REEDLEY BUDDHIST CHURCH April 2014

REEDLEY BUDDHIST CHURCH
P.O. BOX 24 ~ 2035 15TH ST., REEDLEY, CALIFORNIA 93654
PHONE & FAX (559) 638-2146
http://www.reedleybc.org
April 2014
Message from Rinban Nakagawa
Calendar of Events
5
Buddhist Broadcast on KBIF (900 AM)
Asian Fest at Fresno City College
Hanamido Decorating
7:25 am
6:00 pm
6
Hanamatsuri & Monthly Memorial
Service, Parents’ Appreciation Program,
and Luncheon
9:30 am
7
CBE Lecture Series in Reedley
(Calvin Doi)
7:00 pm
Buddhist Discussion in English at
Parlier (Curtis Koga)
7:00 pm
9
12 Buddhist Broadcast on KBIF (900 AM)
BWA Bake Sale at Town & Country
Market in Reedley
13 Dharma School Picnic at Woodward Park
19 Buddhist Broadcast on KBIF (900 AM)
7:25 am
9:00 am
10:00 am
7:25 am
20 No Dharma School
23 Church Board Meeting
7:00 pm
25 - 26 FDSTL Conference in San Mateo
26 Buddhist Broadcast on KBIF (900 AM)
Fresno Hawaiian Dinner Pick up at RBC
27 Dharma School Service
Jr. YBA Fried Rice Breakfast
7:25 am
4:30 pm
10:00 am
7:30 am
28 V & P Meeting in Fowler
7:00 pm
30 CCDC Meeting in Fowler
7:00 pm
APRIL TOBAN:
BWA - Area 2 - (Nishinaka & Kawamoto)
Church - District 6 (N. Kimura & Hansen)
Dharma Sch. - Doi-Wilson & N. Kimura
ŚĀKYAMUNI BUDDHA,
(occasionally ŚĀKYAMUNI TĀTHAGATA)
Last November, astonishing news came in. A British archeologist group digging at Buddha’s birthplace have uncovered remains of the “earliest ever Buddhist shrine”.
They unearthed a 6th Century BC timber structure buried
within the Māyā Devi temple at Lumbinī in Nepal. Radiocarbon dating result shows this discovered timber was buried around 543 B.C.E. ±13yrs. This amazing result estimates for Buddha’s birth stretch as far back as 623 B.C.E.,
but many scholars believed 390-340 B.C.E. as well as the
Buddhist record of 560-530 B.C.E.
More amazing, looking at the world’s reaction to this discovery, many thoughtful people in 21st Century entrust
this person who lived 2700 years ago with hope of a humane world.
Buddha is a founder of Buddhism and we celebrate his
birthday on April, whenever his birthdate really was.
Hanamatsuri or Flower Festival is a service of rejoicing in
which we commemorate the birth of Śākyamuni Buddha
with decorating a flower pavilion and the rite of Bathing
the Baby Buddha (Kanbutsu).
Buddha’s life story is handed down to posterity in the
beautiful fables, but we can receive some important messages from them. Buddha was born as the only child of
King Suddhōdana Gautama and Queen Māyā of the Śākya
kingdom. Ruling from the capital city Kapilavastu, the
King and Queen were childless for some 20 years. Then
one day, after having a dream of a white elephant with six
tusks entering her side, the Queen became pregnant. According to the custom of the time, Queen Māyā was returning to her parents' castle to await the birth of the baby
when she stopped to rest in a garden called Lumbini. In
the middle of the summer season, the garden was mysteriously in full bloom. As the Queen reached up to touch the
blooms of the Aśōka Tree, the baby was born from her
right side. The earth shook in six directions and a sweet
rain fell from the sky to bathe the body of the baby. Flowers bloomed everywhere and even fell from the sky. The
