Please use this button to subscribe to TEMPLE TALES!
[Note: This post was made before the newsletter started. Some things—noted in [square brackets]—have changed.]
On January 27, 2020, I'm launching TEMPLE TALES, a newsletter sent by email three times a week. [The version launching Dec. 6, 2024, will be once a week.]
It'll be about a page long (500 words or so) and illustrated. [The length will vary.]
Best of all? It's FREE! [There will still be a free option, but only paid subscribers will receive the full allotment. See the About page for details.]
Every newsletter will also contain a link to a Podcast version of the same material, adapted to the spoken form. (See the bottom of this page for an example.) The Podcast will seldom be over fifteen minutes. [Only Bodhisattva-level subscribers will receive the audio version.]
The newsletter itself will be posted here, to serve as "Show Notes" for the Podcast, and the Podcast will be shared through the usual "podcatchers,"currently iTunes, Google Podcasts, and Spotify. [Old episodes are still there, but only the last 25 or so.]
But you may be asking: Why a newsletter? Aren't they sort of passé?
Not according to the tech news; apparently, they're making a comeback!
For another thing, my website (TheTempleGuy.org) has gotten HUGE, and fast! It now holds over a thousand pages and posts, and it's still growing. So serving up small portions of its content, revised a bit for palatability, seems like a good move.
Why not just make a blog, you ask? Well, the issues or episodes will be posted as a blog (right here!). But serving it up directly to you, three times a week, saves you the hassle of clicking into it all the time. It's like regularly-scheduled pizza delivery!
And listen to this, here's something special: ONLY the emailed newsletter--not the blog, not the podcasts--will end with a few "thought questions" to help you integrate the lessons in each edition into your own life. "How can this benefit YOU?" is the issue. [The thought questions are no longer available.]
But wait! That's not all!
There will be a "secret group" on Facebook--available ONLY to newsletter subscribers--to discuss those questions. [The Facebook group is no longer available.]
And we're not finished yet!
Newsletter subscribers may also receive occasional "extras," short ebooks or similar publications that will also be sold on my website.
Now, let's take a closer look at this Newsletter-and-Podcast content. Each episode will focus on one of the following themes:
Temples and/or the Figures found in them (Buddhas, Bodhisattvas, etc.) [I've been to a LOT of them like around 700 in Japan and China alone!]
Historical Figures, especially famous Japanese and Chinese monks;
Buddhist and other folk stories from Japan and China;
The Buddha's teachings (Dharma) and the background and contents of Buddhist scriptures (Sutras)
Scenes from the Buddha's life
Reviews of Buddhist books and films
PLUS, occasionally, I'll cover similar topics but instead of focusing on temples, I'll zoom in on the Spanish missions and Native sites of California, Baja California, and the American Southwest--all part of my travels and longtime interests.
And guess what? IT'S ALL FREE! (Oh, did I say that already?) [With the caveat mentioned above!]
Once you sign up--which I truly hope you will--expect the Newsletter to arrive Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, starting January 27 (that's the first Monday after Chinese New Year). Here are the approximate delivery times, by location:
East Coast: 7AM EST / 8AM EDT
West Coast: 4AM PST / 5AM PDT
Most of East Asia: 8PM year round; an hour earlier in Japan and Korea
[None of these scheduling matters is true any longer.]
Well, that's about it.Please, send me your email (it'll be kept safe, I promise!). You can use one of the many subscribe boxes found here on Substack, or you can send it to thetempleguy@gmail.com Then watch for a "Thanks" mail with more information.
If you have any problems reading the Newsletter or accessing the Podcast, please write to me directly at TheTempleGuy@GMail.com, and I'll help you any way I can!
In the next episode: Learn where I get the nerve to call myself "The Temple Guy"!