Zen Dialogues

Reflections from Japan's Buddhist Traditions

Are there quasi-parishioners?

The opinion that it comes from that temple or monk is a natural assumption. Would it be OK if someone like me who believes in a sect different from my parents' house of their own will comes and says that since there is a family temple (other city in the same prefecture) at my parents' house, I...

4 responses

What is a human?

Of course, this includes myself, but don't you think humans are stupid? The reality is that they are destroying the environment by using up the Earth's limited resources in any way they like in order to satisfy their own desires. Do you think life on Earth is eternal? I think the Earth...

4 responses

I wonder if I can't live on enthusiasm and passion alone.

Don't change, don't discipline, don't give up I continue to be involved in training. I wonder if I'm already continuing with my ego. I wonder if the direction of my efforts is wrong. There are important things I protect that others don't understand, so I wonder if I'm continuing my...

4 responses

About sutras

I like sutras, but for some reason, listening to sutras makes my heart feel strangely painful. I particularly like the Heart Sutra, and I try to recite it once in a while, but even so, it becomes a bit painful along the way. Do you have any solutions?

4 responses

War and the anxiety of life

I'm worried about the war and the future of life. When I thought that an era of poverty due to lack of crude oil would come from now on, I became depressed and fell ill. Furthermore, it is scary to think that the Constitution will be revised in the future and that Japan will also participate in...

4 responses

Is it worth living in a way where you can't do anything?

I failed an interview for a full-time employee today too. I don't have anything I'm good at, I'm a junior high school graduate, I can't get a license, and I can't do Excel or Word Life is difficult just because my husband earns money, so I have to become a full-time employee as soon as...

4 responses

Job hunting is hard

I'm currently working as a freelancer, and I started job hunting with the goal of becoming a full-time employee, but it's not going well. The first place I took was rejected at the time of the written exam, and the one that was challenging until the final interview was also rejected. There...

4 responses

I want to commit suicide and make my parents regret it

I'm currently a college student, and I'm living with my mother, who is related by blood, and her remarriage partner. I started this life when I was in the upper grades of elementary school. At first, I was able to live that life without any hardships, but gradually it became difficult to live...

4 responses

I feel that my actions are impermanent and that the sky is empty

In Buddhism, impermanent actions = everything changes. You think empty = everything has no substance, right? I'm sorry if I'm wrong. In difficult times, this idea helps a lot. The pain I'm having now will end someday. It can be a little easier if you think that everything is an illusion shown by...

4 responses

I don't need an incompetent person

I'm talking about work. I'm currently doing accounting. It's been half a year with no experience. The person taking over is doing accounting and general affairs. What the president and the person taking over were talking about today was about trying to do general affairs on a temporary basis....

4 responses

I'm thinking about death

Come on, it's painful to be alive. I shouldn't write it in this place too often, but let me tell you a simple story. Feel free to skip reading it. My father died before I went to elementary school, and my mother became depressed. My mother and I lived together while going back and forth...

4 responses

I'm wondering if I should confess my sins

I am attending a medical vocational school. I cheated a year ago. It's common at vocational schools, and my seniors were asking me questions about the past. The same question as that question came up in the first question. I remember all the answers to those questions, and so did everyone...

4 responses

Relationship with younger brother

I have a younger brother who is two years younger. My brother is 30 years old and single. My younger brother left home when he graduated from high school, started supporting himself, and after that, I wonder if he would come back once every 1 to 2 years. My parents are also lonely, but they...

4 responses

Amitabha and Jesus? Amitabha's way of believing.

They are interested in Buddhism, especially the Jodo Shinshu sect, but the questions of “what is Amida Nyorai” and “what does it mean to believe (Amida Buddha)” were unresolved, and as I looked it up, I came across sentences like this. 〈The devotion recommended by Shinran Shonin does not...

4 responses

About the sky

Recently, I've been reading books about Buddhism, etc., and I'm still in a state where I don't seem to understand “the sky,” which is probably one of the important elements in understanding Buddhism. The sky is not nothing, the sky does not increase or decrease, and the sky is made up of...

4 responses

I'm in the process of changing jobs due to relationships.

I'm thinking about changing jobs right now because of my relationships. For some reason, I wasn't well thought of by the people who are at the core of my department from the time I joined. I think he learned his job quickly, and I think he made fewer mistakes. Until now, there have been many...

4 responses

It's hard to have a job or environment that I don't want.

Nice to meet you. I am a single mother with 2 children with a history of divorce. Since I was single, I have had esthetic and massage qualifications, and I have been working related to them. I used to work part-time at night when my income was insufficient for living. My parents' house is...

4 responses

I really hate people. How can I forgive?

I have a younger brother who is 12 years apart. My younger brother is a half-father sibling. My younger brother's father was caught many times for drugs, and when he drank alcohol, he went on a rampage at home and destroyed things. He was a kind person with good roots. No matter how bad...

4 responses

Why do they sing Namu Amida Buddha

I'm always indebted to you. Also, I have a new question, and I would like to ask you a question. I would appreciate your answers and advice. My family is the Jodo Shinshu, so why do we have to chant Namu Amida Buddha and Nembutsu in the Jodo Shinshu sect? to be born in the Pure Land...

4 responses

The purpose of life

“Right now, I have no happiness or unhappiness. However, a moment will pass.” This is Dazai Osamu's act of disqualifying as a human. Speaking of Osamu Dazai, there are many cases where it is captured as a negative image, and it is also said that this line is also a phrase when he decided to...

4 responses

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