Archive for the ‘Dharma Talks’ Category
November 29th, 2009 · 1 Comment
Buddhism is; in respect to selflessness one of the most unique religions in history. Buddhism characteristically describes ‘existence’ in terms of process and relation rather than an entity or substance or creation, and therefore does not believe in the existence of a self or soul (considered the same) the idea of a separate soul is an invention of early church philosophers found in the west and is a philosophical notion of an immortal and immaterial essence left over at death.
It is important to understand the etymology of the modern idea for soul for the western mindset. Early Greek philosopher …
(Read More) Tags: anattā, anitya, dukkha, ego, greek, impermanence, Plato, selfishness, selflessness, suffering, Thomas Aquinas
November 23rd, 2009 · 1 Comment
Compassion does not belong to one faith
It belongs to all.
Love is not the possession of one faith
It is the teachings of all.
May all beings everywhere plagued with sufferings of
body and mind quickly be freed from their illnesses.
May those frightened cease to be afraid,
and may those in bondage and slavery find freedom.
May people in every land think of befriending each other.
May all beings be Well, Happy and Peaceful.
May all beings have Dignity, Love and Respect.
May all efforts to relieve Suffering be successful.
“Do not injure any living being.”
This is …
(Read More) Tags: peace, prayer, thanksgiving
Good morning and welcome to Buu Mon Buddhist Temple as we come together to celebrate one of the most important ceremonies in Theravada Buddhism. I am Bhante Kassapa and I welcome The Most Venerable Buddhapala Venerable monks from Florida and Houston our city officials and all of you to our annual Kathina Robe Ceremony. We are most pleased to have you with us today.
The Kathina Ceremony is an annual event dating back nearly 2600 years, one of the original ceremonies put into place by the Buddha. Kathina is a special celebration, a ceremony that traditionally marks the end of …
(Read More) Tags: kathina, sangha, speech, vassa
August 12th, 2009 · 1 Comment
Love can be expressed as a person’s capacity to care for, have feelings for, care about, treat with compassion and equanimity. It is the quantitative capacity to engage another being with the simple behavioral skills of loving compassion. It is using the positive energy of love to care for and nourish others.
What is most important in Buddhism and part of the core teachings of the Buddha is self love and an understanding of who you are. We must develop the capacity to generate love for ourselves, before we can be an example of love for others to learn. If …
(Read More) Tags: love
My very personal quest is trying to develop a Buddhist sense about practice and monk hood. It goes past the learning of chants and practices of monks in far off lands. We can become bogged down with the minutia of life and fail at some of the basic understandings found in the Dhamma.
I have had the very fortunate privileges to travel to many temples here in the US and have attended/participated in many different cultural events. In the past 5 years I have been able to participate in Vesak and Katina celebrations in Vietnamese, Cambodian, Burmese, Thai, Sri Lankan …
(Read More) Tags: western buddhism