newborn baby took seven steps, pointed his right hand to
Continued on page 5
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Church Acknowledges Dana
2014 Reedley Buddhist Church Maintenance Fund
$20.00
Mrs. Ruth Sasaki
$40.00
Mrs. Nancy Abe
Mrs. Sadie Abe
Ms. Kay Antoku
Mr. & Mrs. Hitoshi Aoki
Mrs. Nancy Doi-Wilson
Mr. & Mrs. Steve Donaldson
Mr. Gerry Hada
Mr. & Mrs. Clifford Hamada
Mr. Harvey Hanemoto
Mrs. Joanne Hansen
Mr. & Mrs. Yas Hashimoto Mrs. Tstsuko Hatanaka
Mr. & Mrs. Stan Hirahara
Ms. Carole Hirakawa
Mr. & Mrs. Bill Hirata
Mr. & Mrs. Kan Ibara
Mrs. Michi Ikeda
Mrs. Kikuyo Ikemiya
Mr. & Mrs. Harry Inn
Mrs. Mary Ishida
Mr. & Mrs. Craig Ito
Mrs. Yukiko Ito
Mrs. Eva Iwanaga
Mrs. Chizuko Iwasaki
Mrs. Toshiko Kawagoe
Mrs. Sue Kawamoto
Mrs. Helen Kimura
Mr. Kevin Kimura
Mrs. Setsuko Kimura
Mr. & Mrs. Bobby Kobayashi
Mrs. Nagiko Konishi
Mr. & Mrs. Craig Miyamoto
Mr. Mich Miyamoto
Mrs. Yasuko Murase
Mrs. Amy Naito
Mr. & Mrs. Jeff Naito
Mr. Michael Naito
Mrs. Alice Nakamura
Mr. & Mrs. Larry Nishida
Mr. & Mrs. Ron Nishinaka
Mr. & Mrs. Dale Okamura
Mrs. Fujiye Okino
Mr. & Mrs. Hideki Otani
Mr. & Mrs. Gary Sakata
Mrs. Nancy Sakata
Mr. & Mrs. Susumu Sasaki
Mr. Hideo Shiine
Mr. Tom Shitanishi
Mrs. Ayako Sunamoto
Ms. Shizuko Taguchi
Mr. Byron Taira
Mr. & Mrs. Don Takanishi
Mr. & Mrs. George Takasaki Mrs. Lillian Takayama
Mrs. Yukiye Takayama
Mrs. Kimiye Tanizaki
Mr. Akio Tatami
Mrs. Kazuko Tatami
Mr. Johnnie Togioka
Mr. & Mrs. Shuzo Toyota
Mr. & Mrs. George Tsuji
Mrs. Mary Uyeda
Mrs. Ayako Yamada
Mrs. Ellen Yamada
$50.00
Mr. & Mrs. Larry Iwasaki
Mr. & Mrs. Kliff Justesen
Mr. & Mrs. Sammy Nakagawa Mr. & Mrs. Ben Nobuhiro
$70.00
Mr. & Mrs. Ty Tavlan
$100.00
Mrs. Nancy Kimura
Total for the 2014 Maintenance Fund $2950.00
(any additional donations will be listed next month)
Mr. Roger Inn & Mr. Neil Inn - 3rd Year Memorial
for Mrs. Mitsuko Togioka
$20.00
Mrs. Toshiko Kawagoe - Ohigan Service Donation
20.00
March Monthly Memorial Service
$10.00
Mrs. Nancy Abe
Mr. & Mrs. Taro Asami
Mrs. Alice Mori
Mr. & Mrs. Ben Nobuhiro
Mrs. Nancy Sakata
Mr. Akio Tatami
Mrs. Mary Uyeda
March Monthly Memorial cont.
$20.00
Mr. & Mrs. Harry Inn
Mrs. Chizuko Iwasaki
Mrs. Nagiko Konishi
Mr. & Mrs. Larry Nishida
Mrs. Ruth Sasaki & Family Mrs. Hiroko Shimozono
Mrs. Yukiye Takayama
$25.00
The Family of Shigeo & Phoebe Hirahara
The Masumoto Family
$30.00
Mrs. Sue Kawamoto
Mrs. Sayoko Otani
Mr. Johnnie Togioka
$40.00
Ms. Shizuko Taguchi
$50.00
Mrs. Yukiko Ito
Mrs. Keiko Sugai & Family
Mrs. Sadie Abe
$100.00
Mrs. Joy Donaldson
Hana Matsuri Service, Monthly
Memorial, Parents’ Appreciation
Program & Luncheon
April 6, 2014
9:30 AM
The Reedley Buddhist Church will commemorate the
birth of Prince Siddhartha Gautama, who became known
as Sakyamuni Buddha upon attaining Enlightenment, with
a family Hana Matsuri Service on Sunday, April 6th at
9:30 A.M.
The Dharma School students will be putting on their
annual Parents’ Appreciation Program following the service and a luncheon sponsored by the Buddhist Women’s
Association and Dharma School teachers will follow the
program. Please plan on attending and enjoy a day of fellowship!
