Living in the Saha World...

Hello! Welcome to the blogsite of the Washington Tendai Sangha. My Dharma name is Chion, and I am a Doshu ("Temple Assistant") of the Tendai-shu New York Betsuin, the authorized representative of the Japanese Tendai school of Buddhism here in North America. It is my good karma to be one of the deshi of the Reverend Monshin Paul Naamon Sensei, Abbot of Juinzan Tendai-ji at the Tendai Betsuin in upstate New York. On December 8th of 2006-- which is "Rohatsu" or Bodhi-Day on the Buddhist calendar-- I was installed by Monshin Sensei as the Sangha Leader of the new Washington Tendai Sangha, a branch assembly of the New York Betsuin here in Northern Virginia. Since that time, I have served the Betsuin to the best of my ability, as the Sangha leader of this small assembly.

After more than a year since the Sangha was inaugurated, I recently decided to replace the original website of the Washington Tendai Sangha, with this more contemporary "blog." There are a number of reasons for this, but basically I feel that we need a forum to easily post essays and commentaries not only about the Dharma, but also about the many challenges faced by Buddhists, and especially ordained practitioners, in an urban environment.

Most people know that traditionally, ordained Buddhists are renunciants who leave the world behind, shave their heads, and live in a monastery. This is the case even with many Monks who practice one of the several Mahayana traditions, to say nothing of the Theravadan tradition. But hardly any of the ordained practioners I know, can actually sever all of their worldy obligations, without harming other people in their lives. Indeed, the spread of Tendai Buddhism in North America is largely dependant upon ordained practitioners, who (like me) lead the lives of laypeople most of the time: marriages, jobs, children, mortgages, and so forth. Not to mention a full head of hair.

Thus, few of us are real monks, with one or two exceptions-- it is more accurate to say we are priests. I am thus a part-time clergyman-- more obligated than a lay practitioner, but not quite a full renunciant, not really a true monk. And so, this blog has three purposes: (1) to serve as a web site for the Washington Tendai Sangha, so that people who visit here can find us if they want to; (2) to serve as a blackboard for Dharma lessons for our Sangha and visitors to this blogsite; and (3) as a forum for me to post my thoughts about the many contradictions and challenges faced by those of us who live our lives in the Saha World, even as we strive to live by the Bodhisattva Vow:

Sentient Beings are Numberless, I vow to save them;
Desires are inexaustible, I vow to put an end to them;
The Dharmas are Boundless, I vow to master them;
The Buddha-Way is unsurpassable, I vow to attain it.

I hope you enjoy this blog. For more information about our Sangha or Tendai Buddhism, you can reach me at http://www.wisdomcommunication@verizon.net/