Zen Dialogues

Reflections from Japan's Buddhist Traditions

What should I do to live in a declining region

I graduated from college a few years ago. At first, I intended to get a job at an urban company, but since I'm an only child, I lost to my family's pleas (there are various other reasons), and I was forced to return to my hometown. If I think about it now, I think even if I abandoned my parents...

4 responses

Are humans born to leave offspring?

Why are life forms on Earth born and kept alive in the first place? In Buddhism, which does not preach gods or spirits, there is an empty thought, but is a collective body of consciousness where everything is integrated a so-called god in other religions? The Buddha is said to be unrecorded,...

4 responses

I can't start a new life because of my wife.

My affair broke up 2 months ago, just with my affair partner I also wanted to remarry, so I initiated divorce mediation, My wife does not agree to the divorce. It's an embarrassing story, but the fact that I've been inflating company expenses since last year My wife warned me to stop...

4 responses

Pressure from father-in-law

When my daughter was born, my father-in-law, who came to see my daughter at the maternity hospital, told me many times, “If it were a boy, I wouldn't say anything.” I say “you're a boy” to my daughter, and even now that my daughter is 2 years old, she still says “boys were good.” I can't forgive...

4 responses

The time left with my mother

My mother has cancer. Although I'm still not doing well, I'm living a normal life. Is there anything I can do while I'm doing well? The days go by even though I think about it. I feel sorry for myself for not being able to do anything and not being able to fully believe in miracles, and I'm...

4 responses

The future with an intractable lover

I'm indebted to you. I would like to be able to borrow wisdom from the monk, and I hope you can consult with me for the first time in a long time. I have a lover I met a few months ago and have been in a relationship for about 2 weeks, and that person has a disease registered as an intractable...

4 responses

About monk meals

I'm very sorry for being genuinely concerned. What kind of meals do the chief priests and members of the temple family usually eat? After all, is the meal similar to that of a normal household? Vegetarian cuisine is also popular among the general public, but I was a little curious about...

4 responses

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

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