Feb - Buddhist Churches of America

WHEEL OF
O ff i c i a l P u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e B u d dhist Churches of America
VOLUME 33
Tomio Moriguchi
Awarded Order of the
Rising Sun
DHARMA
1710 Octavia Street, San Francisco CA 94109
FEBRUARY 2006
ISSUE 2
2006 BCA Youth Advocacy
Committee Reunion Retreat
By Peter Inokoji-Kim, Grace Hatano, Patti Oshita
Tomio Moriguchi
Tomio Moriguchi, a
member of the Seattle
Betsuin was recently
awarded with the Order of
the Rising Sun, Gold Rays
with Rosette by Emperor
Akihito of Japan.
Mr. Moriguchi was
born and raised in the
Seattle area. He is the
CEO of a popular Asian
food specialty market
Uwajimaya in Seattle,
that began as a family
grocery store.
Mr. Moriguchi has
been very generous in
sharing his time, talents
and resources with a wide
range of local, national
and international cultural,
economic and educational
organizations. He is a
founding trustee of the
Pacific Buddhist Acad-
emy in Honolulu.
“This Kunsho is a great
honor. I have known many
Issei, many who were
friends of my father and
mother that have highly
prized this honor,” Moriguchi stated in response to
receiving the award.
“Now that I have
received this high honor,
I am humbled to be in the
company of these many
Issei, who all worked hard
under discriminating conditions and have made
the lives of people like
myself, safer and easier.”
Our Hongwanji General Affairs Office in
Kyoto has sent a special
certificate of commendation and gift in recognition of Mr. Moriguchi’s
special accomplishment.
The Youth Advocacy Committee (YAC), sponsored the
first Winter Reunion Retreat Jan.
13 to 16, at the Idaho-Oregon
Buddhist Temple in Ontario,
Oregon. The reunion retreat was
a follow-up to the summer retreat
that was held at the Sacramento
Betsuin in July 2005. As we
said our good-byes to the kids
last summer, we were amazed at
how enthusiastic the kids were to
learn about the Buddha/Dharma,
conduct services, give Dharma
talks and were especially moved
by the close bond that developed
among the 11 participants in just
one week. These kids made a
personal commitment to learn
and appreciate the Dharma, and
along the way, we could tell that
they were developing friendships
that could last a lifetime. We all
thought …“Wow … Buddhism
really DOES make sense to our
kids … we should try to do something to continue their learning
… and fan the Dharma-sparks
that were kindled in our Summer
Youth Program.” This is how the
reunion retreat began.
The participants were: Brady
Kameshige and Laurel Saito
(toban leaders) from the Idaho
Oregon Buddhist Temple; Hishi
Oto from the San Mateo Buddhist Temple; Tim Chu from the
San Francisco Buddhist Temple;
Kelsey and Tessa Asato, Melissa
Komoto, and Kendall Kosai
Hoonko service at the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple: front row (from
left), Grace Hatano, Brooke Muranaka, Laurel Saito, Tessa Asato, Melissa Komoto, Peter Inokoji-Kim. Back row: Rev. Bob Oshita, Hishi Oto,
Kendall Kosai, Samantha Nitta, Kelsey Asato, Brady Kameshige, Tim
Chu, Patti Oshita, Rev. Dennis Fujimoto.
from the White River Buddhist
Temple; and Samantha Nitta
and Brooke Muranaka from the
Sacramento Betsuin. Unfortunately, Traci Kuratomi from the
San Fernando Buddhist Temple
was unable to attend. The advisors were Rev. Dennis Fujimoto from the Idaho-Oregon
Buddhist Temple; Rinban Bob
Oshita from the Sacramento Betsuin; Susan Bottari from the San
Mateo Buddhist Temple (YAC);
Senseis Grace Hatano and Patti
Oshita from the Sacramento Bet-
You’ve Got Questions
O
The above photo is of the construction site of the
Jodo Shinshu Center in Berkeley, taken last week.
ver the past several months, I’ve
encountered members at
conferences and functions that have asked
many questions about the
Campaign.
Here are a few that
I’ve been able to answer.
Q: How much is the
Jodo Shinshu Center
going to cost?
A: The Campaign
booklet specifically states
that the cost for the center
will be approx. $10 million. For the additional
cost of expansion, furnishings and equipment,
the Hongwanji and Ryukoku University will be
giving approx. $5.4 million. This will be used to
offset the increased costs
associated with changes
to the facility required to
meet the needs of these
two organizations.
Q: What percentage
of the campaign is going
to the Institute of Buddhist Studies (IBS)?
A: $4 million for
enhancing the current
endowed chairs.
Q: What is the IBS
providing in return
for the building being
built?
