Tag: buddhist

he sound of Taiko drums echoed through the Perry District this weekend, each beat sending a message of thanksgiving to those who have gone before us.

For the first time in two decades the Spokane Buddhist Temple hosted an Oban Festival

Because the Buddha was a teacher and the Dharma is the body of his teachings, simply to study Buddhism means you already have a teacher. Yet, as mentioned above, your query leads to more questions than answers, the most important being, what do you want from a teacher?

For those of you that may not have heard, I am no longer in Spokane. A career opportunity has taken me from my sunny west coast home in Washington to the equally sunny but much more humid eastern landscapes of Virginia.  For financial reasons I decided to make this move by car and view the country from the cracked windshield of my cross-over SUV.

I reached into my pocket and my fingers wrapped themselves around a fistful of change. How appropriate, lately the world seems to be overflowing with change. It is the one thing that we can rely on. One of the most basic beliefs of Buddhism is the concept of impermanence; that we should not cling to any object, person, or belief because our reality is constantly changing.

Although I study and write books on many world wisdom traditions, at heart, I am a committed Buddhist practitioner. This turn away from my childhood faith of Presbyterianism occurred on a narrow trail 500 feet above a terrifying and roaring river in the Himalayas.

As 2013 approaches, I am considering more and more the consequences of my actions. More accurately my inaction. I have spent a great deal of time thinking of myself as a Buddhist who has few worldly attachments, kind actions, and a generous spirit.

Nathan Conover left Spokane with a full head of hair, a stubbly beard and a wardrobe common to most 23 years old.

Now, just more than a month later, he’s donning white robes and shaved head at Wat Marp Jan , a monastery in a Thailand forest, where he’s serving as a pakow (or anagarika) and preparing to for Buddhist ordination.