We're back on the air. Sorry for the hiatus. The podcast recorder was down due to a hardware failure.

Sensei Siebuhr talks about what's mistakenly called ojuzu beads. In shin-buddhism these beads are called o-nenju. Sensei also describes what buddhists are doing when they clasp their hands in what looks like prayer. Buddhists do not believe in petitionary prayers or requests to a superior being.

Sensei also talks about his conversation with someone who is seeks tranquility in his life.Sensei Siebuhr talks about

Sensei talks about Buddhist views on animals and their relative stature to humans. He refers to the Jataka Tales during his talk.

Sensei talks about many things today. The common thread of his talk is of lifes impermanence, all beings will die. Just as each person must live their life alone, so must we experience death alone.

With life being so short let us live everyday and try to be kind to all people. We must let go of wrongs done to us in the past and forgive those who have wronged us.

This service talks about the fall ohigan. Shin Buddhists observe ohigan twice a year at the fall and spring equinoxes where the day and night are of equal duration. Symbolically this instance of equal day and night is represented by the painting "Two Rivers and White Path."

Sensei talks about the ideas represented by this famous Buddhist painting.

Sensei finds some old papers which causes him to reflect upon change and how that change affects the Temple. Sensei talks about the change and the future of the Midwest Buddhist Temple.

http://www.midwestbuddhisttemple.org

This week's dharma talk is given by Sensei Siebuhr. This week commemorates the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This segment commences with an interview of a survivor of the Hiroshima devastation and ends with a short talk by Sensei.

For those listeners in the Chicagoland area, this weekend is the 53rd Annual Ginza Festival. Come down to the Temple for the BEST teriyaki chicken in Chicago. Visit our website for details.

This week's dharma talk is given by Sensei Siebuhr. Sensei starts with an explanation of "What is the Buddhists' Bible?".

This week's talk is given by Ellen Dunleavy, a lay dharma leader. Ellen tells a personal story which causes her to reflect on the fact that we're not the center of the universe except where infinite compassion is concerned.

This weekend we celebrated Obon, a Japanese date honoring the dead. Part of the Obon tradition is a group dance or Bon Odori. Sensei briefly talks about the origins of Obon and then goes on to tell of the fable of the monkey and the Buddha.

Sensei talks about the Buddha's heart and his compassion for us living beings.

This week's talk is given by Kay Schroeter, a lay dharma leader of the Midwest Buddhist Temple. Kay reflects upon the writings of Reverend Kono, the founding minister of the Midwest Buddhist Temple.

This week Sensei is inspired by monuments in memory of senseless destruction and the story of one of the Buddha's followers to muse on human ignorance.

What do fatherhood and Buddhism have in common? This Father's Day Sensei explores the connection.

On the day which we remember Prince Shotoku's legacy, Sensei discusses his own short comings in light of the promise of the Nembutsu.

Of rivers and reality. Sensei uses metaphor to graphically illustrate the dangers of delusion.

In his portrait of Shinran Shonin, Sensei illustrates the strengths and weaknesses of the man who would guide us to the not so easy path to enlightenment.

This week Temple Member, Jason Matsumoto, asks the question: How can we reconcile our expectations of ourselves in our competitive society with the Buddha's Four Nobel Truths?

This week Sensei relates what the Buddha knew 2500 years ago - the truth about human behavior.

Sensei returns to tell us about attending the Pope's inter-faith meeting and muses on religious differences and common values.

Our Sensei is travelling this week, in his place Roger Suekama, a longtime member of the sangha, delivers this week's dharma talk. Roger reminds us to be mindful of our inter-connectedness, and to foster gratitude for all those who touch our lives.

This week Rev. Ron Miyamura examines the surprisingly symbiotic relationship between our differences and our dependence on one another.
 

Is that spot legal?  Sensei observes the physical and moral complexities of parking in Chicago leading him to contemplate ignorance, delusion and compassion.
 

Living on a speck of dust. This week Sensei discusses the nature of faith and gratitude in the contexts of the Nembutsu and the recently released movie Dr. Seuss' "Horton Hears A Who."

There are many paths to enlightenment and various Buddhist practices toward that goal.  Sensei illustrates with a video on Japanese Zen Buddhism the differences between that extremely austere practice and Jodo Shinshu's Nembutsu path.

This week Sensei examines the connection between the Buddha's (famous) last words: Be a Lamp Unto Yourself and controlling one's ego.

Sensei Ashikaga is the minister for the Buddhist Temple of Chicago (BTC) located in the uptown neighborhood of Chicago.

On Buddha's birthday Sensei focuses not on the circumstances of his birth but explains rather what the Buddha awakened to; something to celebrate every day - infinite compassion.
 

Sensei Siebuhr uses the ice hes gathered from the Temple's parking as a prop for this week's dharma talk. He makes the comparison of the ice's frozen grip on the asphalt to the grip of your ego on your thoughts.