A: IBS will be a
tenant in the Jodo Shinshu Center. The IBS
provides a graduate level
educational facility which
trains ministerial aspirants and other interested
students in Buddhism
with special emphasis on
Jood Shinshu ministerial
training.
Q: How many students are currently going
through the ministry?
A: According to Dr.
Richard Payne, Dean of
IBS, six students have
expressed an interest in
the ministry (five here in
suin; and Sensei Peter InokojiKim from the Denver Buddhist
Temple.
The Idaho-Oregon Buddhist
Temple’s Sangha, Rev. Dennis
Fujimoto, and “Kwiker” (Sensei’s
mellow-nature bandana-wearing dog), were the perfect hosts.
Many Sangha members worked
for several weeks preparing for
our stay and worked many hours
to prepare our meals and provide accommodation for us. The
incredible Sangha of the IdahoContinued on Page 4
By Robert Noguchi
BCA Fundraising Manager
the United States). There
are two more exploring
the possibility of taking
classes. We, as BCA
members, need to cultivate and widen the base
for incoming ministers.
There may be someone
in your sangha (young or
old) that has the potential
to be a minister for the
BCA.
Q: When will the
Jodo Shinshu Center be
ready for occupancy?
A: According to Jim
Usui, chair of the BCA
Facilities Committee,
the Jodo Shinshu Center
will be ready for use in
late May or early June
(weather permitting).
Q: Will there be a
Grand Opening Celebration?
A: The BCA Special Events Committee
headed by Judy Kono
(Berkeley) is scheduling
a number of events to
commemorate the Grand
Opening of the Jodo
Shinshu Center during
the third week of October
2006 (tentative). Details
will be forthcoming.
Q: I’d like to transfer
stock to the campaign,
but don’t know what to
do?
A: Check with your
broker and notify them
that you’d like to donate
your stock to BCA.
Then, contact me at BCA
Headquarters and I will
instruct you on how to
proceed. I have an info
sheet available for the
asking.
If you have a question about the campaign,
please send it via e-mail
to robert@bcacampaign.
org, or mail it to BCA
Campaign Office, 1710
Octavia Street, San Francisco, CA 94109.
PAGE Tools for Temples:
Preventing
and Curing
Volunteer Stress
and Fatigue
By Marc Grobman
New York Buddhist Church
W
hile people fret about
future cases of avian
flu, another disease
already afflicts some BCA
temple volunteers and staff.
Maybe you’ve heard the symptoms:
“As usual, no one else volunteered, so I guess I’ll have to
do it.”
“I feel overwhelmed.”
“I’m tired of being the one
who makes sure other people do
the jobs they promised to do.”
“I don’t know why I bother
doing anything here.”
The disease starts as Volunteer Stress and Fatigue, or
VS&F. If it progresses to its final
stage, it becomes Burnout.
VS&F and Burnout are prevalent in non-profit organizations.
That’s because often:
• Our rewards are inadequate:
Pay, appreciation, recognition,
and sense of accomplishment are
low or non-existent
• Tasks or duties are vaguely
defined
• Our temples lack funding
and volunteers; we feel we’re in
a constant state of crisis
• We believe strongly in the
importance of our temples and
Jodo Shinshu, so we blame ourselves for not doing even more
If you contract VS&F, it’s
difficult to treat. Its side effects
of irritability, hopelessness, and
resentment drive away others in
the sangha who might want to
help, leaving you feeling even
more isolated and resentful. And
if VS&F progresses to Burnout,
you might even leave the sangha
for good. So it’s important to
take preventative actions. For
example:
• Don’t accept more responsibilities than you can comfortably
handle. Before taking on any
new duty, estimate how much
time it will take. Do you have
the time to do what’s expected?
If not, be firm: You may feel
embarrassed saying “No,” but
it’s much worse if you agree to
do something and then let others
down.
• Even if you have time for a
new responsibility, assess how
you feel about it. Is it something
you feel is worthwhile? If not,
it’s better to say “No” than to
later be asking yourself, “Why
am I wasting my time doing
this?”
Serving the sangha, helping
your temple, and sharing the
Dharma should be fun and make
you feel good! But if temple work
makes you feel tired or resentful,
you may be coming down with
VS&F. If so, you need to treat it.
Fortunately, there’s an effective
home remedy. It’s called Time
Management.
You can mix it in two formulations: Time Management-EM,
and Time Management-PM. You
may need both.
A regularly-administered
dose of Time Management-EM
– the Efficiency Model – helps
you use time more effectively.
For example:
• If you spend a lot of time
in meetings, consult a book
or website on how to conduct
them successfully. Learn how
to develop an agenda with time
specified for each agenda item,
so meetings proceed orderly
and efficiently. Learn artful
ways you can keep participants
focused, such as asking, “John,
that’s interesting, but how does
it relate to the agenda topic?” Or,
“Yuki, can you state your idea as
a proposal and see if someone
seconds it?”
