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We are very fortunate to have Rev. Jerry Hirano of the Salt Lake City Buddhist Temple present for our Spring Ohigan Service on March 19. Some of our members have family or friends in Rev. Hirano's church, and, the Dharma School has enjoyed his hospitality in visits there on Dharma School trips. A welcome dinner will be held for Rev. Hirano on Saturday, March 18, 6:30 p.m. in the Temple basement, catered by Matsy's. The cost is $12 per person and reservations can be made by calling Joan Suyematsu at 889-8932 or Sanami Nakano at 889-6863. Let's show Rev. Hirano our IOBT hospitality and come out to greet him for dinner and/or service. Thanks!
There is an endless list of things that volunteers for IOBT do, ranging from leading the Temple, cooking, cleaning, clerical work, you name it, there's a job for everything and anything.
Are YOU interested in voluntering? YOUR temple needs you! Too often we just ask the people who normally do things around the church because its the easy way to go about it. We often overlook opportunities to invite all of you to come out and help. It's not our wish, necessarily, to have you do things you don't want to do. Rather, we'd like for you to be able to volunteer your help in an area of your choosing, something you are comfortable with and something that suits you.
Call Mike Iseri, Randy Kameshige or Dave Mizuta. We'd be happy to talk to you about the variety of things going on in and around the Temple.
And to our faithful and loyal volunteers, Thank You for your continued commitment. Our success is a team effort and each of you has had a hand in one way or another in keeping our Temple and our membership strong.
Welcome to the month of March! It is hard to believe that we are into March already. I still have snow on my front lawn and Christmas items in my living room! Things do happen quickly.
In reflection: The Northwest Buddhist Convention was a tremendous opportunity and a wonderful experience. It is always gratifying to meet old acquaintances, and such conventions are a good opportunity to make new friends as well. Of course, to seek occasion to hear the Dharma from top teachers, and in so doing, to learn more about ourselves is a rare and valuable opportunity made available within our Shin Buddhist Sangha. To prioritize these opportunities benefit our Sangha, our families and ourselves.
In the moment: as soon as this article is complete, I will resume packing my bags for the BCA National Council Meetings to be held in Sacramento. Each BCA Temple does what they can to send its Ministers and Lay leaders to these annual meetings. It is opportunity for each Sangha to contribute to the stability and growth of Buddhism in our temples and in America. I will let you know how it goes.
In the future: the Spring OHIGAN Family Servie is to be held March 19 at 11:00 a.m. We will have Rev. Jerry Kyosei HIrano from the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple. Rev. Hirano has a reputation as an excellent speaker, and we all look forward to his visit. Please mark your calendar and make effort to be in attendance. We will also have a special musical offering from the Dharma School as part of this OHIGAN Service. It should all be very enjoyable as well as insightful and beneficial. We'll see you there.
GASSHO..............RAIHAI.................
Rev. Dennis
Finally we can say that maybe that frigid weather has passed on...I'm only judging by the spring bulbs that have sprouted already. It feels good to start some yard work.
IOBT chartered a bus for the NW Convention held in Spokane recently. I heard nothing but good reports from our delegates that attended. It's been a while since the Spokane Buddhist Temple hosted a convention, so it was a nice change of location. Thanks to all of our delegates who attended.
Activity Days is getting better each Wednesday. Attendance has increased because of the milder temperatures. Ontario Town ladies were the tobans for the month of February. Hideko Fujita made Oden, Jayne Kameshige made Lasagna and Dorothy Yamaguchi made ChowMein.
Susan Inouye and Ann Nagaki had a special demonstration for Folded Magazine pieces made into a basket. About 8 ladies attended. There's no two alike because of the magazine colors or print. All sizes can be made. Warning: it takes time and lots of finger muscles. Maybe we could have another session if interested. Call Ann.
Ohigan Services will be held on March 19th, this will be a family service with Rev. Jerry Hirano of Salt Lake, UT as our guest speaker. A welcome dinner will be held Saturday, March 18th at 6:00 p.m. at the church basement with Matsy's catering. Reservations will be needed - call Joan Suyematsu.
Have you notice the safety rail on the steps going to the stage? Can't tell how we all appreciate that device - safety is our most important thing we need, especiall as we reach that "Senior Age". Thanks to our handy man Yasu Teramura who made the safety rail.
NOTICE: Fujinkai meeting has been postponed to March 12th. Don't forget to change the date.
Feb. 5th: Laurel Saito was chairman. We had a very nice Valentines party. Thanks goes to Jayne Kameshige for making lasagne, Karen Hata for getting the salad and drinks. Jeanne Ozawa for her homemade french bread, and Connie Tanaka and Jeff Saito for handling the pinata!
Feb. 12: No church - NW Buddhist Convention in Spokane. Dharma School children who attended were Laurel and Grant Saito and Quinn Spencer. Teaching staff in attendance was Lois Saito, Sandy Belknap, Mary Ann Shimojima, Jeanne Ozawa, Mary Nakamura and Sanami Nakano.
Feb. 19: Sandy Belknap was chairman.
Feb. 26: Rev. Dennis will be attending the Ministers association meeting and National Council meeting in Sacramento. In his absence, Laurel Saito will ring the kansho, Brady Kameshige will lead the chanting and Mary Ann Shimojima will be chairman.
March 5: Rev. is gone. Brady Kameshige will ring the kansho and Laurel Saito will lead the chanting. Karen Hata will be chairman.
