Please, no more Conferences on peace for me - a little request

From time to time I receive invitations to attend conferences on world peace together with various representatives of other religions. I wish people or organizations should stop sending me such invitations.

Do not get me wrong - I do NOT wish war. I am NOT an enemy of peace. I love peace, but I am not that stupid as to believe that all religions really want peace or that all religions are the same. I also do not believe in the usefulness of such events.

Rather than attending conferences on peace where everybody smiles, a lot of money are spent and empty discussions are held, I rather prefer to focus my mind on my religious practice, helping those who think they can be helped by my Dharma activities. 

Respectfully yours in
Namo Amida Bu


PS: A lot of people engaged in a discussion on my page on this topic. You can see the comments here (click on the Facebook icon),

La Liturgia del Nembutsu del Templo Amidaji (versión final)

Traducido del inglés por:
Juan Sebastián Hincapié Arana

Aunque también tenemos otros servicios, decidí que esta será la liturgia principal en el Templo Amidaji. A diferencia de otros servicios que pueden encontrar en diversos templos, este en particular es más sencillo de seguir y recitar, en especial porque todas sus partes (incluidas las Tres Invitaciones) son recitadas en vez de ser cantadas.

El Camino de la aceptación- comentario sobre el Tannisho (edición gratuita)

Portada de la versión inglesa

Traducido del inglés por:

Juan Sebastián Hincapié Arana

Este libro es una adaptación de mis charlas de Dharma sobre "Tannisho– Notas lamentando las divergencias", dadas en el Dojo Tariki en Craiova durante los días habituales de práctica.

Yuien-bo, el autor de Tannisho, advierte que este texto puede ser comprendido erróneamente por aquellos que todavía no están preparados para recibir el mensaje del Voto Primordial del Buda Amida:

"No se debe mostrar indiscriminadamente".

The testimony of Ananda and the audience gathered on Vulture Peak to the existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land – commentary on the sections 41 and 42 from the Larger Sutra

This painting shows the manifestation of 

the Pure Land as shown to Ananda and 

the audience gathered on Vulture Peak. 

Ananda is in the middle with his 

right shoulder barred and facing Amida. 

Behind him sits a long-haired monk, 

who is Maitreya, the future Buddha. 

On his left sits Buddha Shakyamuni 

surrounded by monks, bodhisattvas and 

deities. A layman and laywoman are seen 

behind Maitreya worshiping Amida. 

Click for the source of this painting.

fragment from my commentary on the Larger Sutra

- this is a work in progress and under constant revision -  

click here to return to the table of contents

As we have seen in this sutra, Shakyamuni not only presented the story of Dharmakara becoming Amida, but described in many details the wonders of the Pure Land as well as the splendor of Amida and the enlightened beings living there. Then, in sections 41 and 42 He went even further and did something more extraordinary – He showed Amida and His Pure Land to the audience!!!

First, before Ananda made his request, and knowing in advance what he will say, Shakyamuni asked him to worship Amida, invoking the testimony of all Buddhas who always praise Amida’s Name and His method of salvation, thus encouraging all beings to entrust to Him and worship Him:

Listening the Dharma in the presence of Amida and attaining perfect Enlightenment - commentary on section 29th of the Larger Sutra

fragment from my commentary on the Larger Sutra

- this is a work in progress and under constant revision -  

click here to return to the table of contents

“The Buddha said to Ananda, ‘When Amitayus (Amida) preaches the Dharma to sravakas and Bodhisattvas, they all assemble in the seven-jeweled lecture hall. There He fully expounds the teachings of the Way and proclaims the wonderful Dharma. The whole audience rejoices, comprehends, and attains Enlightenment. At that time a breeze spontaneously arises in each of the four directions and wafts over the jeweled trees, producing sounds of the pentatonic scales and causing innumerable exquisite flowers to fall like rain and scatter everywhere. Natural ways of glorification such as these are endlessly repeated. All the devas bring with them a hundred thousand flowers, pieces of aromatic wood, and thousands of musical instruments to use as offerings to the Buddha and the assembly of bodhisattvas and sravakas; they scatter flowers, diffuse perfumes everywhere, and play various kinds of music. They come and go in succession, giving way to each other. At such times their joy and happiness are beyond description.”[1]

Eight guidelines to protect and transmit the true faith in Amida Buddha

Many people asked me for a detailed and strict guideline on how to think and act in matters related with faith (shinjin), so that they do not fall into wrong views, nor be a cause of wrong views in others. As you probably know if you read my book The Meaning of Faith and Nembutsu in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, I always teach that genuine faith in Amida Buddha has eight elements:

1) To accept the actual, literal existence of Amida Buddha and His Pure Land

2) To accept the story of Amida  Buddha as told by Shakyamuni Buddha in the Larger Sutra

Los 48 votos del Buda Amida (edición gratuita)

Portada de la versión inglesa

Traducido del inglés por Diego Daleffe y 

Jaime Salvador Guzmán Valladares

Revisado por Juan Sebastián Hincapié Arana

En el momento en que Dharmakara se convirtió en el Buda Amida, Sus 48 votos y Su Tierra Pura se transformaron en métodos reales y eficaces para la salvación de los seres sintientes. Este libro es mi intento personal de proporcionar explicaciones fáciles de entender sobre los votos, para que la gente pueda vivir de acuerdo con ellos y adquirir la verdadera y real salvación del nacimiento y la muerte.

Para una mejor comprensión dividí los 48 votos del Buda Amida de la siguiente manera:

1. Votos sobre el Buda Amida y su Tierra Pura.

Estos votos se explicarán en el primer capítulo.

2. Los votos relacionados con la salvación de todos los seres sintientes – Se explican en el segundo capítulo.