My family members were all Buddhist practitioners, from my grandmother to my parents, and I just went along with them. But I didn’t really know much apart from the fact that we are Buddhist. We would go to the temple once in a while, mostly for the New Year, or…
“I was born and raised in a temple family, which means my father is also a Buddhist minister, and so was my grandfather. In fact, my father is the 16th generation of resident ministers in my family. This is a Japanese tradition, the son takes over the father’s place. My…
“I am 9 years old, and I am an only child. I like it, but I would like to have a little brother or sister. It can get lonely sometimes. When my friends come to visit me, we play house, we pretend, or we ride our bikes. Riding my bike…
“What brought me to Buddhist practice was essentially emotional and psychological pain. Nothing worked, nothing could alleviate it, and nothing would make it subside. It just felt awful. I felt like I was hurting inside, my heart hurt, and I felt empty. There were multiple days when I felt like…
“Already in High School I thought about Buddhism, not because I questioned the validity of my faith, because I grew up Catholic, I just didn’t believe there was anything wrong with other religions. When I was growing up, my parents separated and got a divorce. It wasn’t an easy divorce,…
