Connections

Across the vast landscape of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, the mandala serves as a profound expression of enlightened reality—at once a map of the cosmos, a mirror of the mind, and a gateway to awakening.

Comparing Frei’s “Generous Orthodoxy” with the Ekayana (One Vehicle) teaching of the Lotus Sutra reveals deep structural and spiritual parallels, despite arising from vastly different religious traditions. Both articulate a vision of inclusive particularity—a path that honors the specific narrative or doctrinal center of the tradition while opening wide the doors of compassion and participation.

What is a Sangha? Is there “a” Sangha, or “the” Sangha? Does it matter? Do I need one? There isn’t a single exact definition of “Sangha.” It is clear from the canonical texts that Sangha meant different things at different times. We do know, unequivocally that Sangha is one of the Three Treasures that all Buddhists take refuge in: Buddha. Dharma. Sangha. There is no sutra, vinaya rule, or abhidharma passage that authorizes institutional prerogative or authority over all pract

The history of Mahāyāna Buddhism is often told in fragments: doctrinal innovations, textual discoveries, or shifts in regional influence. But when we step back and allow ourselves to see this tradition not as a static library of texts but as a living current moving through time, space, and mind, a much more vivid and compelling story emerges.

Please let me assure them, and the reader, that I am not criticizing any specific sect or group. Nor am I denigrating “Nichiren” Buddhism. F

We don’t often talk about it over coffee, but every one of us, sooner or later, meets the profound mysteries of life and death—sometimes through the joy of new birth, other times through the pain of loss. And alongside these moments, many of us are called to care for those we love through illness, aging, or transition. These experiences can be beautiful, heart-wrenching, exhausting, and sacred—all at once. In this reflection, drawn from the teachings of the Buddha, the writin

Across the world’s spiritual traditions, there is a recurring motif: the vision of a final age of decline, confusion, and moral collapse—an “end time” that signals the unraveling of both spiritual integrity and social order. Whether described in religious terms as apocalypse, degeneration, or the breaking of a sacred covenant, or in more secular language as ecological collapse and civilizational crisis, the underlying themes are remarkably similar.

Nichiren always used the Lotus Sutra as the foundation for his teaching. In the Lotus Sutra’s Chapter Twenty-one “The Transcendent Powers of the Tathagata” it says, “They will know the causes and conditions, as well as the proper sequences of the sutras taught by the Buddha and teach them according to their true meanings.”

Awakening is found in the connections between us.

An Eye Opening is a ritual to consecrate a “Focus of Devotion." All wisdom traditions and religions have some version of one.