• Analyze how you spend
your time. If you’re temple treasurer and find that categorizing
expenses takes a lot of your time,
ask a bookkeeper, accountant, or
your banker for suggestions on
streamlining the process. If you
edit the temple newsletter and
determine you spend much of
your time figuring out what copy
goes where, reserve certain pages
for regularly-occurring articles,
for example, president’s message always on page 2, Fujinkai/
Buddhist Women’s Association
report always on page 4, etc.
• Learn to delegate and plan
ahead so you don’t have to find
volunteers every time there’s
a task to be done. Successful
delegation usually requires identifying specific defined tasks.
Perhaps you can find one person
who will send temple members
email notices of memorial services. Another person might
agree to maintain the shotsuki
hoyo list. A committee or toban
might collect service books, lock
doors, and turn off lights after
services.
But even if you operate as
efficiently as possible, you still
may not have enough time to
accomplish everything. That’s
the limitation of the Time Management-Efficiency Model, and
why it’s necessary to also concoct the second formulation,
Time Management-PM, the Priority Model.
But just like time, the length
of this column is finite. So we’ll
look at Time Management-PM
in the next “Tools for Temples”
column.
Correction: Previous “Tools
for Temples” installments said I
had “over 40 years” of journalism experience. I should have
written “almost 40 years.” I
apologize for that error.
WHEEL OF DHARMA
FEBRUARY 2006
Hurricane Katrina/Rita Relief
BCA Social Welfare Fund
By Greg Mukai, chairman of the Social Welfare Committee
The BCA Social Welfare
Fund is supported by the generous donations from BCA
members and friends. You
probably recognize this as the
‘BCA Thanksgiving Offering.’
This year, with one of the
greatest natural disasters to hit
the United States having such
far reaching impacts, 100% of
the funds received from this
years’ Thanksgiving Offering
will be devoted to assisting
the many people that have suffered and lost so much due to
Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Some funding will go to
organizations that are known
and recommended by members
of the BCA. Some funds will
go toward emergency response
and relief organizations. Other
areas of funding will aid families in rebuilding their lives,
along with rebuilding infrastructure to help in the recovery of the devastated regions.
The following organizations
are listed.
Northwest Medical Teams
sent relief workers to administer medical supplies and health
care and is now transitioning
to reconstruction assistance
and long term recovery. Northwest Medical Teams continue
to fund church based groups to
help operate relief shelters and
pay for food and medical care.
Their two year plan is to help
fund faith-based organizations
in Louisiana and Mississippi
dedicated to hurricane recovery projects.
Katrina/Rita Aid for
Japanese: There are approximately 450 victims of Japanese
decent in the New Orleans and
Mississippi area, with more to
be surveyed in Southwest Louisiana. Many lost their houses
and all personal belongings.
In addition, many people lost
their jobs. In response to the
many questions on ‘How can I
help these people’ Mr. Yoshinori Kamo (Associate Professor of Sociology at LSU) has
set up the ‘Katrina/Rita Aid
for Japanese.’ The ‘Katrina/
Rita Aid for Japanese’ managing and advisory board serves
on a voluntary basis.
Reference: Rev. Kenjitsu
Nakagaki.
The Chau Van Duc Buddhist Temple in Biloxi Mississippi was just dedicated the
day before Hurricane Katrina
struck. The grand opening
visitors survived by punching a hole in the ceiling and
crouching in the crawl space
under the roof for two days.
Most of the members of the
temple have lost their homes.
Now the temple serves as
a sanctuary for many of its
members and others who come
by looking for food and water.
Language and cultural barriers
have impeded access to relief
through the Red Cross and
FEMA.
Another temple in need of
help is the Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation of Alabama (Chanh Giac Pagoda)
in Bayou La Batre, Alabama.
The majority of the 1000 or
more Vietnamese residents of
Bayou La Batre do not speak
sufficient English to qualify
for citizenship. Little assistance has been available to
them through FEMA. Most
of them worked in the oyster,
clam or shrimp plants at low
paying jobs. With no insurance, most of them lost everything. It appears most of them
are out of work since Mobile
Bay has been declared to be
contaminated and a ban has
been instituted that could continue for two or more years.
The Fairhope Tibetan Society coordinates shipments of
food to Biloxi which is deliv-
ered to the Chau Van Duc
Temple under the direction of
Abbot Minh Thong.
The Fairhope Tibetan Society also assists in relocation of
Biloxi residents and also the
repair of the Chau Chanh Giac
Temple in Bayou La Batre,
Alabama
Hong Kong City Mall in
Houston, Texas. After Hurricane Katrina struck, Southeast
Asian evacuees flocked to
Houston because the city and
its surrounding areas house
more than 150,000 Vietnamese-Americans. It is estimated
that about half of the 40,000
Vietnamese-Americans that
were living in Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama went
to Houston. The owner of the
Hong Kong V Mall, Co Ha
opened up her mall to the once
again refugees. Because of
problems with language and
communication help from the
Red Cross and FEMA have
been very tedious and slow.
