Zen Dialogues

Reflections from Japan's Buddhist Traditions

What is the meaning of living as the value of living things declines?

Is there any point in living being 30 years old and living beings declining in value? Honestly, that's enough. Humans should have lived based on instincts, but modernization has led to an age of reason, and original desires have been suppressed, and Natsume Soseki said that the end of...

4 responses

About self-harm

Self-harm cannot be stopped. The precious body I received from my parents has been damaged in various ways. Really, the content is something you won't be able to regret. I can't stop self-harming due to the conflict that I hated myself for a long time and wanted to disappear, but I shouldn't...

4 responses

What are you studying for?

I'm attending a preparatory school, what have I been studying for lately? Is there any point in going to college when there's nothing I want to do? It just makes me think about things like that. What does the monk think studying means?

4 responses

About departure fees

I want to quit the temple I'm currently a parishioner and take care of a different temple. I've been indebted to them for generations, but when I asked for an eternal memorial service since there were no heirs to the tomb, it was an amount I couldn't pay, so I would like to take care of them at...

4 responses

Jobs related to Buddhism

Hello. I'm currently in my 3rd year of high school, and I'm thinking of leaving home to take the Kyoto University Department of Buddhism. It's not a temple house, but my high school is a Buddhist high school, and I wanted to learn Buddhism in more detail as I learned the teachings in class, so...

4 responses

About denominations.

My family is the Jodo Shinshu sect, but recently I've been interested in the teachings of the Shingon sect. Personally, isn't there a problem with the Shingon sect being a sect?

4 responses

The doctor who made a medical mistake doesn't apologize and saves his life

I learned that the attending physician at the hospital I went to from 2010 to 2022 made a medical mistake. I asked a lawyer to conduct an investigation with the money I had been desperately saving during my illness. The results said, “It is certain that the doctor made a mistake and is...

5 responses

Name judgment results are not good

I have a 2-month-old son. I thought up a name with my husband, used an internet name judgment site, and the results were relatively good, so I chose that name. After that, I heard that it was better to judge names in the old font rather than the new font, and when I did an internet search to...

4 responses

Let go of obsessions

How to break dependency on people I don't understand. I don't have confidence in myself If you are treated kindly to that person I often become dependent. I've always had a habit of being spoiled. We are now and still dependent on people We are in progress. There was someone I was...

4 responses

Do spirits exist? What happens if I die again?

Hello. They often do psychic shows in the summer. Considering that such programs are running, I think there are many Japanese people who believe in spirits. But I have a question about psychics. Most religions acknowledge the existence of spirits, and it is said that every person becomes...

4 responses

About relationships with former lovers who live together

I'm still living with my former lover of the same sex. At the beginning of our break up, my partner told me, “I don't want to be sticky, I want a personal space, so I want you to leave the house.” I received those words, began thinking about a new life, and recently had a good relationship with...

4 responses

Can you understand spirits remotely

There is someone I've become good friends with on the internet, and they say they want to help me because they seem to be easily possessed by spirits. It's not like they're taking money, but when I'm told to take a photo or video and show me, my house, and car and send it on LINE, they say, ah,...

4 responses

Should I confide it to someone who hurt me

Hello. Thank you for always being there. I would be happy if you could consult with me again. I've been going to chiropractic to treat my chronic illness since a few years ago, and I'm studying at that chiropractic clinic myself. It's a temple related manipulative treatment, and the teacher...

5 responses

I can't find my mentor.

This is a continuation of the previous question. I tried to think about various things in my own way by referring to the answers I received, but after all, I came to the idea that I wanted to get points. I came into contact with clinical religious practitioners in the same industry and people...

5 responses

I felt like I wasn't asking for anything.

Thank you so much for your continued support. There have been changes before. It is sought after on SNS, and is also sought after in the world of pictures and novels, and my own path has given something to someone. But there hasn't been much change in my state of mind. I'm just looking at...

5 responses

About words for 2 years and 11 months

I have a boy who will soon be 3 years old! About speech delays and more. Speak in two or three language sentences. Everyday conversation is being formed little by little [eat?] [Aren't you going to eat?] Even when asked, when I was there, I was able to clearly answer [I'm going to eat], and...

4 responses

I have constant fights with him

I am 27 years old and I have started a relationship with someone I met through a friend's introduction this spring, and he is 27 years old. The cohabitation life soon began. Even when I say cohabitation, I feel like I've moved into the house where he lives alone. He was responsible for rent,...

4 responses

A husband who says “I want to do polygamy”

This year marks the 3rd year since we got married. A month ago, I was told, “I found someone else I like, but I like them too, so the other person wants polygamy as a factual marriage, and I have the confidence to love them equally.” My partner is also on good terms with me, and I agreed...

4 responses

My parents are filial

Hello. I dropped out of college the other day. I kept thinking about quitting alone for 1 year, and as a result, I dropped out. If I think about it now, I think I should have talked to my parents as soon as possible, and since I was alone, I couldn't take it for granted that I could talk...

4 responses

love and money

I have a question about love and money. People around me and my mother said, “If you have a lover or someone close to you, and if you're in trouble with money, the one who helps you is someone you love, and people who don't help you are people without love, so it's better not to go out with...

4 responses

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