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9:45 AM – 10:15 AM: Zen Shin Sangha Meditation: 

As we enter August of 2025 let us enjoy these summer days to the fullest. To be aware of the sunlight and changing position of the rising sun, the flowers, smells and sounds. If we are aware, we see the each day progresses differently, as we do. Let us also take a moment of contemplation and self-reflection by quiet sitting and guided meditation. We will chant the Heart Sutra, and recite sutras. We sit to calm our mind and body in order to focus on the present moment revealing our profound connection to all beings. With this calmness we are more prepared to hear the Buddha Dharma in the Shin Buddhist service to follow. All levels, including beginners, and families with children are welcome.

(Check out our Children’s Table, complete with coloring books)

10:30 AM: Cleveland Buddhist Temple: Rev. Anita Tokuzen Kazarian

• Shin Buddhist Service
• 80^th Annual Obon Service
• Shin Buddhist Memorial Service to express gratitude to ancestors who passed away in the month of August. Those attending may include the name of a loved one in our Memorial Service. Please provide names on clipboard by 10:15 AM.

Sangha sharing:

• Following coffee and our Birthday cake for our Sangha’s August birthdays, we will share time and thoughts by reading and discussing a short passage of a text. Handouts of text provided. This is a time for experiencing the 3^rd Jewel of Buddhism, the Sangha.

Dhammapada

Dhammapada, a collection of verses of Shakyamuni Buddha

What keeps you up at night? Answering this may help us understand the source of our own dukkha (dissatisfaction, unhappiness, anxiety, stress…). If you do not recall the Four Noble Truths of Buddhism, now may be a good time to review them, especially the second noble truth. (See The Second Noble Truth in today’s Nightstand Buddhist.)

The CBT Sangha discussed humility, as antidote to pride, at our Sangha June gathering. We discovered humility is a difficult concept for us in the west. It not only is a difficult concept to grasp, but also very difficult, if not impossible, to put into genuine practice.

In the West, we tend to define success in material terms. Self-help books, seminars and personal coaches train us for assertiveness, self-promotion and behavior to impress others. It is ubiquitous so we don’t notice it, except when we do. These measures of success are subjective and always shift over time. These hinder, if not negate, our ability to practice the Buddhist concept of humility.

Living life where the ego-self continually demands more rarely leads to a dukkha free life, or a peaceful night’s sleep. The ego-self can never have enough. We achieve one goal and then set the bar even higher. It seems we are rarely satisfied with this mind set. When will we ever be satisfied? And what is the “more” we seek?

Merriam Webster defines humility as: freedom from pride or arrogance. Pride, at what cost do we feed it? Humility may be seen as weak, being a pushover, being used, but is it? What is wrong with truly listening to the other when we think we don’t agree? Humility allows us to do that, to listen. We may find when we listen, we begin to understand why that person has that view. We may even begin to understand and modify our own views. Humility is being able to admit errors on our part, admitting we might be wrong, acknowledging our human limitations.

How liberating is that, not having to be right all the time? And what about the paramita of Dana we speak of at each Cleveland Buddhist Temple Shin Service? Dana: to give non-transactionally, to make it a habit that we do not acknowledge even to ourselves, to do it every day and to begin to experience non-attachment that our ego-centric self fights against.

Maybe what keeps us up at night is something we can change; by putting into practice the Buddhist practice of humility and by doing so, finding restful nights of restorative sleep.

Namo Amida Butsu

Namo Amida Butsu

Namo Amida Butsu

Rev. Anita

This post was written by a human.

Buddha taught us what is important in order to lead happier lives:

• Be kind to everyone.
• Believe in others.
• Don’t lie.
• Don’t be greedy.
• Don’t lose your temper.
• Give thanks at least once each day.

If you can do these six things, you will surely find happiness. But it’s not an easy task. You will have to fight against your own selfishness and greed.

If you want to defeat selfishness, use a sign to remind yourself of what is important. From time to time, place the palms of your hands together as if in prayer. Take a slow, deep breath. Breathe out. Your right hand represents Buddha. Your left hand represents your own heart. When you quietly and gently place your hands together, you call the Buddha for help. The Buddha’s guidance (the teachings) will help you overcome feelings of weakness and greed.

Excerpt in gratitude from: Buddha is Our Teacher, Makota Miyashita. Bukkyo Dendo Kyokao. Tokyo, 2018.

The Second Noble Truth

Samudaya: ‘The Arising of Dukkha’

by

Walpola Rahula

The Second Noble Truth is that of the arising or origin of dukkha. The most popular and well-known definition of the Second Truth as found in innumerable places in the original texts runs as follows:

‘It is this “thirst (craving) which produces re-existence and re--becoming, and which is bound up with passionate greed, and which finds fresh delight now here and now there, namely, (1) thirst for sense-pleasures, (2) thirst for existence and becoming and (3) thirst for non-existence (self-annihilation).

It is this ‘thirst’, desire, greed, craving, manifesting itself in various ways, that gives rise to all forms of suffering and the continuity of beings. But it should not be taken as the first cause, for there is no first cause possible as according to Buddhism, everything is relative and inter-dependent. Even this ‘thirst’, which is considered as the cause or origin of dukkha , depends for its arising on something else, which is sensation, and sensation arises depending on contact, and so on and so forth goes on the circle which is known as Conditioned Genesis, which we will discuss later.

… Here the term ‘thirst’ includes not only desire for, and attachment to, sense-pleasures, wealth and power, but also desire for, and attachment to, ideas and ideals, views, opinions, theories, conceptions and beliefs. According to the Buddha’s analysis, all the troubles and strife in the world, from little personal quarrels in families to great wars between nations and countries, arise out of this selfish ‘thirst’. From this point of view, all economic, political and social problems are rooted in this selfish ‘thirst’. Great statesmen who try to settle international disputes and talk of war and peace only in economic and political terms, touch the superficialities, and never go deep into the real root of the problem. As the Buddha told Raṭṭapāla: ‘The world lacks and hankers, and is enslaved to ‘thirst’…

Excerpt in gratitude from: Walpola Rahula, What The Buddha Taught (New York: Grove Press, 1974).

Photo by Sachi on Unsplash

As Buddhists, death is a time of transformation from this life of samsara. It is also a time for the family and friends of the deceased to hear the teachings of the Buddha on impermanence. The minister’s message and the sutra chanting form the core of the funeral service. Funeral gatherings are for the sake of the living and attendance by family and friends is encouraged.

Understanding death is necessary to understand life.

As Rennyo writes in his Letter on White Ashes:

"The fragile nature of human life underlies both the young and old."

The Funeral Services may be conducted at the funeral home, Temple or another location chosen by the family and coordinated with the Resident Minister. A Homyo, Buddhist name, which reflects the life of the deceased, is chosen by the Supervising Minister and presented by the Resident Minister at the service. This Homyo accompanies the deceased as she or he passes on to Buddhahood.

Please contact Rev. Anita to discuss your preferred arrangements and service at: rev.anita.cbt@outlook.com

Supervising Minister:  Rev. Ron Miyamura

Resident Tokudo Minister: Rev. Anita Tokuzen Kazarian

rev.anita.cbt@outlook.com

Buddha Post is published by the Cleveland Buddhist Temple, 21600 Shaker Blvd, Shaker Heights, OH 44122 

The Cleveland Buddhist Temple is an affiliate of the Buddhist Churches of America, founded in 1899: 

https://www.buddhistchurchesofamerica.org/

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