Zen Dialogues

Reflections from Japan's Buddhist Traditions

When dreams for the future don't come true

Nice to meet you. I found this site while I wanted to visit a temple somewhere. I've had a job I wanted to do since I was in elementary school, and I've been studying for it. Until now, I've always thought that if I make an effort, that dream would come true. However, after looking at...

4 responses

I want to improve my fear of death

I'm writing about my worries for the first time. I have been suffering from death phobia (tanatophobia) since I was in middle school. Simply put, the fear of “becoming nothing” comes into the brain regardless of one's own will. It is classified as obsessive-compulsive disorder in medical...

4 responses

I want to be reborn

It really isn't going well. Looking for another job... If that happens, they will either become a “monk (Jodo sect)” several times and be reborn, or they will end their lives once and want to be reborn as a “temple child” or “adopted son of a temple.” However, in reality, I need “knowledge”...

4 responses

What is Ayori Yashiki

Hello. A person studying the Jodo Shinshu sect. Until now, I understood that Ayoriyashii means unconsciousness, but apparently unconsciousness falls into the category of “consciousness.” Then I thought it was the soul, but since the soul is an absolute self, it is contrary to the idea that laws...

4 responses

The meaning of dementia

Why do we get dementia? It's not a medical thing, it's not like the person himself is preparing for death, and I don't know if “what does it mean to others” and get dementia. Saying that you haven't eaten a meal or that you don't know who it is are still mild symptoms of dementia. You...

4 responses

A monk's date

What kind of places do monks go on dates ❔ Do you hold hands ❔ do you go with clothes ❔ do you disguise ❔ Aren't you worried about people's eyes ❔ He's a monk. I'm currently in a long distance relationship, but I'm coming here in work clothes. I almost never go on a date as is, but sometimes...

4 responses

I lost my husband all of a sudden

About a month ago, I was hit and run, and my husband suddenly became a person who never returned. “I'm going,” “Bye,” and “Bye.” This was the last conversation between my husband, me, and my 1 year old daughter. After 11:00 p.m., the police said, “My husband fell down on the road, was injured,...

4 responses

It's not a question...

It's not a question... Please help the monks on this site. My father had a stroke the other day. They are still fighting hard at ICU. It is said that if you can get through this week, there is a big possibility that your life will be saved. Could you please pray that my father will be...

4 responses

I want to listen to the Dharma, but the monk is a classmate of the family and can't go

The monk is a classmate of the family It's hard to hear. Also, this is because my family is not religious. Isn't there a place in Aichi prefecture where I can listen to puja and stories? Can I listen to the puja even if I'm not at home? I have been poor for ten thousand years with my...

4 responses

I went volunteering.

This is more of a report than a question, but please bear with me. Also, please excuse any typographical errors, etc. The other day, “I'm going to volunteer...” This is Takemaru who posted it with the title. I went to Iwate Prefecture to volunteer. I went there in the midst of anxiety, but...

4 responses

What should I do to not self-destruct due to jealousy?

As the title suggests, mainly in romantic relationships, etc., before grasping the other person's situation or reality, they become jealous and explode with anger at their partner, become painful, distance themselves from themselves or leave unilaterally, and they always destroy the relationship...

4 responses

Fiancé's Suicide 2

Thank you so much for your answers last time. Compared to that time, I have a feeling that we have come to terms with his death. But it's so sad. When I eat a meal or go out for a change of pace, I get a little lost, but when I suddenly become alone, before going to bed, when I wake up,...

4 responses

I don't belong anywhere.

I'm worried that I don't belong anywhere. I know where I am and I make my own. Even though I tried so hard to make it, it didn't work because I felt like I couldn't join the group at the end of the day. It's empty. I feel envious of people who belong to something. I couldn't get rid of the...

4 responses

A temple where you can attain Buddhism

It's rude, but let me omit greetings to everyone, I would like to ask you a slightly urgent question. A childhood friend of mine passed away a few years ago That childhood friend is still unaware that he has passed away, and he has remained in the room where he lived alone for a long time I...

4 responses

My parents were divorced.

Um, actually, my mother told me today, “I divorced my father.” For some reason, I've been separated from my father since elementary school. I was still young, so I didn't know anything. However, I was suddenly told that today. I almost cried when I heard this story. However, if I cried, I thought...

4 responses

I don't forgive the Korean ruling.

Is there a teaching in Buddhism that it is OK to intercept a thief without permission from the person who has stolen it? Looking at the press, it's sad to think that Korean Buddhism has no morality or reason. The former chief priest of Kannon-ji Temple in Tsushima City, Nagasaki Prefecture...

4 responses

How should I spend the last days of my father's terminal cancer

My father continued to fight cancer, but finally, the other day, I was told by the hospital that there were no more effective anticancer drugs and the future would be short. I'm worried about how I spend time with my father. I think he raised me with a lot of love, and I love my father....

4 responses

The meaning of temple

I have always been able to support my heart. I came to this site and became interested in something called Buddhism, but I rarely go to temples, so I can't figure out what kind of place it is. I often went to shrines and prayers, but the temple is around New Year's Eve. My family's...

4 responses

I'd like to do zazen meditation,

I have a severe mental disorder, can I do zazen meditation? I declined yoga, though.

4 responses

How to deal with stuttering

I've always been the type that makes it easy for tension to come out in my body. I blush and stutter when everyone sees it. However, I loved talking to people, so I got into the hospitality business. However, when I answered a phone call to a customer or another store, etc., the name and name...

4 responses

page 1