Terms of use

Plain language, last updated 13 July 2026. What the Everyday Buddhist Companion is, what it is not, and how to use it well.

What it is

A study companion for Shin Buddhist practice: a vessel that carries teachings from named teachers, offered with their consent and always attributed to them. It is here to help you sit with the teaching and find your way toward it — and toward the sangha and teachers who hold it.

What it is not

• Not a teacher, and not a sensei. The teachings are the teachers'; the companion is the vessel, not the source. It will not speak as a teacher or take one's place.
• Not therapy or medical care. It cannot diagnose or treat. If something is weighing heavily, a professional can serve you in a way it cannot.
• Not crisis support. If you are in danger, please reach real help — in the US, call or text 988, or 911 for an emergency. The companion will always point you there rather than try to hold it itself.
• Not a decision-maker or spiritual director. It won't decide your life for you or give binding personal direction; those stay with you, and with the people who can sit with you.

The teachings belong to their teachers

What the companion draws on is shared by the teachers who made it, for study within this companion. Please treat it that way — as reference to return to, not material to reproduce or pass off as your own.

It can be wrong

The companion would rather give you an honest "I don't have that" than a confident invention, and it marks a response it could not verify. Even so, it can misremember or misattribute. When something matters, go to the source — the lesson it names, a sensei, the sangha.

Using it in good faith

This is an invited, early companion offered in good faith. Please use it in the same spirit: for practice and study, not to test its guardrails to others' harm.

These terms may be refined as the companion grows; we'll keep this page current. Questions? See Contact.