You may view previous editions of the bulletin from the listing to the right.
A number of events are on the calendar for the month of February. First up ins the Nirvana Day Family Service set for February 6, 11:00 a.m. Nirvana Day is the day the historical Buddha Siddhartha Gautama passed away. Each year, we observe his birthday, Hanamatsuri, the day he became enlightened, Bodhi Day and the day of his death, Nirvana Day. Although he had become enlightened earlier in his life, the Buddha was still attached to this world through the needs and limitations of his physical form. At death he was free of the final ties to this world of Samsara.
There are various paintings depicting the death scene of the Buddha. He is seen surrounded by lay followers, fellow monks, and bodhisattvas. Even animals such as birds, rabbits and deer came out of the forest to recognize the loss of such a special man of peace and harmony. Most of them are saddened and shedding tears. But the bodhisattvas appear calm, knowing well the truth of impermanence and the temporary nature of our lives. They know that the truth of the Dharma will still be with us even though the life of the Buddha will be lost. Please make effort to attend our Nirvana Day Family Service.
We will have close to 40 members going to the Northwest District Convention hosted by the Tacoma Temple February 11-13 in Seattle. It is nice to see so many making plans to attend and to reunite with our friends and family from the other Northwest temples. We will be able to listen to Dharma talks by Rinban Bob Oshita of the Sacramento Betsuin. We will also be able to meet and welcome Rev. Kojo Kakihara of the Tacoma Temple to our Northwest District. These events are important to support and attend because our opportunities to learn and share are magnified tenfold. Due to the convention, we will not have Sunday Service at our temple on the 13th.
The final week of the month will be the BCA Minister's Association and National Council meetings in Visalia, CA. Although only a few of us attend these meetings, many programs and topics are discussed and many decisions affecting each of us are made. I would like to thank our members for making it possible to attend these crucial meetings. Highlights of these national meetings will be shared through the Wheel of Dharma as well as our usual temple sources.
We hope that each of you will be planning to take part in some of the many activities and events we have during the month of February. See you at the temple.
Gassho,
Rev. Dennis
Attention Convention Goers!! We have 38 people from our temple attending the 64th NW Buddhist Convention hosted by the Tacoma Buddhist Temple. Thank you all for signing up and supporting Tacoma.
The bus will be leaving from the church parking lot on February 11th at 8:00 a.m. so bring your pillows, blankets cards, DVD, VCR videos, munchies, etc. If enough people want to stop for an hour at Wildhorse, we can stop there for an early lunch and gambling, or stop somewhere else for lunch, as we will be there about 10:00 a.m. Pendleton time; 11:00 a.m. our time.
Portland Taiko will be performing at BSU on March 4th, Friday at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $15, senior $8 and student $5. if you would like to go, please contact a Sangha Taiko member. We will work on transportation.
Tom Okai, Jr provided labor to design, build and install the new hand railing at the parsonage. If you haven't seen it, take a look. The hand rail is accented with oiled mahogany. This should go a long way to help insulate our hands from the summer heat. Thanks Tom!
In a continuing effort to help generate funds for the Jodo Shinshu Center, the Northwest District Council is hoping for each temple to engage themselves in fund raising projects to benefit JSC. Rather than have one single effort or event, we are planning to accumulate funds from several activities to benefit JSC. One such activity is a Temple Yardsale, tentatively planned for April 30. We are just in the planning stages, but wanted to alert the membership. We are actively seeking donations for items to sell at the yard sale.
So, as you start your spring cleaning and are wondering what to do with the things you don't need, please consider this benefit yard sale. Sangha Taiko has volunteered to coordinate. If you have questions or if you have items you wish to donate, please contact Michelle Sadamori or Mike Iseri (resopnsible parties could change, but right now, Mike and Michelle are kind of it by default).
Thank you for your consideration.
Mike Iseri, co-president
Karen Hata, Delores Wood, Mary Kameshige, Suzie Nishihara, Kazuko Kuramoto, Jimmy and Kiku Hondo, Mary Nakamura, Hideo and Ruth Harada
Designated Memorial Service Years for 2011. To schedule a family memorial service, please contact Reverend Fujimoto. 1 Year = 2010, 3 year = 2009, 7 year = 2005, 13 year = 1999, 17 year = 1995, 25 year = 1987, 33 year = 1979 and 50 year = 1962.
Idaho Oregon Buddhist Temple
286 SE 4th Directions
PO Box 397 (mailing address)
Ontario, Oregon 97914
541-889-8562 (office)
541-889-8662 (fax)
10:00 am - IOBT Choir Practice
10:30 am - Adult Study
11:00 am - Family Service
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