Monastic Academy

06/14/2026

Bodhiratna on "Am I Trying to Be a Better Person?" - MAPLE Community Series #3

06/13/2026

Trinley on Practicing, Feedback, and Being Called Out - MAPLE Community Series #2

06/12/2026

Karuna on Emotions and Technology - Community at MAPLE Series #1

06/11/2026

Thank You Cards!

06/10/2026

What brought Autumn to MAPLE

06/10/2026

"Ame ni mo makezu" (雨ニモマケズ) — Strong in the Rain by Miyazawa Kenji

This is a poem by Kenji Miyazawa (1896 - 1933), who was widely celebrated in Japan for both his poetry and his prose. He wrote it at the end of his life, while suffering from terminal illness, in a notebook he never shared with anyone. I twas discovered and published posthumously.

The calligraphy is by 古山 充子, Mitsuko Furuyama, who explains that the poem "is in the elementary school textbook (hopefully still now)," and is one of the most beloved by Japanese children. She reflects that "for a long time Japanese people, knowing we cannot be so, found something ideal in the way of living of the man in the poem, and thought it was a good thing to try to be so. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it is still the same."

06/09/2026

Bread at the Monastic Academy!

05/02/2025

It was a joy to have you here, Venerable SooSeong. Thank you for taking the time to practice with us and offer your clarity to the community. We look forward to our next time together.

10/06/2024

Seeking teachings on Buddhism, spirituality, and the path to enlightenment? Wondering what this might have to do with complex issues of artificial intelligence and civilizational renewal?

Check out our YouTube channel where we've begun posting pithy videos from our lecture series, Buddhism for AI, as well as dialogues featuring Head Teacher Soryu Forall.

Soryu was recently hosted by Daniel Kazandjian's Metagame Podcast. The dialogue looks at why more intelligence won't solve our problems, the religions running our world and the dire need for a trustworthy one, and how we might scale wisdom and compassion in the digital age.

Conversations featuring Monastic Academy Founder and Head Teacher Soryu Forall.

09/26/2024

We love this MAPLE tale. It is part of a new series of writings by residents at MAPLE, about the training here, and about real teachings that we've received from our head teacher.

"As we reached the peak of the heart sutra chant, which had grown quite fast and vigorous by that point, many in the group lost the chant, didn’t keep up, and grew quiet as they listened for where they were supposed to be. But this was not what we had practiced for. Soryu was in front of the altar leading the chant loudly at the top of his lungs, his whole body pulsing back and forth as though each syllable was a cry that needed every part of him to project as far as he could. He heard the group falter and finally yelled, nearly screamed at us as the chant continued: “DON’T STOP! KEEP GOING!! THIS IS REAL!!!”

In the first few months of 2024, we held several funeral services at MAPLE during our morning chanting. We always chant in the mornings, the same chants every day in various languages, some with drumming and some without, taking about 40 minutes in total. But on some days this is extended due to off...