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Kyohei Mikawa Cat wondering: "What is really happening in you when you listen to someone's emotion?" Offering fully and gently one's attention to someone's speech through listening to their emotion and thoughts is a Buddhist practice of "generosity" (a selfless act of helping other people to be free from suffering). This generosity practice can be undertaken in our everyday conversation and can create good habit that does not make us jump on things on impulse. Here is a conve

Dharma Talk by Rev. Takashi Maeda, Director, Rissho Kosei-kai International *This dharma talk was delivered at RKLA on March 29, 2026 Hello everyone, I’m technically a third-generation member of Rissho Kosei-kai, but if you look back at my family tree, things start to look a little... different. As it turns out, I’m actually a "third-generation entertainer," too! Here’s the deal: my connection to Koseikai started back in 1954 when my grandmother joined because she wanted to h

Kyohei Mikawa Zoom information: Meeting ID: 546 094 5127 Passcode: RKLA Class structure: reading, presentation & discussion (Dharma Teachers and I take turns to lead a class.) This class welcomes both newcomers and non-newcomers of Buddhist spirituality. Session 1 How Buddhism Works - Real Life Stories Date: April 14, Tuesday, 7-8:10PM PT 🎥 Watch Recording: Here You will learn what "attachment" means in Buddhism, and how to recognize our attachments and transform t

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles This blog post presents a slightly revised version of my dharma talk from Ancestor Appreciation day at Rissho Kosei-kai Los Angeles, March 29, where the sangha learned Buddha's teaching of Six Paramitas. -- Buddhism works. Today, let me show you how and why. I am going to talk about: 1) Buddha’s teaching of the Six Paramitas; 2) what the Lotus Sutra added to it; and 3) how I experienced what the Lotus Sut

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles In Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhism, attending various parades in your home sangha or others is one of the most spiritually fulfilling practices. Rev. Lee of RK San Francisco kindly invited RKLA members to attend their San Francisco city-wide parade this year (just as every year) to represent our Buddhist tradition. Through attending this weekend, you do not only learn how to use parade instruments and tools, yo

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai of Los Angeles Let us explore the final element of the Six Paramitas: wisdom. Buddha's wisdom is the emptiness of all things. According to Ani's The End of Suffering , emptiness means understanding that "all phenomena are interdependent, impermanent, and empty of fixed essence. (p.114)" Buddhists celebrate this wisdom because the absolute lack of a permanent essence in any phenomenon means that our experience of suffering and emotiona

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai of Los Angeles It's already Friday. Today let us explore the fifth element of the Buddha's teaching of the Six Paramitas: meditative concentration. As we learned on Monday, the first practice in this teaching is generosity , which is supported by the other three elements: ethical discipline , patience , and diligence . Through the practice of generosity supported by these elements, the fifth and sixth paramitas naturally unfold: medita

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai of Los Angeles Bodhisattva Leo Fixing Corolla I Borrow from RKLA This is a story that exemplifies the practice of diligence. On my way to my office this morning, I noticed that the vehicle I was driving started to shake a little, and the engine light on the dashboard began blinking. Sensing that something might be seriously wrong, I parked the vehicle and texted board chair Toshimi to report the issue. The vehicle I drive is his genero

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles Today let us explore the third element of the Buddha's teaching of the Six Paramitas: patience. How is the word "patience" used in our lives? When you are undergoing emotional pain from a breakup, your friend may say to you, "You’ve got to be patient until the hardest time after the breakup passes."  When you teach something you are skilled at to someone who is learning it for the first time, you may thin

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles Yesterday in this blog, we explored " generosity ", the first of the Buddha's Six Paramitas, based on Ani Lodro's recent book The End of Suffering . Before discussing the next element--"ethical discipline"--I would ilke to share a brief "field report" from my "generosity" practice last night: consciously spending time with my children, which is often challenging. It went well with a surprising turn. Befor

Venerable Ani Lodro Palmo On the March 8 of International Women's Day, at RKLA's first Buddha's Wisdom Retreat , many of us met our guest speaker, Venerable Ani Lodro, Director of Vajra Vidya Monastery & Retreat Center in Colorado. With a profound sense of gratitude, I would like to invite you all to grow the joy of learning from that day by practicing one of the Buddha's essential teachings she taught us: The Six Paramitas. Let us practice them in a way that helps us get th

Meaning of Honoring Ancestors of Your Family Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles In Rissho Kosei-kai, we are dedicated to applying the Buddha’s teachings to our everyday lives so that we can reduce emotional pain and suffering and increase joy and gratitude through our own diligent practice. One of our traditional approaches is to apply the teaching of “no-self” as a way of contemplating the interdependent nature of each person’s life. For

February 2026 (In-Progress) Kyohei Mikawa, PhD   In Rissho Kosei-kai, we practice a form of listening called  Hōza , or reflective group listening and sharing. At the outset of each hoza, we can review what the hoza is and how we all can participate as a Buddhist practice: The goal of  Hōza  is to create a safe environment where speakers can express to process their emotion and thoughts honestly, without fear of being judged. Whether sharing moments of joy or speaking about p

Exploring Budha's Teaching of "Dependent Origination" Rev. Dr. Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles This weekend in our city of Los Angeles, multiple protests are happening. As Buddha teaches, making our society peaceful can start with creating peace in our heart. And that personal peace will grow into a larger peace.  As Buddhists let us continue our practice firmly and calmly so that we will not sway. Satsuki, thank you so much for your be

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, RKLA Buddhist Center January 25 was special for the RKLA sangha. Our dharma family member Savannah, together with teens Emma and Eka, took leadership for the first time in our annual mid-winter sutra recitation. Each of them did an excellent job, and the sangha was filled with joy and gratitude. We were also blessed to welcome a few persons who borrowed copies of the Threefold Lotus Sutra . After I handed them the remaining copies of the sutra, I reali

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai Buddhist Center of Los Angeles This is how my year-long struggle came to an end—or, I hope. In early 2025, I made a vow to help my children with their school homework at home. But my six-year-old often did not seem to listen, especially when it came to studying. I don't remember how many times anger filled my mind and I yelled at him and regreted my own actions afterward. Much of my 2025 was marked by moments like these. Recognizing my

Kyohei Mikawa, PhD Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai of Los Angeles In the Lotus Sutra, praising the Buddha means to praise the true nature of your life--the power of life within you. This power is universally shared in all lives throuhgout the universe and has one simple characteristic: to move toward the end of suffering of all living beings. Praising the buddha turnes out to praise you. This is the point of the first chapter of the Sutra of Innumerable Meanings (the opening part

Kyohei Mikawa Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai of Los Angeles Click the video to learn how to chant the Lotus Sutra Dharanis May each one of us have a wondrous year of 2026! Every year at Rissho Kosei-kai, January is dedicated to a special "midwinter sutra recitation practice." The accumulated energy and blessings of our whole chanting culminate in a special ceremony, Setsubun: Buddhist Chant & Healing with Live Art by Satsuki Shibuya (RSVP Here - Seats are limited). During this s

Kyohei Mikawa, PhD Minister, Rissho Kosei-kai of Los Angeles Thank you, everyone, for your caring presence at RKLA in 2025! Let's learn a core teaching and practice of Buddhism before we step into 2026. The goal of Buddhist practice is simple: to end suffering. In Buddhism, suffering means emotional pain created by the gap between what we desire (expectation) and what we actually attain (given reality). Importantly, this sense of "suffering" is neither divine punishment nor o