Co Ha has set up makeshift
camps around her store to aid
in getting these thousands of
people help and hope. A snap
shot of these Katrina camps
include Camp Hong Kong
Food Mart, Camp Louisiana,
Camp Vietnamese Veterans,
Camp “Macys,” Camp Fundraiser, Camp Boat People SOS,
Camp Gas Cards, Camp Relocation, Camp Legal Aid, Camp
Entertainment. Katrina victims
at Hong Kong City Mall can
be helped through the: Boat
People SOS, Attn: Donations
for KATRINA, 11205 Bellaire
Blvd., Suite#B22, Houston,
TX 77072
The BCA greatly appreciates your contributions to the
‘Thanksgiving Offering.’ As
many of you have experienced
how uplifting a little ray of
hope can be when it appears
you have lost everything.
Wheel of
Dharma
(USPS 017-700)
Official Publication of the
Buddhist Churches
of America
1710 Octavia Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
Tel.: (415) 776-5600
Fax: (415) 771-6293
www.buddhistchurchesofamerica.com
Email: [email protected]
A monthly publication with periodical postage paid at San Francisco, CA and at additional mailing offices. Subscription free to
BCA members; $12.00 annual subscription
for nonmembers. POSTMASTER: Send
address changes to “Wheel of Dharma,”
Buddhist Churches of America, 1710 Octavia Street, San Francisco CA 94109.
English Editor: Rev. Ron Kobata
Japanese Editor: Rev. Kodo Umezu
Print Production: Jeffrey Kimoto
FEBRUARY 2006
WHEEL OF DHARMA
Keeping The Music Alive
By Emiko Katsumoto
BBT doesn’t only
stand for Berkeley Buddhist Temple. These days
it also stands for Buddhism with a BeaT. This
is due to the Dii Lewis
phenomenon, which has
our Sangha swaying and
clapping to the exciting
rhythm of his guitar and
catchy beats punctuating
his new Buddhist songs.
Dii originally hails from
St. Thomas in the Virgin
Islands, so rhythm and
music were very much
a part of his early childhood, and reggae was as
natural to him as the sun.
How he combines this
influence with Buddhist
music is exciting to experience.
Now fast forward to
Dii’s days at UC Berkeley as an architect major.
He started attending BBT
with his then girlfriend,
now wife, Joyce Oishi,
who grew up in the Lethbridge Buddhist Church
in Alberta, Canada. Gradually we discovered his
innate and rich musical
talents, and he started
helping us with our music
program and gatha practices. Dii’s modus operandi is that he strives
to get the Sangha very
enthused with the music,
and he often uses the
technique of Call and
Response, in which he
sings the first line and
then the Sangha follows.
This is how he introduced
“I Know We Can Be”
at the recent Bay District Family Conference
last November (see words
below). Our students love
the music for two gathas
in the Shin Buddhist Service Book (Like Blossoms
and In Amida’s Light),
and he helped introduce
these and the other new
gathas at our 1993 Federation conference in San
Francisco. We are so fortunate that Dii is helping
PAGE to keep this music tradition alive and well at BBT
in the 21st century, and
he’s making it a lot of
fun too!
I KNOW WE CAN BE
Words and Music by Dii Lewis
Dii Lewis
to sing and work with him
using percussion instruments to establish the
rhythmic beat.
Music has always been
very strong at Berkeley
starting with the dedication and magnetism
of Jane Imamura, wife
of the late Rev. Kanmo
Imamura. In fact, she
encouraged Dii to write
Call
I know we can be
Close together close
The walk up ahead
Is shorter than most
Come live the Dharma
Be in the light
Wisdom and Compassion
Will make all things right
Response
I know we can be
Close together close
The walk up ahead
Is shorter than most
Come live the Dharma
Be in the light
Wisdom and Compassion
Will make all things right
I know we can be
More gentle and kind
The strings of attachment
Your heart they will bind
Embrace the Sangha
Push your burdens aside
Wisdom and Compassion
Take the plunge, what a ride
I know we can be
More gentle and kind
The strings of attachment
Your heart they will bind
Embrace the Sangha
Push your burdens aside
Wisdom and Compassion
Take the plunge, what a ride
For more information, please contact Berkeley Buddhist Temple.