Enclosed is an envelope requesting donations for the
Hana Matsuri Service. Please bring it with you to the service or mail it back to the church if you are not able to
attend.
Hanamido Flowers
The Hanamido for the Hana Matsuri Service
will be decorated on Saturday, April 5th at 6:00
p.m. Members who have fresh flowers in their
gardens are asked to bring them to the church between 9:00 and 10:00 a.m.
Anyone who is available to help decorate the
Hanamido is invited.
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Message from Rev. Alan Sakamoto
BINGO
The game of Bingo was one of my earliest and fondest
games played while I was growing up and going to different
temple Obon festivals. I can still recall sitting and staring at
the multitude of different prizes wondering which prize I
would select should my card be the winner. But alas, more
times than not, I found better luck at the dime pitch booth,
or better yet, eating my way through a plate of chicken teriyaki. At least, I got something for my money! As I got older,
I noticed that prizes gave way to monetary prizes or 50/50
splits. Then, the game of Bingo at Obon and Hanamatsuri
festivals seem to have become fewer and farther. Yet, I
know one can still find the game around. As a matter of
fact, as I Googled “bingo and Buddhism,” the majority of
hits seem to come from our BCA temples!
Do you remember when we put dry beans on the numbers
as markers? Or how about how cool it was when we got
the cards where one had to only push across a plastic cover to mark the number called. For you Pro’s, you can quickly mark and stamp you way across many sheets. And, for
those who go to the gambling halls, it is even automated
where all you have to do is stare at a computer screen, and
wait for the machine to “beep” to let you know you won. I
had to do some research on the later!
I think it sad that we no longer have those dry pinto beans
to mark our Bingo cards. It harkens back to a more innocent time where all the Sangha worked hard to find any
and every way possible to make money for the temple.
Now, it seems that the words “too much work” seems to
pop up in the reconciliation and justification of fund raising.
The St. Agatha Catholic Church in Milton Massachusetts
runs a weekly Monday night Bingo game that sometimes
attracts as many as 400 people vying for the nightly $3,000
prize. Bingo accounted for approximately $1.2 million of the
gross revenue in 2009 to the church and helped support its
grammar school among others. Opponents of gambling site
many reasons, and some even say that gambling is a sin.
Like St. Agatha’s many religious organizations have become dependent on Bingo and raffles, yes, raffles are gambling too. The members who generously open their wallets
to give are dwindling, and we see this trend across churches throughout the United States. A Catholic friend of mine
even said that the same Catholic parishioner who puts $10
in the basket on Sunday gladly contributes over $100 a
week to their Bingo games. It is not uncommon to see
churches fund building projects and other fund raising projects through the use of Bingo nights and raffles.
Gambling is not incongruous with Jodo Shinshu Buddhism!
Shinran Shonin spent 20 years toiling to achieve enlightenment through his own efforts on Mt. Hiei. This Tendai Sect
with whom Shinran Shonin studied, continues to exist on
Mt. Hiei to this very day, and may even believe and uphold
that monks should not gamble. In the Sigalovada Sutra, the
Continued in column two
Dharma School News
Spring has sprung, and with it, beautiful
flowers planted by the students to spruce up
the church grounds just in time for the Crab
Feed. The Dharma School continues to meet
regularly, and we are so grateful for the willingness of Rinban Nakagawa, Rev. Sakamoto,
and visiting ministers and ministers' assistants
to help conduct services and accommodate our
schedule. Classes are now busy preparing for
the Hanamatsuri program on April 6th, when
they will be sharing one of the Jataka Tales,
"The Value of Friends." The following weekend, Dharma School families will be gathering
at Woodward Park for a picnic and outdoor fun.
Please contact Superintendent Nancy Kimura
for more information.
Thank you Dharma School for your hard
work on Beautification Day!
The church grounds are colorful and will be
in full bloom for Hanamatsuri!
Continued from column one
Shakyamuni Buddha indicates that gambling is one of the six
ways of squandering wealth. But in these early Sutras, we
also see that monks should not get married, nor should they
drink “intoxicating” beverages. Shinran Shonin was the first
monk to get married and have children. His path led him to
believe that he was no better or worse than any other person,
and he himself was incapable of achieving enlightenment
through his own efforts. He concluded that he had to rely on
the Wisdom and Compassion of Amida! Especially those who
committed the five gravest offenses and those who abused
the right Dharma were grasped within Amida’s Wisdom and
Compassion! We do not have to be holier than thou! We just
have to try to be the best we can be and just be ourselves.
