Happy New Year!

Welcome 2010. This should be a good year with lots of new experiences, mainly Shikoku!

This morning I went to the Zen center to do 三皈依. My dharma name for this temple is now 傳今. 傳 is the first character that everyone has. 今 is for the present, as in today, this life, etc. I like it. This now means that I'm now a disciple of Master 惟覺.

三皈依 means that you're taking the 3 refuges, with the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. You're striving to return to your true nature with the help of the 3 Jewels. Ceremonies like this are usually for new Buddhists, but people are more than welcome to take refuge with different masters. I still consider 妙蓮老和尚 to be my main 師父 and 願慈 to be my main dharma name because I know he personally gave us our names. The good things about these names are that they can be reminders for how we should practice. For me, I take these names for me to be more compassionate and to reach enlightenment in this lifetime. Here is to making 2010 a good year for my cultivation!