The Value of Listening
By Rev. Marvin Harada, Orange County Buddhist Church
Korin Newsletter, December 2005
The main practice in Shin Buddhism is amazingly
simple, yet very difficult to truly do. That practice is
to listen to the Dharma. Listening is something that
anyone can do, whether they are young or old, man
or woman, rich or poor. But although it is something
anyone can do, very few do it well. Even listening or
hearing as a whole, in a general sense, is difficult,
much less to really hear the Dharma as we refer to in
Shin Buddhism.
To give you an example, I myself am a horrible listener in general. Sometimes my wife will ask me to go
to the store to pick up a few things. They are just a few
things, maybe four or five things. She tells me, “Get
this and this and some of this. Should I write it down
for you?” I reply, “No, I got it.” I go to the store, and
in shopping around, I will come home with maybe one
out of the five things that she asked. One out of five.
That is also a horrible free throw average. Why did I
forget the other four things? Was it because I didn’t
write them down? When I reflect on it, I realize I forgot
them because I never really heard what she said to me.
I wasn’t really listening.
We have all had that experience with our children.
You give them some instructions or chores to do, and
they either get them wrong or don’t do them. Why is
this? Because they never really heard our instructions,
they never really listened. Listening is so crucial in
receiving any kind of instructions or directions.
We have all struggled with trying to remember
people’s names. I once read in a book that gave tips
on how to remember names, that the most important
thing to do in learning a new name is hearing it the
first time. When we meet someone, we usually just say,
“How do you do,” and we don’t really listen to their
name as they introduce themselves to us. No wonder
we can’t remember their name. We never heard it in
the first place.
Ananda was one of the Buddha’s foremost disciples. He is regarded as the disciple with the best
memory. Many of the sutras begin with, “Thus the
Buddha spoke to Ananda.” Ananda is the one who
recited from memory what he remembered the Buddha
to have taught and said. Was it Ananda’s memory that
was great, or was it Ananda’s attitude of listening that
was crucial? In order to remember, he had to first truly
hear, he had to listen with an open heart and mind, and
receive the teachings from his master, Shakyamuni
Buddha.
Shinran Shonin was a deep listener. He listened to
his teacher, Honen, with his entire being.
On our altar, we commonly use chrysanthemums
in the flower arrangements. Chrysanthemums have a
symbolic meaning as well. The Japanese word for the
flower Chrysanthemum is kiku. The word kiku can also
mean, “to hear” or “to listen.” Thus, the chrysanthemum is a flower that symbolically urges us to “listen”
to the Dharma.
I wonder how different the world would be if more
people could just simply listen. How many marriages
might be saved if husbands and wives could simply
listen to one another? Marriages fail not because of
love lost, but because people lose the ability or fail to
see the value of simply listening. How many family
conflicts could be resolved if parents and children could
find it in themselves to listen to one another? Usually
we expect others to listen to us. “My wife never listens
We gratefully acknowledge contribution to the
Wheel of Dharma by the following donors:
Seattle Betsuin BWA Berkeley BWA
Kenji & Shizue Ito, Camarillo, CA Fresno Betsuin BWA Yuki Mori, Yakima, WA Miyoko Takahashi, Los Angeles, CA Takeo & Helen Utsumi, San Francisco, CA Walnut Grove BWA $200
$200
$200
$100
$50
$50
$50
$50
Rev. Marvin Harada
to me. My kids never listen to me. My boss never listens to me.” But if we reflect on ourselves, maybe we
are the ones who never listen.
How many wars could have been avoided if rulers
and leaders could listen instead of speak? When conflicts between countries arise, all the more we should
listen. Listening, more than anything, might be the best
defense weapon against preventing nuclear holocaust.
If one can listen, you can hear many different
things. I remember being so impressed with the movie,
“Ray,” which was about the blind singer and musician,
Ray Charles. Being blind, Ray Charles learned to get
around and take care of himself by relying a lot on his
sense of hearing. He could hear a hummingbird when
others couldn’t hear it. He could tell whether he was
walking by a building or a driveway from the sound
that echoed from his shoes as he walked.
To hear, to be able to listen, is a great virtue. In Shin
Buddhism it is the virtue. It is the greatest thing. If we
can hear and listen, we can receive any teaching. We
can listen to and receive both praise and criticism. We
can hear the cry of sorrow, and the laughter of joy. We
can listen beyond ethnic boundaries. We can listen to a
child or an adult equally. We can listen to a student or a
teacher. We can listen to and learn from everyone.
If we cultivate this heart of listening, then we can
gain something from any message. I know a woman
who is a deep listener of the Dharma. Once she went to
a Christian church with a relative who was Christian.
After the service, the relative complained that she
couldn’t understand what the minister was trying to say
in his sermon. However, the Buddhist woman, having
cultivated a heart and mind that is able to listen, really
understood what the minister was trying to say. Ironically, she explained to her Christian relative what the
Christian minister’s sermon was about.