Therefore, I encourage everyone to come to the Fresno Dharma Center on Friday, April 4th for dinner that begins at 5:30
pm, and Bingo that begins at 6:30 pm. We continue to seek
donations and contributions so that we can build our new
Temple, our new Home. And, I hope that we can rekindle the
original temple founder’s attitude and spirit, to do whatever it
takes, to build a new and proud temple for our current and
future generations.
Namo Amida Butsu
Rev. Alan Sakamoto
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Crab Feed & Silent
Auction Thank You!
by Bobby Ikemiya
WOW!! What a great turnout for our 10th Annual
Crab Feed! We saw several new faces in attendance
and from what I hear, they all had a terrific time. Several guests stated that our Crab Feed is the best
around. Our unique and delicious menu is definitely a
hit with everyone.
With the stage removed (did you notice?) we were
able to seat up to 240 guests in the Hall. The layout
also enabled us to have wider walkways and more
breathing room between tables. This was a much
needed improvement for the All-You-Can-Eat crab eaters in attendance.
Thank you to our members, BWA, Jr. YBA and Dharma School for all your hard work. You put in so much
time setting up the Hall, putting together the Silent
Auction, preparing the food, rolling sushi, steaming
the crab, serving guests, cleaning up and so much
more. Many, many thanks go out to the members,
friends and businesses that donated Silent Auction
items. Our guests had many fantastic items to bid on
and take home.
We also had many friends of our teens come out to
help. Pang, Money, Breanna, Alexa, Kai, Austin and
Nathan all pitched in and offered their help in the
name of Community Service. They did way more than
that and we are truly grateful for their assistance.
Mahalo to Tracy Arakaki for stepping up last minute
to play the Ukulele for our guests. He said he was
nervous, but he did a great job.
Our 11th Annual Crab Feed is Saturday, March 14,
2015. See you there!
Tracy Arakaki entertaining on the ukulele
CRAB
FEED
2014
PAGE 5
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Continued from page 1:
Continued from column one:
the sky and his left to the earth and spoke the following
words:
Śākyamuni Buddha’s discovery of truth-reality, unlike
observing many case studies of patients in the medical
field, starts from observing the basic nature of human
beings and establish the exterior vector within them for
relativizing the everyday life. He showed the world the
spiritual tranquility of Nirvāna by relativizing his true
and real nature and guided others to reach the same
state of ‘peaceful’ ultimate relaxation by re-constructing
the frame of everyday sufferings as well as the chain reaction of hatreds.
“Above and below the heavens, I am my own Lord.”
We know the image of baby Buddha at this moment as a
bathing Buddha and we should to know these words in the
story is the first declaration of true human dignity in history.
Śākyamuni Buddha is the only one who could share the
Dharma into this world. He lived during the 7th and 6th
Centuries B.C.E. in India. Born as a human being just like
us, he too experienced illness and old age, and died at the
age of eighty. The difference is that he attained Buddhahood during the last 45 years of his life.
“Buddha” means “The one who has become awakened to
the Dharma.” Dharma means “truth-reality” or “universal
law.” It must work effectively anywhere and any time,
transcending time and space. The Dharma is not like the
law of nature such as the law of energy or the law of heredity. The Dharma, discovered by Śākyamuni Buddha, is the
truth-reality, it is not an exclusive truth-reality for Śākyamuni Buddha only. Anyone can attain the same peace and
tranquility as Śākyamuni Buddha by being awakened to
the Truth-reality.
Also, we must be aware that truth-reality is neither the
creation of Śākyamuni Buddha nor other deities. As in the
case of the scientific law that existed from beginning-less
time, Isaac Newton only discovered the law of gravity by
observing the apple drops. Although quite different, Śākyamuni Buddha and Newton both discovered truth-reality.
Continued on next column
Everyone had an enjoyable bus trip to The
California Museum in Sacramento to view the
Art of Gaman exhibit. Lunch was served after
the tour. A small group went shopping, but the
rest stopped at the Thunder Valley Resort
andCasino before returning back to Reedley.
