Beauty and Sadness: Reflections on a Japanese Noh Play
Joseph Houseal
4 March 2016
The Wheel of Life and Death is a central concept and image in Buddhist understanding. Escaping the Wheel of Life and Death is a Buddhist
Drinking Tea—Meeting the Buddha
Gereon Kopf
18 September 2015
Many package tours to Japan include a tea ceremony. Sometimes these short versions of a traditional tea ceremony––otemae or cha no yu ––take place in the tea room
Hiroshima’s Hibaku Jizo
Meher McArthur
7 August 2015
In Japanese temples or along the sides of roads, small stone statues of the Buddhist deity Jizo are a common sight. According to Japanese Buddhist
Spiritual Receptiveness: A Conversation with Reverend Shomon
Raymond Lam
31 July 2015
Buddhism’s remarkable receptiveness has enabled it to evolve into a tradition of great diversity. Through pragmatic absorption and negotiation rather than conquest or imposition, Buddhism
Monkeys, Catfish, and Demons in Priest’s Clothing: The Buddhist Roots and Themes of Japanese “Otsu-e” Folk Painting
Meher McArthur
10 July 2015
In Japan during the Edo period (1600–1868), many people traveled on foot between the military capital, Edo (modern Tokyo), and the ancient imperial capital, Kyoto.
Creating Space
Heather Sanche
10 July 2015
As my husband Jason and I prepared to welcome Adelaide into our lives nearly ten months ago, I thought about the kind of home we
Jizo: Japan’s Beloved Savior of Lost Souls
Meher McArthur
15 May 2015
The Buddhist deity Kshitigarbha, or “He who encompasses the Earth,” has a powerful and ubiquitous presence in Japan, where figures of him depicted as a
The Dragon-girl and Her Monks: Shanmiao’s Relationships with Uisang and Myoe
Raymond Lam
10 April 2015
In the temple Kozan-ji in Kyoto is a 750-year-old collection of scrolls that is designated a National Treasure. The third scroll, the Illustrated Scroll on the
Humility, Faith, and Other-Power: Shinran’s “Tannisho”
Gereon Kopf
20 March 2015
The so-called sectarianism of Buddhism in Japan has enabled Pure Land Buddhism to develop as a quasi-independent tradition within Buddhism. One of the central figures
The Art of Salvation: The “Descent of Amitabha” Motif in Pure Land Art
Raymond Lam
13 February 2015
“Return to Amida, Return to Amida, So even dewdrops fall,” wrote the Soto Zen hermit Ryokan (1756–1831) famously, and throughout his life he exhorted those
Walking with Kukai–Becoming a Buddha: Pilgrimage in Shingon Buddhism
Gereon Kopf
30 January 2015
Since the Meiji restoration in the 19th century, Buddhism in Japan has seen the development of a third category of practitioner in addition to the
Why Haiku Holds the Flavor of Zen
Andrew Schelling
7 November 2014
Furu ike yakawazu tobikomumizu no oto The old ponda frog jumps inkerplunk Matsuo Basho’s (1644–94) haiku—that mind-altering frog vanishing into an ancient pond—has become so