JoshoAdrianCirlea

click aici pentru explicatiile in romana: http://josho-adrian.blogspot.com/2019/08/cele-trei-tipuri-de-prosternari-ale.html click here for the explanations in Spanish: https://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/2019/08/tipos-de-postraciones-en-el-templo.html DESCRIPTION AND EXPLANATION: There are three types of prostrations presented at Amidaji temple: 1) Half body prostration from sitting 2) Half body prostration from standing 3) Full body prostration from standing 1) Half body prostration from sitting We place our hands in gassho on the crown of our head, at the forehead, at the throat level, and at the level of the heart. Then we bow with our head touching the ground and our palms facing upwards. We slightly raise our palms and we keep them there for a few seconds. We do this three times and at the end we bow with our hands in gassho from sitting. 2) Half body prostration from standing We place our hands in gassho on the crown of our head, at the forehead, at the throat level, and at the level of the heart. Then we crouch and we bow with our head touching the ground and our palms facing upwards. We slightly raise our palms and we keep them there for a few seconds. We do this three times and at the end we bow with our hands in gassho from standing position. 3) Full body prostration from standing We place our hands in gassho on the crown of our head, at the forehead, at the throat level, and at the level of the heart. Then we lie down with all body touching the ground. We raise our palms on the crown of our heads and we keep them there for a few seconds. We do this three times and at the end we bow with our hands in gassho from standing position. All the time we do these prostrations we continually say Nembutsu, especially when we touch the crown of our head, the forehead, the throat, the heart, when we raise our palms facing upwards in the first two prostrations, and when we finish any type of prostration with the final bow. The significance of the gestures: All three types of prostrations are addressed to Amida Buddha. Placing our hands in gassho on the crown of our head means that we consider Amida Buddha and Amida Dharma above ourselves, and above everything, that He is the most important (Enlightened) Person in our religious life, and that we rely exclusively on Him. To put Amida Buddha there, on the highest part of our body is the highest gesture of respect. Then, when we place our hands in gassho at the level of our forehead we mean we worship Amida Buddha with our mind, at the throat level – we worship Him with our voice, at the heart level – we worship Him with our heart and when we prostrate fully or partially – we worship Him with our body and entire being. Raising the hands with palms facing upwards is like lifting the Buddha's feet above our head, which is another profound gesture of worship and respect. Of course, these three types of prostrations are not mandatory as simple faith and Nembutsu are enough. However, I post them here just in case you would like to use them at home in your daily devotions. Sometimes we use them at the temple, too. You can read about Amidaji temple and its resident priest at this link, http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html Click here if you wish to support me and Amidaji temple, http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/p/donation.html