Buddha once asked Singāla who was in the habit of worshiping ten directions every morning, “What are you doing?” Buddha started talking with Singāla and defined
the relevance of his routine conduct skillfully. Buddha
said, “Anyhow you worship, you’d better imagine your
friends or family concretely.” He continued reminding
Singāla, “Who are your friends? Is he a true friend?”, etc.,
and Buddha made Singāla examine his outline of everyday life, little by little. Consequently Singāla kept his
habit to worship in ten directions every day. Otherwise,
his feelings would become “just as if everything has been
uncovered” and his daily life would be full of joy.
Nothing is changed in Singāla’s outward appearance, but
his everyday life changed drastically. The end of this
sūtra, Singāla converted to Buddhism, but it seemed to
me that was not the Buddha’s intention. Buddha’s intention was to show Singāla the method for re-reading the
frame of his ordinary life. [from “Singālovāda Sūtra”]
Rinban Kakei Nakagawa
A P RI L, 2 0 1 4
PAGE 6
April Monthly
Memorial Service
The April Monthly Memorial Service will be held in conjunction with the Hanamatsuri Service on Sunday, April
6th beginning at 9:30 AM. Families and friends are
asked to attend and offer incense. The deceased and
seshu (observant) for April are as follows:
DECEASED:
SESHU (OBSERVANT)
George Kikuo Harada
Nancy Abe
Yietaro Antoku
Kay Antoku
Tomichi Kawakami
Betty Aoki
Kitaro Asakawa &
Mari Miyasaki
Misa Hatakeda
Yoneko Hatanaka
Tatsuko Hatanaka
Richard Yoshito Hirata
Bill Hirata
Roger Hiyama
Bradley Hiyama
George Masanori Hosaka
Kirk Hosaka
Akira Shimizu
Eloise Ibara
Shigeo Naito, Mitsuharu
Naito & Mume Kawasaki Michiko Ikeda & Sets
Kimura
Shizuko Nakata
Carolyn Ikemiya
Chonosuke Ikemiya &
Hiroaki Takaoka
Joe Ikemiya & Toshi
Kawagoe
Fumiko Yamamoto
Chizuko Iwasaki
Charles Kiyoshi Iwasaki
Larry Iwasaki
Kiyoshi Kawamoto
Sue Kawamoto
Yasuzo Sakai
Satoko Kim
Sakano Ito
Helen Kimura
Tadato Kubota
Ben Kubota
Michiko Miyamoto
Michio Miyamoto
Tomo Nakagawa
Sammy Nakagawa
Jo Nishida
Julia Ueda & Larry
Nishida
Tokino Kubo
Kathleen Omachi
Kazuo Jim Omori
Nancy Omori
Tom Minoru Sakata
Nancy Sakata & Gary
Sakata
Douglas Sasaki
Paul Sasaki & Susumu
Sasaki
Kimiko Shiine
Hideo Shiine
MinoruYokota & Chiye
Yokota
Keiko Sugai & Janet
Quiroz
Tomokichi Sunamoto
Alma Sunamoto &
Kathy Hamada
cont.
DECEASED:
SESHU (OBSERVANT)
Chisako Betty Matoba
Haruko Tsuboi
Suye Tsuji
Ai Fujiwara, Koichi Wada
& Tadahichi Endo
Mitsuko Hashimoto, Kinu
Yamagata, & Hiroshi
Kawasaki
Yukiye Takayama &
George Takasaki
Margo Toyota
George Tsuji
Ayako Yamada
Ellen Yamada
SCRIP PROGRAM
The following SCRIP certificates are available
for purchase from chairpersons Kathy & Ron Nishnaka and Mich Miyamoto. New purchases will be
made this month. Please let them know if there are
any new stores or restaurants you would like to see.
Applebee’s
Arco (gas)
American Eagle
Best Buy
Burger King
Build A Bear
Calif. Pizza Kitchen
Elephant Bar
Food 4 Less
iTunes
Jack in the Box
JoAnn’s Fabrics
Kohl’s
Macaroni Grill/Chili’s
Marie Callender’s
Mimi’s Cafe
Rite Aid
Ross
Sears
Sweet Tomato
T J. Max
Walgreen’s
Town & Country
* Available at services
ARTICLES/NEWS
All submissions must be made no later than the
21st of each month to be included in the bulletin
/newsletter. We appreciate your help in adhering
to the deadline. If your article or advertisement is
print ready, you may email it to:
[email protected]
2035 15th Street - P.O. Box 24
Reedley, CA 93654
Phone/FAX: (559) 638-2146
Website: http://reedleybc.org
Email Church: [email protected]
Email Webmaster:
[email protected]
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