There is untold value in listening and hearing. Shin
Buddhism is the path of listening to and deeply hearing
the Dharma, not only through your ears, but through
your heart and mind as well.
Namuamidabutsu,
Rev. Marvin Harada
PAGE WHEEL OF DHARMA
LA Betsuin Celebrates
35th Kohaku Utagassen
By Ernest Hida
FEBRUARY 2006
Socho’s
Annual Luncheon
The Bay Area gathering for Socho’s annual luncheon was
held on Sept. 26, 2005 at the Bishop’s residence in Belmont,
California. The second luncheon for those residing in Southern California was held on Jan. 7 at Senbazuru Restaurant in
the New Otani Hotel in Los Angeles.
Right photo: The LA Betsuin Kohaku Uta Gassen (Red and White Song Contest) includes four of the eight
judges, from left to right: Madame Shukyo Yamamoto, Grand Master Ogasawara-ryu Tea Ceremony School;
Socho Koshin Ogui; Steffanie Tamehiro, 2005 Nisei Week Queen; and Deputy Consul General of Japan,
Masahiro Kohara.
The Los Angeles Betsuin
celebrated the beginning of the
New Year on Jan. 8 with the
35th Anniversary of its Kohaku
Utagassen, Men/White versus
Women/Red Singing Contest.
This annual event was
attended by approximately 600
people and they were entertained
by 30 very talented local singers.
In addition to the singing competition, the singers entertained
the audience with very humorous
skits.
The most popular and glamorous singer was a male singer
dressed as a woman in a beautifully designed elegant gown with
towering feathers.
When the final votes were tallied, the Master of Ceremony and
Betsuin Vice-President Yoshinori Akutagawa, announced that
the Men/White team won by a
very close margin of one point.
The voting was made by a
distinguished panel of judges,
which included the Bishop of
the BCA, Socho Koshin Ogui;
Mrs. Mayumi Ogui; former
State Assemblyman and current
candidate for the State Senate
the Honorable George Nakano;
2005 Nisei Week Festival Queen
Stephanie Tamehiro; Chief
Consul of the Japanese ConContinued from Front Page
YAC
Oregon Buddhist Temple really
spoiled us with their “over the
top” delicious meals and warm,
welcoming hospitality. George
and Dixie Iseri allowed us to use
their spacious “home-like” meeting facility right across the street
from the temple. It was complete
with kitchen, showers, tatami
room (which the girls claimed),
a classroom area and two large
living rooms to use as our dorm
and main classroom. As we
reviewed the retreat on our last
evening, we all felt so grateful
to the wonderful people of the
Ontario Sangha. But, as Melissa
Komoto said that night, “Thank
you just doesn’t cut it … Namo
Amida Butsu.”
The purpose of the reunion
retreat was to reaffirm and deepen
our understanding of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism as we continue to
realize the undeniable relevance
of Buddhism in our lives. Our
schedule was similar to the July
retreat and was rigorous at times.
sulate in Los Angeles, Masahiro Ohara; former LA County
Deputy Disrict Attorney, Louis
Ito; Ogasawara Ryu Sencha-do
Iemoto Kyo-jyu Madame Shukyo
Yamamoto; and UTB Japanese
TV reporter Aya Yasuda.
The show’s special guest
was Shinobu Fukuda, a professional singer from Japan, who
entertained the audience with
many nostalgic songs of the late
Misora Hibari.
Special entertainment was
provided by “Shin 3,” a talented
group of three women members
of the LA Betsuin with a performance of the Japanese Lion
Dance, Shishi-mai.
The 35th Anniversary
Kohaku Utagassen committee
was chaired by Betsuin VicePresident Yuzo Tamura, with
Rimban George Matsubayashi as
its ministerial advisor.
The inaugural Kohaku Utagassen, in 1971, was held at the
Koyasan Buddhist Temple in
Little Tokyo, as the LA Betsuin
did not have its current multipurpose hall (kaikan) at that
time.
The Kohaku Utagassen was
finally held at the Betsuin in
1977 after the completion of
the kaikan in 1976. This pro-
gram was initiated by Rimban
Ryuei Masuoka, Temple President Masashi Kawaguchi, current Komon/Advisor Tsutomu
Maehara and Temple Treasurer
Miyako Masuda, who was also
the leader of the Akatsuki Band,
as a fundraising program for the
purpose of purchasing a passenger van to pickup Dharma School
students on Sunday mornings
to attend Sunday service at the
Temple.
Later, the van was used to
pickup Temple members who
are residing in the Keiro Retirement Home and the Little Tokyo
Tower Retirement Home. This
program became very popular
with the local community members that it continued annually to
celebrate its 35th anniversary.
Over the years, the Kohaku
Utagassen Committee has greatly
contributed financially to the
Betsuin.
