Skip to main content

Membership

Dearest friends,

Generosity or Dana as it's called in Pali is one of the six perfections that we must cultivate as Buddhist practitioners.  Volunteering our time and giving our money to causes and organizations we believe in is an effective means of creating a Buddhist Pureland in this lifetime.

For me, teaching the Dharma has been part of Dana practice, and one of the most enriching parts of my life.  As I go on retreats, study sutras, and work to make the teachings widely available through articles and Dharma talks my practice deepens and Buddhism is made available to anyone who needs it.

However, there is no larger organization or corporate entity that funds my work.  100% of the time, money, and energy to keep this project going come from my own body and my own pockets.  That's fine, as I see my work as a love-offering to the larger community, but there are limits to what I can do on my own.

Some of the things I'd like to do in the future include the following:


  • Purchase audio/visual equipment, so I can post higher quality, more frequent Dharma talks on Youtube
  • Create self-paced Buddhist classes; complete with videos and PDFs that practitioners can use to deepen their practice
  • Build a larger, more robust website that would allow the virtual sangha we're creating in the Same Old Zen facebook group to practice together


But all of these projects are out of reach given my current level of income.  So, I'm asking for your support.  

If you've benefited from one of the articles that I've posted on this blog or one of the Dharma talks that I've posted on Youtube.  Please consider becoming a supporting member by making a secure, one-time donation by clicking on the donate button below.

Namu Amida Butsu,

Sensei Alex Kakuyo


Please click the donate button below to make your secure donation.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

3 Buddhist Practices for Creating Harmony

Sangha (community) is one of the three jewels of Buddhism.Buddha cultivated the practice of building community when he created the monastic order, and laid out rules which allowed his monks to live in harmony.

These rules have changed slightly as Buddhism has spread between different countries and sects.However, they are still a key part of practice.
In fact, it’s not uncommon for practitioners to recite the rules of their sangha together prior to a meditation retreat as a reminder of what is expected. This ensures that whether one is visiting the center for a couple of hours or a couple of years, they will have a quiet, contemplative space to train. That being said, it’s not just monastics who need to live and work peacefully together. Householder Buddhists who have bills, jobs, families, etc. also have a responsibility to build cohesive communities. Thankfully, there are several Buddhist practices that help lay Buddhists live harmoniously with their neighbors.Incorporating the followi…
1 comment
Read more

Why We Don't Need More Angry Buddhists

A while back I read a book called, The Ape in the Corner Office by Richard Conniff.  In it, Conniff uses examples from the animal kingdom (everything from fish to primates) to explain why people do the strange things they do.  
For example, have you ever wondered why bosses can show up late to meetings, but their employees can't?
In short, showing up late is a dominance display.  He or She is the alpha of the office, and the meeting doesn't start until they get there.  
So, either consciously or subconsciously they're reinforcing their position in the group hierarchy each time they make people wait.  
In contrast, when an employee shows up early and puts a hot cup of coffee by the boss's chair, they're showing that they're both competent and respectful of the group dynamic.  These are important traits to have when it's time for year-end bonuses.
Reading the book was humbling because it reminded me that humans aren't as evolved as we think we are.  Many…
4 comments
Read more

Literal vs. Symbolic Truth in Buddhist Practice

I grew up in the evangelical Christian church.  The word evangelical comes from the Greek word euangelion, which translates to "good news' or "the gospel.  In this case, the good news was that our souls had been saved by the loving sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.
So, we spent a lot of time at church talking about Jesus, hell, and all of the terrible things that would happen to us if we didn't accept him as our lord and savior.  
Again, this was "good news" because the only thing we had to do in order to avoid an afterlife of torment was to have an unbreakable faith both in Jesus and the holy bible.
We were told that we had to "act out" our faith in daily life both by recruiting friends and co-workers to come to church and by accepting the bible as the literal word of God.  Thus, the earth was created in six days, Noah put two of every animal on the ark, and the story of Genesis happened exactly as it was written; talking snake and all.
It …
3 comments
Read more