Zen Dialogues

Reflections from Japan's Buddhist Traditions

Life choices. I don't know what to do myself.

I'm a 28 year old female. At the beginning of this month, I was touched by my boyfriend who I had been in a relationship with for 2 years. We were also conscious of getting married, and we've been talking about living together starting in spring. There were constant fights over that incident...

5 responses

Is it better to be loved than to love?

Good evening. I'm being approached by someone right now. That person graduated from a certain national university, and he is one year older than me and has a proper job. Have we known each other for about a month? They say they can't help but want to get married. Probably because of...

5 responses

I can't decide for myself

I've always been very bad at making my own decisions. I can't make my own decisions to the extent that I think I always want to live according to someone else's decisions. If you can't decide for someone, you don't know what to do and you become very anxious. Until I was in high school,...

5 responses

It's hard being alive

I wish I hadn't been born. It's painful. Even though I'm at this age, I haven't continued to work, can't get married, my debts just increase, and my life is like an idiot. I think the reason is that I quit my job right away. Even if I join a good company, I want to run away right away....

5 responses

I wanted to try to be popular

I wanted to be popular (laughs) I'm a 33-year-old woman. I'm getting married soon. (Naturalization only, no ceremony) I'm looking forward to getting married to the guy I've been in a relationship with for 9 years, including long distance, and I'm not particularly anxious, What I feel...

5 responses

Breaking away from things you can't help but think about

At last, I've been waiting for the results to see if I have cancer myself. As you told me in the previous question, I'm trying not to think so I don't think about it. When I notice it, I almost feel crushed by anxiety. Are there any tips for not thinking about it? Housework and other things...

5 responses

Look at a monk's site

When I saw a monk's site, I thought they might have this kind of idea. “People who helped cats that were about to be eaten by snakes have been praised. How do snakes that have been robbed of their food feel, and can humans decide the lives and deaths of other creatures?” I saw this idea...

5 responses

I can't show myself

Nice to meet you. My name is Tommy and I go to a university in Tokyo. I'm in first grade. I was bullied in the past in elementary and middle school, and even after it was resolved, I couldn't understand people around me and got carried away, and since I started going to high school, I began...

5 responses

True opinion and right thought of the Eight Shodō

I have a question about the right opinion and proper thinking of the Eight Shodo, and I think correctly when I see it correctly. What is correct? What would be the right thing to do? How do I get it right? Could you give me a familiar example?

5 responses

I want to be able to read the air.

I can't read the air quite a bit. Please feel free to say anything. It is said, Even though it's just a pre-construction, You can say anything. I seriously misunderstood that. After speaking, As a scene around you, ah, that was no good? I finally notice it due to reactions from those...

5 responses

About the guy we live with...

Nice to meet you and thank you. I am currently living with a member of the temple family who will become the chief priest of the Jodo Shinshu Honganji school in the future, which is 9 years since they first started living together. What I want to talk about is that I can't just keep...

5 responses

What should you do when the painful things overlap and your heart seems to be broken?

As the title suggests, what kind of mindset should I have? I'm not able to overcome the current situation, and my condition is bad both mentally and physically (shoulder stiffness, etc.), probably because I feel uneasy. I asked a few questions about my concerns here. After that, I thought it...

5 responses

How can I accept a different life than I thought it would be?

The second one is infertile and already elderly. What I had in mind 5 years ago was a future where I had 2 children about 3 years apart, bought a house near a familiar train station where I lived for close to 10 years, and somehow have enough money to not bother my children in the...

5 responses

Being alive doesn't necessarily mean happiness.

I'm indebted to you. This is the mother who lost her 17-year-old daughter to suicide. I lived safely on the 49th, found a job, and started going outside to work. I can now talk about my daughter normally even when I meet someone. I also have a son, and from now on I will live until the end of...

5 responses

I gave birth safely.

Thank you so much for participating in so many consultations during pregnancy. I was able to give birth safely today. The gender is boy. I would like to take this opportunity to report back.

5 responses

How to be able to start moving with one's own will

Recently, I realized that I had never worked on myself to do anything about my way of life up until now. I was swept away by the circumstances and environment around me, and it has reached the present. My current job originally went bankrupt, so it's like taking over a customer and becoming...

5 responses

What are communication abilities used in society?

I'm a graduate student who has finished job hunting During job hunting, he said, “What working people need is communication ability. I was told many times, “So improve your communication skills,” but in the first place, I felt like I was saying something impossible to improve communication...

5 responses

Christmas schedule

I don't have a lover, and my friends don't seem to have a good schedule. You can play with women you don't like, That seems disrespectful to the other person. What should I do?

5 responses

Disrespect for women in Buddhism? Since when?

I am indebted to you every time. Being able to talk anonymously with monks is quite fun and I use it quite often. I'm not a monk, but my hobby is studying Buddhism little by little. I don't really sympathize with this hobby. This time, I'm going to ask a slightly academic question. As the...

5 responses

Would it be bothersome if I conveyed my thoughts

There is a monk I'm interested in. I'm curious about the monk I spoke with when I visited a temple to pray and was given a goshuin. There was also a little common topic, and I felt a connection without permission. It just makes me think. After that, when I contacted the temple by email...

5 responses

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