tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post113989438694528464..comments2023-07-22T06:42:24.121-04:00Comments on One foot in front of the other: Self-Portrait Tuesday, Valentine's DayMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comBlogger14125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1140098613721134872006-02-16T09:03:00.000-05:002006-02-16T09:03:00.000-05:00Hi Phats,Yes, my Valentine's Day was pleasant, as ...Hi Phats,<BR/>Yes, my Valentine's Day was pleasant, as I hope yours was, too. I'm feeling fine. How about you?<BR/><BR/>Hi Greensleeves,<BR/>Yes, the Hasegawa chain is HUGE! I have a small mokugyo that I bought at a temple on Shikoku. I agree, the sound is very comforting, especially the sound of the very large ones you see in temples.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1140071160293543692006-02-16T01:26:00.000-05:002006-02-16T01:26:00.000-05:00I hope you had a nice valentine's day and all is w...I hope you had a nice valentine's day and all is well with ya!Phatshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06694684931757245608noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1140066565226577212006-02-16T00:09:00.000-05:002006-02-16T00:09:00.000-05:00Hi Greenbean,I hope you find peace, as I'm sure yo...Hi Greenbean,<BR/><BR/>I hope you find peace, as I'm sure you will.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1140017649801521252006-02-15T10:34:00.000-05:002006-02-15T10:34:00.000-05:00Hi JD,Sounds to me like you have the perfect butsu...Hi JD,<BR/>Sounds to me like you have the perfect butsudan.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Hi Mary,<BR/>Welcome, and thanks for your comment!Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1140007044602282172006-02-15T07:37:00.000-05:002006-02-15T07:37:00.000-05:00I love that you have your father's picture on your...I love that you have your father's picture on your butsudan ...Maryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15022751588711849162noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1139981466397303602006-02-15T00:31:00.000-05:002006-02-15T00:31:00.000-05:00Not at all, LB, and thanks! Welcome back to the bl...Not at all, LB, and thanks! Welcome back to the blogosphere. I hope you family visit was a good one.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1139978609020619692006-02-14T23:43:00.000-05:002006-02-14T23:43:00.000-05:00you are my spiritual valentine...hope you don't mi...you are my spiritual valentine...<BR/>hope you don't mind!LBseahaghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05797945283850468976noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1139938191111333412006-02-14T12:29:00.000-05:002006-02-14T12:29:00.000-05:00Thanks, Beachy! Give Larry a hug for me.Thanks, Beachy! Give Larry a hug for me.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1139935024142749602006-02-14T11:37:00.000-05:002006-02-14T11:37:00.000-05:00P.S. My butsudan is the Japanese Buddhist equivale...P.S. My butsudan is the Japanese Buddhist equivalent of a Hyundai, but I'm all right with that.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1139934972710856632006-02-14T11:36:00.000-05:002006-02-14T11:36:00.000-05:00Hi Anu,Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!!!!!As fo...Hi Anu,<BR/><BR/>Happy Valentine's Day to you, too!!!!!<BR/>As for the little girl, she is just an appropriately cute tot randomly chosen to grace the butsudan store discount card -- and, probably, to make tightwads feel guilty about not buying a Mercedes-Benz of a butsudan.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1139933005402091212006-02-14T11:03:00.000-05:002006-02-14T11:03:00.000-05:00Hello g,Well, not quite. Maybe more like buying a ...Hello g,<BR/><BR/>Well, not quite. Maybe more like buying a new car every so often. One of my friends, a Buddhist priest in Japan, told me that the clerks at the butsudan stores actually have a sales pitch that makes customers feel guilty if they don't shell out to buy the very best altar they can (or can't) afford. <BR/>I agree with you, it's a good idea to remember where one has come from.<BR/><BR/>Hello Chris,<BR/>Yes, I agree completely: Our possessions speak volumes about ourselves. And I've been extraordinarily lucky to have had the opportunities I've been given.<BR/>And yes, your instincts about the shelf and brackets are right: Ace is the place, as they say!Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1139932710206887112006-02-14T10:58:00.000-05:002006-02-14T10:58:00.000-05:00Hi Kitty,Thank you! I'm with you: I'm not very cra...Hi Kitty,<BR/><BR/>Thank you! I'm with you: I'm not very crazy about Nichiren or any of its offshoots, especially Soka Gakkai. Ironically, though, the buddha inside my altar -- Amida in Japanese, Amitabha in Sanskrit -- was purchased at a butsudan store near one of two Nichiren Shoshu head temples, this one not far from Tokyo. Regarding your dad and your brother-in-law, it's funny how things work out, isn't it?Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15133620064728357184noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1139930479711826682006-02-14T10:21:00.000-05:002006-02-14T10:21:00.000-05:00Self-portraits are great. But I like this style. T...Self-portraits are great. But I like this style. This picture may tell more <I>about</I> you than any actual portrait.<BR/><BR/>You are lucky to have had the experiences you have had and been to the places you have. I just received a little Buddha statue from my wife as an anniversary present and was thinking of making a small shelf for it and other objects.<BR/><BR/>I was struck by the shelf and brackets your butsudan rests upon. They look exactly like a shelf I put up in my living room. Ace Hardware??Chrishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02699214454125132388noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19108210.post-1139908106566162992006-02-14T04:08:00.000-05:002006-02-14T04:08:00.000-05:00Michael, that is a lovely butsudan. It reminds me ...Michael, that is a lovely butsudan. It reminds me of the little, simple butsudan I had (it hung on the wall) during the short period of time I practiced Nichiren Shoshu Buddhism, 25 years ago, before I figured out that particular path was not for me. Some of those folks had very fancy butsudans.<BR/><BR/>About having your dad's picture and sensei's picture on the same altar: my dad served in the US Army Air Force in WWII, in the Eastern theatre -- India-China-Japan. (In fact my father was the person who first spoke the Sanskrit phrase "tat twam asi" to me. He wasn't using it in a spiritual manner; I just remember him using that phrase once when I was a little kid, in talking about being in India.)<BR/><BR/>Anyway, my sister is now married to a second-generation Japanese-American; both of his parents were in the internment camps during the war. My dad is a little uncomfortable with his Japanese son-in-law but amazingly not <I>that</I> much. So humans are teachable and we are learning.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com