With the dedication of the
committee members, we look
forward to the continuation of
this very entertaining program.
The Betsuin expresses its
sincere appreciation and gratitude to all who have generously
supported and faithfully attended
the Kohaku Utagassen.
We woke up at 7 a.m. each day
and had service in the morning, afternoon and evening. The
day we can return the kindness
and hospitality given to us by our
many new friends in Ontario.
“There is no doubt that we all left Ontario
with the hope that someday we can return
the kindness and hospitality given to us
by our many new friends in Ontario.”
participants would prepare the
Onaijin (altar), ring the Kansho
Bell, lead the chanting and give
a howa (Dharma-message). This
experience has given our kids
the confidence to lead a Dharma
service and be ready to assist or
fill in for their ministers when
called upon. This was followed
by Dharma classes and discussions, great meals and snacks
and during the evenings, we
enjoyed working on a Dharma art
project under the creative direction of Rev. Dennis Fujimoto.
Like the summer retreat, it was
a meaningful retreat for all of us.
There is no doubt that we all left
Ontario with the hope that some-
Due to the schedule of high
school final examinations, the
articles from our participants
will be coming out in the next
issue of the Wheel of Dharma.
There is a planned workshop/
panel presentation on these YAC
Retreats at the upcoming BCA
National Council Meeting in
Sacramento.
We look forward to responding to any inquiries you may
have. In the meantime, please
consider encouraging and supporting young members from
your temple to participate in
future YAC activities. It is really
an investment in the future of
Jodo Shinshu in America.
Photo below, at the Bishop’s residence, back row standing: Tomie Nishimura, Rev. Ikuyu Nishimura, Florence Fujinaga, Joyce
Terao, Sakaye Tsuji, Marie Yamashita, Kayoko Fujimoto.
Seated: Rev. LaVerne Sasaki, Mayumi Ogui, Bishop Koshin
Ogui, Rev. Kiyoshi Yamashita, Rev. Haruyoshi Kusada, Rev.
Newton Ishiura..
Top row, from left: Bishop Ogui, Rev. Tetsunen Hirota, Rev. Akira Hata. Middle row: Patsy Yanagihara, Noriko Fukuma, Kinuko
Hirata, Mayumi Ogui, Rev. Seikan Fukuma, Rev. Kakuyei Tada.
Seated: Rev. Arthur Takemoto, Rev. Koju Terada, Yukiye Terada, Kazumi Takemoto, Tsuki Kimura, Matsue Fujikado, Sachiko
Hirota, Tamiko Tada.
2006 BCA Ministers’
Association General Meeting
Feb. 22-23
BCA National Council
Feb. 24-26
Double Tree Hotel, Sacramento, CA.
Institute of Buddhist Studies
2006 BCA National Council meeting
Special Seminar
Engaged
Pure Land Buddhism
February 24, 2006
1:00 – 5:00 PM
Doubletree Hotel Sacramento
2001 Point West Way
Sacramento, CA 95815
How does Jodo Shinshu help to guide our involvement in society?
What are the historical and doctrinal bases
for social action in Pure Land Buddhism?
Should the BCA take positions on political and social issues?
What examples of Pure Land Buddhist activism
might serve as models for us?
IBS Dean Richard Payne, Hongwanji Chair Professor Eisho Nasu, Tamai Chair
Professor Lisa Grumbach and Reverend David Matsumoto, IBS Center for
Contemporary Shin Buddhist Studies will guide our discussion of these and other
questions.
The seminar will be free and open to all interested persons.
For more information please contact the Institute of Buddhist Studies at:
P.O Box 390460
Mountain View, CA 94039-0460
(650) 938-7192; FAX (650) 938-5937
www.Shin-IBS.edu
FEBRUARY 2006
WHEEL OF DHARMA
Amida Service
By Rev. Carol Himaka
Enmanji Buddhist Temple
T
his year December 25 fell on a
Sunday. As usual, the temple
was not going to hold service due
to the holiday. However, as I began to
think about it, it seemed very odd that
we, as a Buddhist temple, should close
our doors in observance of a Christian
holiday. I know that the Chinese Pure
Land temple at the City of 10,000 Buddhas holds a 7-day nembutsu recitation
in honor of Amida Buddha’s birthday
– which they celebrate on December 31.
So I thought perhaps we, too, could take
this time to celebrate Amida Buddha.
Most members informed me that,
due to family events, they would not be
able to attend this ‘additional’ service.
This was fine. I believed that those who
needed to attend would attend. The following is my dharma talk for that day.
Today we are celebrating the Buddha
of Infinite Life and Immeasurable Light
– Amitayus and Amitabha – or more
commonly known to us as Amida. The
origins of Amida Buddha are found in
the Sukhavativyuha Sutra – or the Sutra
on the Land of Bliss, the Pure Land of
Amida. How Amida became our central
object of reverence, and the importance
of such a choice, has a history. Although
it is not a history in the sense that we
ordinarily think of.
