Zen Dialogues

Reflections from Japan's Buddhist Traditions

If you are a monk, please tell me what advice would you give in this case

We often give advice to patients and families in daily medical treatment (internal medicine), so we will consult with you. There is no problem when you give advice as it is, and then immediately accept, understand, and implement it, but it is very difficult to give advice to people who don't...

5 responses

What do you think of the emperor?

All of a sudden What do monks think of His Majesty the Emperor? In Buddhism, the monk whose Buddha is at the top of the hierarchy How do you view the existence of this emperor who has created a hierarchical system in the real world and simulated the role of a “god”? It may be a...

5 responses

Does enlightenment really exist?

Does enlightenment really exist? How many enlightened monks are there?

5 responses

Husband's manners

Nice to meet you. I was finally able to ask a question. Thank you very much. I have a daughter who is not 1 year old and I am raising children. After giving birth, I was certainly frustrated due to hormones, etc., and treated my husband coldly. My husband had the opposite attitude, and I quit...

5 responses

On marriage with Islam

Nice to meet you. There's an American man I've been in a relationship with for a year and a half now. We both want to get married, but we have a problem with religion. He's Islamic, and I'm an ordinary Japanese person who celebrates Christmas, goes on the first pilgrimage, and does...

5 responses

Books recommended by monks

Recently, I've been reading a lot, and I've become interested in “Zen,” and I want to learn more by reading “Zen words for 100 years old” and “the words of Zen in Hokkaido,” and I've come to want to know more things. I'm looking for books I think “this is it” in the religion and...

5 responses

The grief of losing my father

I have been receiving treatment for depression, anxiety disorder, etc. since about 12 years ago. My father passed away about 1 year and 8 months ago due to cancer. Originally, I had a lonely personality, and since the onset of my illness, I had no contact with my friends at all, and I spent...

5 responses

I want to follow the path of Buddhism

　I'm looking for a way to live in Buddhism. The university is a bit out of the Buddhist system. From the stage where I go to a temple once in a while, I would like to search for a way to live in Buddhism and find solutions to my life's problems in Buddhism. I would like you to tell me your way...

5 responses

What are humans headed for, and where are they headed?

Humans are born and die. It has continued for many years, leaving descendants. I don't know how long it will last, but I wonder if it will continue. But why do humans keep doing it over and over again? Everyone is doing it as a matter of course, just over and over again, being born and living,...

5 responses

I don't understand my own feelings.

Feelings change from time to time depending on mood and state of mind. For example, there are days when parents think “I'm thankful they let me live at home” or “I want them to live much longer,” and there are also days when they think “it's depressing” or “I want to leave the house quickly and...

5 responses

Lamb hungry for love

Actually, I'm gay, I've known it since I was a kid, in this world where it's hard for gays to fall in love, it's even more difficult for gays to fall in love these days, but gays are in the minority and don't know where their partner is if they don't come out, I know that there are dating sites...

5 responses

There's no point in living

Thank you for your support. My husband is a 47-year-old office worker. I'm a 51 year old stay-at-home mom. I am unable to work due to a mental disability. There are people who work even if they have disabilities, but they are not in a state where they can work. I was receiving my...

5 responses

Thinking about death makes it painful

We have discussed it here before, and I was very impressed. Today's question is similar, but after all, I'm afraid of death and I'm worried. I've been thinking about it all day long, and I'm trying to come up with answers in my own way, but I haven't run out of worries. I'm afraid of my own...

5 responses

Your answers twice didn't come to anything...

It's not easy to change your way of thinking or living just because you're told to do that. I listened to the answer, thought I'd try it, and even when I did it, it didn't come to any fruition for me. There was a monk reciting nembutsu right near my house, so I went to listen to his story. I...

5 responses

Where the soul goes

Please help. A year and a half ago, my husband suddenly died in an accident while he was at work. I was pregnant at the time. We were nearing our first wedding anniversary... but we weren't able to welcome them together, and our happy marriage was destroyed in less than a year. He died...

5 responses

No matter what I do at my parents' house in Kumamoto, I don't feel like studying.

I'm in my fourth year of college. While living at a university in Hokkaido, I am studying to become a local firefighter. The other day, an earthquake occurred in my hometown Kumamoto, and even now, many people are living in fear of aftershocks, living in shelters, and secondary...

5 responses

Please tell me how to liberate

Free yourself from the Rokudō Reincarnation I want to have nirvana like Buddha. Please tell me the specific method

5 responses

My husband's debts

Recently, I found out that my husband has a debt of about 6 million. We have been married for 3 years and have 2 children. My husband is usually cooperative in raising children, and I don't think about divorce. However, I am the only one who knows about this. At least I want to talk to my...

5 responses

Please help

Depression is not curable. But if I don't go to work, I don't have any money anymore. People around me say that if you work, money will come in. If you can do that, you won't become depressed. It's really painful. I think death is the greatest salvation. I understand getting...

5 responses

I want to die because I have nothing I want to do when I'm alive, and I have no hope for the future

Nice to meet you. This is my first time asking a question. This is a personal consultation, but thank you. I'm an 18-year-old male ronin. However, I haven't studied at all since I left school in March. There was something I wanted to do, and in order to do it, I was inspired to go to a...

5 responses

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