:55:43 +0000

Drop us a line and we’ll answer it!

Starting next month as a new feature of our podcast, we’re going answer our listeners’ questions. Send us an email or post a comment to our Facebook page with whatever Buddhist question is on your mind and we’ll do our best to answer it in an upcoming episode.

Please be sure to tell us your name and where you live. We won’t give out any personally identifiable information in the show, of course, but it’s always nice to know where people are listening from.

Send your questions to

Thanks for listening!

Suffering: part two

Scott — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 22:21:13 +0000

We return to the topic of suffering and start off with the many nuanced meanings of the term. We get into some deep Abhidharma stuff and talk about how all dharmas are marked with impermanence and early Buddhist conceptions of suffering and the nature of samsara. This leads us to a nice little conversation about the relationship between samsara and nirvana which eventually leads us to hearty debate about “basic Buddhism” and what Shinran really knew. We wrap it all up with an insightful commentary on the trap of attachments that cause suffering.

Some resources mentioned in this episode include:
Herbert V. Guenther. Philosophy and Psychology in the Abhidharma. Originally published 1957. Second Revised Edition, Berkeley: Shambhala Publications, 1974, and Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, 1974.

Ryusei Takeda’s article Pure Land Buddhist View of Duhkha can be downloaded from the IBS’s website.

Suffering: part one

Scott — Fri, 05 Sep 2008 18:22:59 +0000

We’re back! And we’re talking about suffering! We start with the problem of translation — duhkha as suffering, unrest, un- or dis-satisfactoriness, and so forth. Basically, something’s not quite right. How does this fit in with the Four Noble Truths? What is the cause of suffering? What are the different types of suffering? Today we talk about this “basic” Buddhist doctrine that is, at the same time, an extremely high level teaching that points to the fundamental existential problem of human life.

Books mentioned in this episode:
Walpola Rahula, What the Buddha Taught
Ron Epstien, ed., Buddhism A to Z

september preview

Scott — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 15:39:54 +0000

September 5 we will return with a new batch of podcasts! For the time being, enjoy this video preview of things to come.

Click the following link to see a larger, better quality version of this video:
Full quality version.

Watch out! It’s a pretty big file and may take some time to open up.

Karma: bonus!

Scott — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 15:49:19 +0000

Surprise! During our “karma sessions,” we had a lot to say. So we’ve got a short little bonus podcast to wrap up our conversation about karma, the Sharon Stone gaffe, and how karma causes earthquakes.

No, no, karma doesn’t cause earthquakes! But we do we do talk about whether or not China’s ruling party has lost the Mandate of Heaven, how to totally transcend karma, and the karmic mechanism that is Dharmakara’s vow.

There’s some good little gems in this short “out-take.” Enjoy!

summer vacation

Scott — Fri, 01 Aug 2008 00:59:50 +0000

Well, summer’s already more than half over. Harry and I did our best to fill the long summer months with plenty of juicy podcasts for you, but it looks like we need a break! So, as you probably heard in the last episode on karma, we’ll be taking the month of August off — giving our listeners a break and a chance to catch up!

Our next podcast is scheduled for Friday, September 5th, and is on the First Noble Truth — suffering!

In the mean time, we’ll be releasing some short, bonus material to tide you over. We’ve got some good audio and video bits to share from our last couple of recording sessions. So, check back here at the site or become a fan of our Facebook page to get more information.

Enjoy the sun!

In gassho
Scott and Harry

Karma: part two

Scott — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:00:46 +0000

In the second installment of our conversation on karma, we start with a critique of Sharon Stone’s comments on karma, the Chinese government, and earthquakes, exploring the problems with her essentialist claims. We don’t linger there long, though, and wander off to discuss good versus evil karma and whether or not those who do intentionally bad things are beyond redemption. Questions of the “evil” person, of course, bring up Shinshu (and specifically Shinran’s) doctrine about akunin and the problem of evil.

Karma: part one

Scott — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 15:00:11 +0000

One of the many words from Indian philosophy that has found its way into modern English, the concept of karma is often equated with a kind of fatalistic good (or bad) fortune. Our conversation today covers a lot of ground, from popular (mis)conceptions of what karma means to the relationship of karma to reincarnation and Buddhist conceptions of morality, to how karma is generated through actions of body, speech, and mind. And we don’t even talk about Sharon Stone — yet! You’ll have to check back later in the month for that!