March 19: This is a family service at 11:00 a.m. with Rev. Jerry Hirano as our guest speaker for Ohigan. Quinn Spencer will play his violin for time to share.
Thanks to February Temple cleaners: Isao and Mary Kameshige, Randy, Jayne, Brady and Mimi Kameshige, Brian Kameshige, Lorinda Hasegawa, Ben Kaneyama, and Ron Tsubota.
Feb. IOBT Bulletin Helpers: Isao and Mary Kameshige, Rev. Dennis, Mae and Sanami Nakano, Mary Nakamura, Jimmy Hondo, Lorinda Hasegawa, Lorinda Shiraishi, Shiz Inouye, Hideo and Ruth Harada.
A warm Happy New Year to all of you. The year 2006 is the year of the dog in the Chinese Astrological system. Presently we have a pet cat, but growing up on our farm in Oregon, we always had a dog, and usually a bunch of stray cats that would make our farm their home. This month I would like to share with you some things of life and Buddhism that I have learned from our dogs over the years.
Our first dog we had on our farm was a stray dog who just wouldn't leave. I can remember as a young kid that we tried to chase the dog away, but he kept coming back. When we finally decided to keep him, it didn't take long for him to become a part of the family.
We named him Shorty because he had these short legs. Soon Shorty did what every one of our farm dogs did...serve as a watchdog for the farm. He would bark whenever a strange vehicle would pull into our farm letting us know there was a stranger around.
I don't know how old Shorty was when he first came to our farm, but in a few years he grew old and was on his last legs. He was listless and slept all the time. He just wasn't his old self. We all knew what was inevitable. As a kid though, we didn't want Shorty to die. I can remember getting one of my cousins penicillin pill that she took for rheumatic fever and crushing it up and trying to feed it to Shorty. I wanted to cure him of whatever was making him ill and causing him to die. It was of course, no use, and in time he died.
The day Shorty died I will never forget. It was the first funeral that had a big impact on me. On the farm, the farm dog is a friend to everyone, not just our families. He is a friend to all the workers and friends and neighbors. When Shorty died, the whole farm stopped work. Two of our workers, two big and strong guys that worked for us, dug a nice grave beneath a nice tree in my grandfather's vegetable garden. Everyone was tehre, every farm worker, and every member of our families, my Uncle's family and our family. Together we all buried Shorty. It was the first real lesson in impermanence for me. It was sad for all of us. I can even remember our tall, husky worker, a guy like John Wayne, shed a tear for Shorty.
In Buddhism, dogs are sentient beings, just like we humans. Zen Buddhism has a famous koan that revolves around a dog. The koan or Zen religious riddle states, "Does the dog have Buddha Nature?" It is a puzzle that is given to the Zen student to ponder, to break through to enlightenment. The student must go before the Zen Master and give an answer to the koan. I have never done this before, but from what I understand, it is absolutely terrifying to go before the Zen Master and to not have an answer to the koan. Let me relate what this scenaro might be like if it were to happen to me.
The Master has given me the koan, "Does the dog have Buddha Nature?" What does this mean? Clearly a dog cannot become enlightened like humans? A dog can't mediatate or chant sutras. My answer for the master is, "No, the dog does not have Buddha Nature." What that response the Zen Master strikes me with a stick and admonishes me to mediate some more on the koan.
The next day, I go before the Zen Mawster again to give my answer. I think to myself, "Gee, yesterday I said no and he hit me. Today my answer will be yes, the dog has Buddha Nature." With that answer the Master says, "Wrong answer!" and strikes me with a stick. What's the right answer? I say no and he hits me. I say yes and he hits me. What is the answer?
The answer is not a yes or no answer. The answer must come from beyond your ego self, something that the Master can see and sense. It is not an answer that you can figure out in your head. That is why it is so terrifying to face the Zen Master each day without an answer to your koan.
When I was in college, I took a course on Zen Buddhism and first learned this koan. At that time we had a dog named Spot on our farm. Spot didn't have a single spot on him, but somehow he was named Spot. I guess we had exhausted most other names for dogs by then. I thought to myself, "Does spot have Buddha Nature?"
During one of my college breaks I was home for a visit. I was playing with Spot and I noticed that he had chewed up my Dad's slipper. Of course I showed it to Spot and scolded him for chewing up my Dad's slipper. Spot ran away with his tail between his legs and laid under our pickup truck. He was in the dog house.
A couple of minutes later, Spot came out from under the truck and came running up to me, licking my face and wanting to play. It suddenly dawned on me, the answer to this koan. Spot not only has Buddha Nature, he manifests it, he expresses it much more than me. Spot is way closer to enlightenment that I am. Although I had scolded Spot just two minutes before, he had forgotten it and wanted to play. I thought about myself. If I am scolded or someone gets mad at me, I stay mad for days. I could never forget it in just a minute or two. Spot is way more selfless, way more enlightened than me.
That was a wonderful lesson then, as it is still a wonderful lesson now. Our pets and other animals can be not only great companions and friends, they can be great teachers and Bodhisattvas for us as well.
When Spot died, I had my only little funeral service for him in front of my little Obutsudan. I wasn't a minister yet, but I gave him a Buddhist name anyway, which was, "True Friend."
In this year of the dog, I continue to remember and learn from the wonderful dogs who have been friends and Bodhisattvas to me in my life.
In Gassho,
Rev. Marvin Harada
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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11:00 am - Adult Service
11:00 am - Dharma School Class
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