Current BulletinMinisters Message by Reverend Kakuyei Tada
This is an article from the March Issue of Jnana (knowledge) and Prajna (wisdom) by Reverend Mas Kodani. I recently heard a talk by Reverend Professor Taitetsu Unno in which he mentioned someone saying that she was "not an ethnic Buddhist, but a real Buddhist". How this conclusion is made no doubt has many roots. In the same way that normal Christians learn their Christianity through a kind of osmosis, normal Buddhists also learn their Buddhism from hearsay.
More serious Christians and Buddhists read or listen to the Dharma, in a scholarly, monastic, or (as in the case of Jodo Shinshu), in a lay-centered temple setting. Added to this is the difficult master of understanding Buddhism's fundamentally different take on religion and non-reliance on faith or belief. It requires an understanding different from the norm we humans are born into.
In Buddhism, it is the difference between knowledge, "Jnana" and wisdom, "Prajna". Jnana in Sanskrit means "understanding or knowledge" and Prajna means "beyond understanding or knowledge". Prajna is the Buddhist term for the understanding beyond normal understanding achieved by Siddhartha under the tree of Awakening (Bodhi Tree) that made him a Buddha (Awakened One). It is not merely intellectual or objective understanding, but an understanding beyond that - a paradoxical understanding that changes you, and transforms you, in ways that are not clearly definable.
Inasmuch as it is a transforming understanding, Buddhism is not simply a "way of life" or a philosophy - it is a religion, a transformative understanding of the Ultimate Reality. The man Sakyamuni (Buddha) woke up to this ultimate reality as Amida Buddha (awakening beyond time and space). In Buddhism, this ultimate reality is without the idea of a supreme creator, such as God, or an eternal soul. This "ultimate" has by definition no shape, form, or qualities peculiar to it since it is the totality of all things. Having said that, it is nevertheless expressed in human form, in poetic form, in symbolic form (as the Amida Buddha), as wisdom (understanding beyond normal understanding) and as compassion (the feeling of transformation and connection to the true and beautiful).
Real Buddhists are not people of Jnana, but of Prajna; some are deeply intellectual, some are not; some read everything about Buddhism, some never read; some sit in meditation regularly, some do not; some chant regularly, some do not; some listen to sermons, some do not. For Jodo Shinshu, achievement is not an act of self-assertion, but rather an act of self-reflective honesty which causes us to float in a sea of tranquility, and this occurs in the time it takes for the sound of a snapping finger to disappear. Jodo Shinshu is the practice that tells us that we cover up this "ultimate" and replace it with realities and truths of our own. We fill this self-created world of delusion with our own varieties of good and bad, right and wrong, superior and inferior, etc. It is this ignoring or covering up of the truth that is the seat of our suffering. And, it is deep-seated in that we are not even aware of the fact that this is what we do - ignore. Our practice then is to constantly keep our ego before the mind's eye - to create occassions, rituals, and activities that help us to see our own ego-centric nature for what it is; and in so doing, to see the truth, and be set free, even for a moment, by that truth. Reverend Unno's talk also spoke of another convert to Buddhism who came to see that "Buddhism is not so much a prescription of life as it was a description of it".
News Around the Temple by Ann NagakiWhen it comes to the month of February, they always say it is a short month. I almost think all of the months are short when you have to get the bulletin out in time. What do you all think - did we have a winter or not? The weather is quite puzzling! The way spring flowers are already budding out of the ground, it must be getting ready for spring.
Sounds like everyone who went to the NW Convention in Portland had a wonderful time. This is the first time that the bus was filled to capacity. Thanks to Elayne Mizuta for taking care of the reservations. I heard that Shiz Inouye made her delicious Crispix snack for everyone - yummy, yummy! I didn't go this year, but I can visualize everyone's bento that they had on the bus - one never goes hungry on these chartered busses. Those who played cards played all the way up and back, and others caught up with gossip, reading and some rest. What a relaxing way to go when someone else does the driving. Remember, it will be our turn to host the NW Convention for 2004. The Convention Chairpersons have had several meetings to get some of the preliminary work done. If anyone has any ideas for the Convention, let the committee know.
In January, Reverend Tada, Joan Suyematsu and Mary Kameshige did the nursing home visitation. Thanks to Mary Kameshige who has been donating items to take to the patients. In January, they brought some anklets.
Wednesday Activity Days have become popular. We're happy to see some of the guys are showing up for lunch and others stay to play cards. We have been having some wonderful food demonstrators. On January 29th, Kerry Iseri was unable to demonstrate; Joan Suyematsu and Mae Nakano demonstrated "Salmon Cakes". On February 5th, Ann Nagaki made "Chicken Enchilada Soup". On February 12th, Shiz Inouye made her delicious "Kahlua Trifle Cake" and "Crispix Snack". And, on February 19th, Yasuko Kino will be making a ham and noodle dish.
Alia Mizuta and Laurel Saito were the two Dharma School students that were able to attend the Northwest Buddhist Convention in Portland, from February 7-9, 2003. The teaching staff had several attending: Sandy Belknap, Mary Ann Shimojima, Jeanne Ozawa, Sanami Nakano and Mary Nakamura. The Oregon chapter put on a really nice convention with many workshops, mixers, and fun puzzle solving problems. We host next years' convention and hope we can do as well as they did.
The teachers put on a Valentines party on February 16th. We would like to thank June Kitamura for seasoning our sloppy joes and to Jeanne Ozawa for bringing scalloped potatoes and banana chiffon cake to round out our meal. Also, a big thanks to all the teachers!
Reverend Tada was gone on February 23rd, so Jamie Hasebe gave the Dharma talk. She gave a very interesting talk on "HUGS". Thank you, Jamie, we all need hugs!
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