We’ve been back from Japan for nearly two months now. Though there have been an abundance of riches, what has really stayed with me has been my encounters with Japanese Buddhism. Each of the three main streams has impacted me…
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One day during our recent trip to Japan we escaped the heat and bustle of Kyoto for the tranquil town of Ohara, about a 45-minute bus ride into the mountains to the north. Among the rice paddies and frogs and…
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We spent a lovely day yesterday installing and sharing the Orchard Oculus project in Carkeek Park. It was very sweet and meaningful, certainly worth its own post one of these days. But I am eager to continue to capture the important…
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We had taken taxi, train, subway, train, cable car, and bus to get to Mt. Koya, south of Kyoto in the Wakayama peninsula. The crisp warm mountain air felt like Lake Tahoe, and the tall cedars looked familiar too…
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By chance one day we happened upon Rokkaku-do, a little temple nestled in the middle of a city block in the center of Kyoto, surrounded by skyscrapers. In this unpromising spot the evidence of devotional practices was everywhere: in the…
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I want to relate to you a little story that took place shortly before we came home from Japan. We saw many stupendous sights and I had many transformative experiences, but as things settle down and I begin to…
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When I was in Japan the past few weeks I found I had to let go of just about all the structures of devotion and practice that are the core of my daily life. In preparing for the trip, and…
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We leave for Japan in about a week, and amid the general hubbub of trip preparation are making some more detailed plans. Most of the time we will be in Kyoto, but last night we made plans to spend a…
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I think I can pinpoint the moment at which I realized that I needed to go to Japan, and soon. Victoria and I were attending a Japanese cultural event, Senses from Japan, in Seattle last October. She wanted to go…
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As a practitioner of shamanism I am especially intrigued by Shinto, the Japanese version of indigenous religion that remains a prominent part of contemporary religious life. This is a sticky thicket to wade through: at the root of it, I…
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