Also, a couple of books mentioned in this episode are Robinson and Johnson’s The Buddhist Religion, and Santideva’s classic, the Bodhicaryavatara.

the Buddha: part two

Scott — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 16:00:22 +0000

Our second conversation on the Buddha, and what “the Buddha” means, we begin by talking about the Buddha in a specifically Pure Land Buddhist context. In particular we talk about Shinran’s take on the Buddha, Dharmakara, and Amida. Shin Buddhist thought is both a part of Mahayana thought and somehow separate. We explore some of these complexities of Shin thought before concluding with a reflection on our sometimes too-strong attachment to our founders.

the Buddha: part one

Scott — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 13:00:58 +0000

What is the buddha? What are the ways people have conceived of the Buddha? Was he just a person? Teacher? Doctor? Historical figure? A transcendental super-human soteriological reality? All of these and more?! These are but some of the questions we raise in our discussion of the Buddha. Siddhartha Gautama, the eternal Sakyamuni Buddha, Buddha-bodies (that’s the nirmanakÄya, sambhogakÄya, and DharmakÄya), and even Jesus Christ come up in this episode of the DharmaRealm. And don’t forget to listen to the next episode where this conversation turns toward Shin Buddhist conceptions of the Buddha.

Interdependence: bonus!

Scott — Fri, 30 May 2008 16:00:00 +0000

An extra Friday this month gets you an extra episode of the DharmaRealm podcast!

In today’s episode, Harry and I wrap up our conversation on interdependence, touching on everything from the complex web of karmic causes and conditions knowable only to Buddhas to the daily lives of our cats. Finally, we place this topic back in the context of how to live our lives knowing that all our actions are intimately interconnected to the whole of the existence.

Interdependence: part one

Scott — Fri, 16 May 2008 18:00:00 +0000

In today’s podcast we discuss the concept of interdependence. Beginning with the Sanskrit term pratityasamutpada, or Dependent Coarising, interdependence has played a fairly central role in Buddhist thought, over the centuries influencing Hua-yen philosophy and Buddhist relationships to nature.

And because there’s an extra Friday this month (and because we sure can talk a lot!), be sure to tune in for a bonus podcast on May 30th.

American Buddhism: part two

Scott — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:58:39 +0000

In part two of our episode on American Buddhism, our conversation meanders from such topics as: How does one become a Buddhist? What is the relationship between becoming a Buddhist and intellectual study? How import is taking the three refuges? How important is community? We also discuss the important role that Buddhist art and images can play in introducing people to Buddhism, and our ambivalent feeling about “tourist Buddhism” and Buddhist commercialism.

In a separate post, we’ll be adding links to some of the resources discussed in the podcast.Thanks for listening!

Resources for American Buddhism podcast

Scott — Fri, 02 May 2008 15:57:09 +0000

Here are some links and other resources to books and websites referenced in our podcast on American Buddhism.

Lodi Kung Fu!

Scott’s list of Buddhist books

Thomas Tweed’s musings on “night stand Buddhists” or “Buddhist sympathizers” can be found in American Buddhism, edited by Williams and Queen. A very expensive copy is on Amazon, but you may find a better deal at your local used book store.

The Preliminary Practices of Tibetan Buddhism, by Geshe Rabten, translated by Gonsar Tulku, compiled by Georges Driessens, published by Library of Tibetan Works & Archives, 1974. Second Revised Edition, 1994.

Parinirvana Sutra

Kenji Babasaki:
On the web
On The Buddhist Channel

B Boston Museum of Fine Art – Japanese collection

San Francisco Asian Art Museum

American Buddhism: part one

Scott — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:30:51 +0000

In our conversation today, we discuss the difficulty of talking about the large, diverse set of practice traditions collectively known as “American Buddhism.” How can you talk meaningfully about such a wide array of Buddhist communities, beliefs, and practices? And how do we engage non-Buddhists and those new on the path who may have their own ideas about Buddhism, correct or a little off the path, in a deep and compassionate way?

Part two of this conversation will be posted shortly, so please check back soon.

Thanks for listening!

Now on Facebook

Scott — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 16:32:50 +0000

Hello all,

Just wanted to let everyone know that we’ve created a “Facebook page” for the DharmaRealm podcast. You can find the page by following this link:
The DharmaRealm on Facebook

It’s publicly viewable, and if you happen to have a Facebook account, feel free to “become a fan” or post your comments.

Also, if all goes well, Rev. Harry and I will be recording and posting the next episode within the next twenty-four hours.

In Gassho,
Scott

Mindfulness: part two

Scott — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:46:09 +0000

In part two of our inaugural, two-part podcast, we finish our discussion of mindfulness practice not only in Buddhism more generally but how it relates to the nembutsu; nembutsu practice is mindfulness practice in that it “brings to mind” Amida Buddha.

Thanks for listening!

Mindfulness: part one

Scott — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 17:08:40 +0000

In part one of our inaugural, two-part podcast, we discuss mindfulness as a Buddhist practice. What is mindfulness? What are we being mindful of? And what are the implications of this practice?

Be sure to download part two as well!

Thanks for listening!