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Good Morning! OHAYOGOZAIMASU! Last week we were able to enjoy our 60th Anniversary. The celebration was the culmination of the efforts of many. It was great to see so many who came out to share the day. Mixed in with the usual faces, we had so many others to help make it a very special time.
Please join me in Gassho: Although my eyes, blinded by passion, do not see the brilliant Light which embraces me, the Great Compassion never tires, always casting Light upon me. (wasan by Shinran Shonin)
If we can move beyond our small-minded efforts, we are able to recognize that we have this one opportunity at life. We have been given this one opportunity that is irreplaceable and unrepeatable. In a related Wasan, Shinran wrote:
Through the benefit of the unhindered light, We realize Shinjin of vast, majestic virtues, And the ice of our blind passions necessarily melts, Immediately becoming water of enlightenment. (Hymns of the Pure Land Masters, verse 39, CWSS)
The Buddhist Teachings present us with the opportunity to shift our perspective of the world and of life from one that is selfish to one that is selfless. We are urged to move from being self-centered to being Dharma-centered, or truth-centered.
As we do so, our appreciation and enjoyment of life unfolds and multiplies.
One of the comments received about the 60th celebration was that the gathering last week was bitter-sweet. Although it was great to see so many taking part in the day, we couldn’t help but notice the absence of many others who have already left us. So many others, who have been a big part of our lives and a big part of the temple, are no longer here. This was the point. I believe we should have set up a table in the middle of the banquet hall with eight empty chairs to make sure we all got the point. The temple is not the treasure...t’s the Dharma. When we recite the Three Treasures every Sunday, we do not say the Buddha, the Temple, and the Sangha. We say the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. We are fortunate to have this beautiful facility, and we should recognize the sacrifice and effort made by so many to bring us to this point where we are able to enjoy this temple. But the point of their efforts is not the temple … it’s the Dharma. We can see that life is fleeting, but more importantly, we want to be able to see that our opportunity to understand and awaken to the Dharma is fleeting. If we don’t recognize this and take it to heart, then the efforts of the past were a waste. We don’t want to let the opportunity slip away.
One of the main reasons that we held the celebration was because we didn’t want to wait for the 75th Anniversary. Some people thought it wasn’t a major number, so why make a major effort? If we had waited for the 75th for a big celebration, how many more would not be there to enjoy it? Now that the 60th is over, the reason we had this celebration is still true. Why should we wait for major numbers? Why wait for 75 or 80 or 100 years? Another comment was that we should do this every five years. What would you think about that? We should be able to enjoy this temple and the opportunities it provides...we should be able to enjoy our lives we share as a Sangha… we should have reachable goals...we should create occasions of sharing. What do you think...too much work? Nothing has been decided, but maybe we could think about it.
Today is Father’s Day. Generally, it takes a back seat to Mother’s Day, but it is just as well deserved...just ask any of the dads here today. Did you know that Father’s Day started in our own backyard? The first Father’s Day celebration was held in Spokane, Washington, June 19, 1910. A woman by the name of Sonora Dodd first had the idea of a “Father’s Day” while listening to a Mother’s Day sermon in 1909. Sonora wanted a special day to honor her father, William Smart, a Civil War veteran. He was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. He was left to raise the newborn and his other 5 children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington.
After Sonora became an adult, she realized the selflessness her father had shown in raising his children as a single parent. It was her father that made all the parental sacrifices and was, in the eyes of his daughter, a courageous, selfless, and loving man. Her father was born in June, so she picked that month to celebrate Father’s Day.
In 1924 President Calvin Coolidge supported the idea of a national Father’s Day. In 1966 President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation declaring the 3rd Sunday of June as Father’s Day. President Richard Nixon signed the law which finally made it permanent in 1972.
Recognizing and appreciating our connectedness to our families is a gateway to move beyond ourselves and to be able to see our connectedness to all else. In the Shin Buddhist Tradition, this is why we emphasize family gatherings, socials, and memorials where we are urged and encouraged to get together to share the times of our lives and the trials we go through. Most of us would probably have warm feelings and stories or memories of our fathers. Fathers are not just someone that provided the genes that give us our physical makeup and characteristics. Fathers are ones who provide watchful support and guidance day in and day out. Every situation is different...today I speak generally. I have some quotes that you might enjoy about Fathers...you might recognize some of the authors.
“I’ve had a hard life, but my hardships are nothing against the hardships that my father went through in order to get me to where I started.” Bertrand Hubbard
“By the time a man realizes that maybe his father was right, he usually has a son who thinks he’s wrong.” Charles Wadsworth
“My father didn’t tell me how to live; he lived and let me watch him do it.” Clarence B. Kelland
“When a father gives to his son, both laugh; When a son gives to his father, both cry. A Jewish proverb.
Here are two quotes from sports personalities, the first from Payette’s own Harmon Killebrew, homerun hitter of the Minnesota Twins: “My father used to play with my brother and me in the yard. Mother would come out and say, “You’re tearing up the grass.” “We’re not raising grass,” Dad would reply. “We’re raising boys.”
From Jimmy Piersal of the Angels, on how to change a diaper: “Spread the diaper in the position of a diamond with you at bat. Then, fold second base down to home and set the baby on the pitcher’s mound. Put first base and third together, bring up home plate and pin the three together. Of course, in case of rain, you gotta call the game and start all over again.”
“Father, whom I murdered every night but one, That one, when your death murdered me.” Howard Moss
“I watched a small man with thick calluses on both hands work fifteen and sixteen hours a day. I saw him once literally bleed from the bottoms of his feet, a man who came here uneducated, alone, unable to speak the language, who taught me all I needed to know about faith and hard work by the simple eloquence of his example.” Mario Cuomo
The final quote is one from Mark Twain: “When I was a boy of fourteen, my father was so ignorant I could hardly stand to have the old man around. But when I got to twenty one, I was astonished at how much the old man had learned in seven years.”
Please enjoy Father’s Day. Enjoy the time with family and the time with our Sangha with the understanding and appreciation that these are gateways to move beyond self-centered lives and towards Dharma-centered lives where our appreciation and enjoyment unfolds and multiplies.
Gassho: Although my eyes, blinded by passion, do not see the brilliant Light which embraces me, the Great Compassion never tires, always casting Light upon me. Through the benefit of the unhindered light, We realize Shinjin of vast, majestic virtues, And the ice of our blind passions necessarily melts, Immediately becoming water of enlightenment.
........GASSHO..........RAIHAI
Rev. Dennis
Idaho Oregon Buddhist Temple
286 SE 4th Directions
PO Box 397 (mailing address)
Ontario, Oregon 97914
541-889-8562 (office)
541-889-8662 (fax)
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