Introduction by Gansen John Welch, I wrote this new poem to thank and honour my teachers Reverend Josho Adrian Cirlea and Paul Roberts as well as our Amida Dharma Masters, Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu, Tan-Luan, Daochuo, Shandao, Genshin, Honen,Shinran and Rennyo without whom I could not have found and understood (in my case, to some small extent) Amida Dharma and my utter helplessness, trapped in the endless suffering of samsara. Never forget these wise words from Tannisho by Yuienbo: “As I humbly reflect on the past [when the late masterShinran was alive] and the present in my foolish mind, I can not but lament the divergences from the true shinjin that he conveyed by speaking to us directly, and I fear there are doubts and confusions in the way followers receive and transmit the teaching. For how is entrance into the single gate of easy practice possible unless we happily come to rely on a true teacher whom conditions bring us to encounter? Let there be not the slightest distortion of the teaching of Other Power with words of an understanding based on personal views.” My hope is that readers and listeners will find that certain words, phrases, ideas and concepts in this poem resonate with their past and present experience and prove to be helpful and meaningful in increasing their understanding of this profound and preciousAmida Dharma. As Master Rennyo wrote: “There will also be those who are lacking in faith(fushinjin). This is an extremely serious matter. For unless there is a decisive settling of faith, the birth that is to come in the fulfilled land is uncertain. Therefore, those whose faith is lacking (fushin)should in all haste attain the decisive mind.The human realm is a place of uncertainty. The Land of utmost bliss is one of eternity. Hence we should not make our abode in the uncertain human realm, but rather aspire to [birth in] the eternal Land of Utmost Bliss. In our tradition, therefore, the matter of faith is placed before all else; unless we are fully aware of the reason for this, everything is meaningless. We must promptly undergo a decisive settling of faith (anjin) and aspire to birth in thePure Land.” (The Letters of Master Rennyo, Fascicle Five, 11: On the Anniversary of Master Shinran’s Death) “There is, then, no anxiety over becoming a Buddha. How incomparable is the all-surpassing Primal Vow! And how gracious Amida Tathagata’s light! Without encountering the [receptive] condition of this light, there can be no cure at all for the fearful sickness of ignorance and karma-hindrance, which has been ours from the beginningless past. Prompted by the condition of this light, and with the ripening of good from the past, we assuredly attain other-power faith now. It is immediately clear, however, that this is faith granted by Amida Tathagata. Hence we know now, beyond question, that this is not faith generated by the practitioner, but that it is Amida Tathagata's great other-power faith. Accordingly, all those who have once attained other-power faith should reflect gratefully on Amida Tathagata’s benevolence and repeat the nembutsu, saying the Name of the Buddha always, in gratitude for the Buddha’sbenevolence.” (The Letters of Master Rennyo, Fascicle Five, 12: On the Sleeve of Amida) I would encourage readers and listeners to share these PDFs and recordings with family and friends(especially the audio recordings for those who may have difficulties with reading) so that as many people as possible may benefit. I also hope that these verses help others and motivate them to find a good teacher like Reverend Josho AdrianCirlea, listen deeply to Amida Dharma and think and say: NamoAmidaButsu NamoAmidaButsu NamoAmidaButsu Thank you Amida Buddha Homage to Amida Buddha I take refuge in Amida Buddha Click here to download the poem in pdf, https://drive.google.com/file/d/12DEI4s0VABqpLaU7xHCuZZmcOgFP3Uli/view?usp=sharing Gansen John Welch is a member and lay teacher of Amidaji temple and narrator of Josho Adrian Cirleas's books. You can listen to the audio versions of Rev Josho's books at these links: The Meaning of Faith and Nembutsu in Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1TmuLHxJGTNten2hOrWQTGXhcMfpZ_3Z The Four Profound Thoughts Which Turn The Mind Towards Amida Dharma https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1TmuLHxJGTNun5JJtVnqXvAx3JxYq_NZ The True Teaching on Amida Buddha and His Pure Land https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1TmuLHxJGTN8Vk7gD2wh0LmfV4hu-0fc The Path of Acceptance - Commentary on Tannisho https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1TmuLHxJGTOFtQBVGL7vx3ouFnn_K5li The 48 Vows of Amida Buddha, https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1TmuLHxJGTPliPyzhdJN0AYUr9ONbb0t More will follow soon! Contact details and information about Rev Josho and Amidaji temple: http://amida-ji-retreat-temple-romania.blogspot.com/p/about-me.html

This is the official biography of Shinran Shonin as accepted by Nishi Hongwanji branch of Jodo Shinshu, and also by our temple, Amidaji. The reason I say so is that this biography is recited aloud on every Hoonko week (Shinran’s Memorial) at Nishi Hongwanji mother temple between January 9th to January 16th. The title of the biography is “An Illustrated Biography of Shinran, Honganji's Shonin (Honganji Shonin Shinran Denne)” and was compiled by Kakunyo, the 3rd Monshu of Hongwanji temple. The narrator of this biography is Gansen John Welch, a member and teacher in Amidaji temple sangha. The edition he uses was translated by Rev Zuio Hisao Inagaki and can be accessed at this link, http://web.mit.edu/stclair/www/horai/denne-index.htm Please click there if you wish to read the whole text together with introduction, images and notes. Here, https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Tk56b_rNJmUmPY_0Ix767I_7UwicIulB/view?usp=sharing you can also download the pdf containing the text narrated in this video (sections 9 to 11), excluding the notes and illustrations. The text is in larger type than the original text, so the elderly and those with eye problems may read it easily.