Ordinarily, we think of history as
the story of “factual” events unfolding
during the course of time, with time
as a constant factor. We measure time
in categories, like “past,” “present,”
and “future.” But the enlightenment of
the historical Gautama Buddha – the
man who attained insight and became
known as “Buddha” the Awakened One
– teaches us that these ordinary concepts
which we hold so dearly and so clearly
in our minds and with which we order
our lives, are in reality not as constant as
we believe them to be. In the first place,
these concepts are false because they
assume that time exists as an ABSOLUTE and REAL thing. Even the physicist Albert Einstein recognized that what
we call time can be affected by the speed
at which we travel through the universe.
Under certain circumstances, time can
appear to slow down or speed up, and
so we have heard that time is “relative”
as to how one chooses to measure it.
Therefore, of we are in motion or if we
are standing still in space, the passage of
time will change.
The Buddha discovered that many
of the daily concepts of our lives, when
examined with a focused mind, such
as one can develop in meditation, will
reveal to us that these concepts are not
as stable as we assume them to be. Even
the concepts of “Life” and “Death”
“Self” and “Other” “Ignorance” and
“Enlightenment.” Because of this realization, the Buddha discovered the true
nature of this world – constant change.
But the change itself was not random, it
is guided by conditions that are the result
of certain actions – and these actions
may be physical, emotional, or even
intellectual. Thus the changing realm of
this plane of existence maintains some
moral and ethical meaning.
If you think about it, life at its most
base level seems to be determined by the
rule of brute force. Whoever is the strongest is usually able to overwhelm and
“defeat” those who are weaker. Therefore, animals and people struggle to
gain a physical advantage if they wish to
dominate others and obtain the satisfaction of their own desires. For as long as
people have been on this earth, without
laws or the cooperation of a culture of
laws and the civil agreements of society,
the powerful have dominated. Pain and
sorrow has ruled this world. The Buddha
discovered as an ascetic, that when he
tried to apply this “naturalistic” concept
of brute force to dominate one’s own
body or mind, he failed utterly to attain
his goal of spiritual liberation from
‘duhkha’ (suffering).
If one seeks to dominate the ignorant mind, the desire for enlightenment
PAGE cannot be fulfilled for all such actions
will only empower the ‘ego-self.’ It
is like the foolish man who wishes to
taste the honey boiling in the pot hanging over the fire by frantically blowing
on the liquid, but failing to realize that
he must first remove the source of the
heat - the fire – before he will achieve
his desire.
The fundamental desire of anyone
seeking the liberation of enlightenment
is to ‘raise the bodhi mind.’ This fundamental desire, which characterizes
the bodhisattva, is what makes Dharmakara/Amida Buddha important to us. It
is what supports everything about this
Bodhisattva/Buddha. It was expressed
by Dharmakara bodhisattva as his deep
desire to learn the dharma for the sake
of establishing a pure Buddha-land that
would enable him to “remove the roots
of afflictions of birth-and-death of all.”
In other words, the bodhisattva seeks
to attain enlightenment not just for his
own liberation but for the liberation of
ALL beings who suffer. Such a shining comparison to the concept of power
through brute force. With this profound
wisdom the bodhisattva seeks to express
the truth of the dharma by acting within
the reality of interdependence for he
identifies with those who suffer in ignorance. When our hearts are touched by
this deep and profound tenderness we,
too, are moved to respond with mutual
respect and identification and thus we
respond with ‘Namo Amida Butsu.’
To understand this change within us
is to know what it is to discover what
makes us truly human, beyond attachments to power by brute force and selfish isolation. Let us take this realization
with us as we enter the new year.
$30 M
$25 M
$20 M
By Robert Noguchi
BCA Fundraising Manager
$15 M
$10 M
$7.5 M
Campaign BCA – The 21st Century
By the Numbers
District/
Temple
District Totals:
2005
Dues-Paying
Membership
Gifts/
Pledges
Received
% of Temple
Membership
Total Gifts/
Pledges Rec’d
Total Bay
2,518
234
9.29%
$866,157
Total Central
1,674
12
0.72%
$30,450
Total Coast
2,507
244
9.73%
$2,180,521
Total Eastern
509
140
27.50%
$306,904
Total Mountain
879
30
3.41%
$381,080
Total Northern
2,832
51
1.80%
$74,680
Total Northwest
1,366
86
6.30%
$288,235
254
5.45%
$2,139,871
Total Southern4,664
Total Unaffiliated Gifts
47
$539,792
Grand Total
1,110
$6,844,160
16,949
6.55%
Live A Life of
Awakening
2006 BCA Theme
www.bcayouth.org