Relics of Shakyamuni Buddha and precious objects at Amidaji temple

Dear friends and members of Amidaji, 

I know it’s amazingly incredible, but I need to tell you that Amidaji now possesses two relics of Shakyamuni Buddha which are stored in these two beautiful crystal pagodas on the sides of the main altar. The one in the left as you face Amida statue is the Pagoda of Victory over heresies and the other is the Pagoda of Shakyamuni's descend from the heaven of the gods after He taught the Dharma there.

Together with these two pagodas we also received 21 statues of Bodhisattva Ksitigarbha. Inside or in front of some of these statues we will place relics of various Arhats that will soon be sent to Amidaji. Who are the senders? Dharma friends from Taiwan, monks and lay people who appreciate the work we are doing here. The relics were first sent from Burma to Taiwan and now to Romania. Details will be given to visitors only. Also, I will not post photos of the relics online, but they can be seen and appreciated at the temple.    

It’s wonderful that the sacred relics of Shakyamuni are stored in these two pagodas which are very much in line with two of the main aspects of Amidaji's teaching style,

1)    Buddhas as supreme teachers of gods and humans, which also means that the Buddha Dharma is supreme among all teachings and religions of the world,

 and

2)    maintaining an orthodox attitude towards Buddhism in general and Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in particular, while also fighting against various heresies and worldly ideologies that plague many centres and sanghas of our time.

If you are familiar with Japanese Buddhist temples in the Jodo Shinshu tradition you will not see such a display of various statues, pagodas and images. However, because Amidaji has a very friendly attitude towards all authentic Buddhist schools we are sent gifts from various practitioners, monks and lay people that wish to adorn our temple. We gratefully receive what they offer and consider their sacred gifts to be the expression of the 17th Vow of Amida in which He said that all Buddhas will praise His Name. They also remind us that all Buddhas and Enlightened Protectors, no matter which practices are associated with them in various schools, they all protect protect us who say the Nembutsu of faith in Amida.

Let us remember some of our favorite sayings at Amidaji,

"Homage to all Dharma gates taught by Shakyamuni
and to all authentic lineages of transmission.
Homage to Amida Buddha whose Name is praised by all Buddhas. " 

NAMO AMIDA BU 

Please support Amidaji temple with a one time donation or by becoming a Patron (constant supporter),

Do not despise other Buddhas, Dharma Gates and Buddhist teachings because you have faith in Amida (video teaching)

 

As this is a very important teaching I decided to poste it here too. At Amidaji we consider it to be of utmost importance to respect all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas, as well as all Dharma Gates, sutras, tantras and authentic lineages of transmission. 

There are hundreds of video teachings on my youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@JoshoAdrianCirlea and I invite you to visit it, subscribe and enjoy them, perhaps finding something useful there.

As a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist I do NOT believe in any good or evil "world order"

I think this short video might be useful, so I post it here too. Please check my youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/@JoshoAdrianCirlea/videos for hundreds of other video teachings and discussions.  

Namo Amida Bu 

Article mentioned in the video:
The benefit of entering the stage of the truly settled (non-retrogression) 

Keep worldly affairs out of the temple

 

As you may probably know, in many Buddhist temples around the world, Jodo Shinshu or not, members organize parties with music, alcohol, and dancing. Some say it relaxes people and brings them together. I say it is a smart trick of internal maras (one's own blind passions and ignorance) and/or external maras or various evil spirits to make people forget the Dharma in the exact place where they have the chance to deepen its meaning, a subtle way of distracting them from the teaching and keeping them focused on their worldly passions and preoccupations.

State of mind in the moment of death

Shinran Shonin said in one of his Letters (Mattosho):

“I, for my own part, attach no significance to the condition, good or bad, of persons in their final moments. People in whom shinjin (faith) is determined do not doubt, and so abide among the truly settled. For this reason, their end also - even for those ignorant and foolish and lacking in wisdom - is a happy one.”

This is for me, one of the most important statements of Shinran Shonin. No matter if I die well, in my bed, or in the street like a homeless person, no matter if I feel good or bad, if I smile and die peacefully with the appearance of a wise person or I cry because of pain or fear, no matter if my death makes a good impression or not, no matter if I die of old age or in my youth, I am accepted exactly as I am and I will be born in the Pure Land because of Amida’s Compassion. This is because, in His Primal Vow, Amida Buddha did not mention a special condition in which I have to die in order to be born in the Pure Land, He just promised that those beings who trust in Him, wish to be born in His land and say His Name will be born there. These three minds – the mind who entrusts in Amida, the mind who wishes to be born in Amida’s Land and the mind who says Nembutsu are in fact one mind –  the manifestations of the entrusting mind.

In Jodo Shinshu our salvation starts in the here and now, that is, we enter the stage of non-retrogression (“truly settled”) or the stage of those assured of Nirvana, in the very moment we entrust ourselves to Amida Buddha, and we are born in the Pure Land where we become immediately Buddhas in the moment we die. But even after we receive shinjin (faith in Amida Buddha) we continue to live our lives like ordinary people, filled with blind passions and illusions, and we can die like ordinary people because of the problems of ordinary people.

However, this very ordinary person is already “received and never abandoned” by the Compassion of Amida Buddha and in this way his end becomes a happy one. He dies like an ordinary person but is reborn as a Buddha in the Pure Land of Amida.

A BOMBŪ LOST ABOVE THE SKY OF ROMANIA - My experience at Amida-ji, by Hōrai Alessandro Coletta

Rev. Jōshō Adrian Cîrlea was the first teacher from whom I heard Amida Dharma when I discovered his videos on YouTube at the beginning of 2023.

A few days earlier, I had been in the city of Turin, in the Piedmont region of Italy, with my wife on a sightseeing trip. As usual, I felt the deep discomfort that almost always accompanies me when I step outside my comfort zone. Among various monuments and museums, we visited the Museum of Oriental Art (MAO Torino), where I knew several Buddhist objects, statues, and paintings from Asia were displayed. I have always been attracted, since childhood, to Eastern aesthetics, particularly Sino-Japanese, which even influenced my first steps into the Dharma when, in 2008, I set foot in my first Zen temple.

Since then, many years have passed, during which I practiced zazen and vipassana, attended retreats (sometimes fleeing from them), and visited various Dharma centers in Italy belonging to different schools. I formally took Refuge in the Three Jewels, undertook the Five Precepts, and maintained a general practice—not without struggles—while simultaneously trying to manage various personal, family, and emotional issues.