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May 2003 Bulletin

Ministers Message by Reverend Toshikazu Arai

As I was sitting in the barber's chair, a chilling thought occurred to me; what if the barber lost his mind and slashed my throat with his razor? It was an absurd thought, for every moment of the barber's was a demonstration of his skill and pride; he would hardly think of doing such a thing. Even so, that remains a possibility, and there is no denying that we all depend on the goodwill of others for our safety. When I am traveling on a plane, my life is totally dependent on the pilot. When I ride a taxi, I am dependent on the driver's skill. The TV series "ER" shows you that medical staff do their best at work in spite of the fact that they carry all sorts of personal problems with them. I am sure airline pilots and taxi drivers have their own problems.

Many times a day, you may be passing through a situation that possibly endangers your life without noticing it. Someone might think of throwing a flower pot at you from window but decide not to, antoher person might want to punch you in the stomach but hold his fists to himself, etc., etc. Still, the majority of us survive those invisible dangers. Why? I think that is because we all have an inborn mechanism of protecting th elives of others as well as our own. Our lives are interdependent. Because others live, others live. We owe our own safety to other fellow humans, and we entrust our lives to the earth, the sun, the noon, the air, and the ocean. In short, we live our lives based on faith in other people and other things that surround us. Even so, this kind of faith is not absolutely reliable. Some people do meet their death due to unexpected accidents or crimes in the middle of another seemingly eventless day. Death might occur to another at any time. Paleontologists say that dinosaurs perished about 65 million years ago when an asteroid hit the earth. Then, what would happen to us? In this way, there is nothing in this physical world that assures us of absolute security.

However, in this world of uncertainty, Amida Buddha's vow assures us of ultimate reliability. True faith occurs when we hear the Name, Namu Amida Butsu, as the manifestation of Primal Vow that reaches us, cutting through the mists of death.

News Around the Temple by Ann Nagaki

First of all "thanks" to the Payette-Fruitland ladies, plus all of the others who helped with our group, for taking care of the Hanamatsuri Otoki. I heard they had made plenty of food. I'm sure everyone had some kind of leftovers to take home and enjoy.

Chairpersons, Roy Hasebe and Kathy Chatterton had a NW Convention meeting on April 13th. Do you realize it's only eight months away! Next meeting is scheduled for May 4th at 2:00 P.M. We need to know your input and ideas - your attendence is appreciated.

Activity Days had concluded as of this Wednesday. Some of our demonstrators were by the Caldwell and Weiser ladies who were responsible for the month of April. The ladies made cake manju roll, Barbeque ribs, Salsa, boxed sushi and cabbage rolls and nori no tsukudani. We will still continue with card playing with "no demonstrations" from here on until next year. This coming Saturday, we're having a "Special Luncheon" for our younger generation. We will have some demonstration going on to share. It was first started as "Ladies Only", but we didn't realize some members couldn't leave their husbands home alone, so now it's open for the husbands. They may come along. Sorry about this inconvenience we had caused.

We would like to thank Yasu Teramura and Sagie Nishihara for replacing some windows that have been vandalized.

"Cheery Hello" to our shut-ins or home bound members!

Don't forget National Federation of Buddhist Women's Conference held in Los Angeles, California on October 10-12, 2003. If interested, let Mae or Joan know.

Next Fujinkai meeting is scheduled for May 4th at 1:00 P.M.

Thanks to the Fujinkai Women who made the "Special Luncheon" a great learning and social gathering for us to all get to know each other better.

June Monthly Memorial Service (Shotsuki Hoyo) June 1st, 2003 at 11:00 a.m.

6/1 Shigeko Matsubu
6/1 Yoshiko Kanetomie
6/1 Walter Yamada
6/2 Roy Yutaka Kaneyama
6/2 Karie Nakamura
6/2 Steven Isamu Morishige
6/3 Haruko Hori
6/3 Chiyono Yamaguchi
6/3 Yonezo Morinaga
6/5 Yukichi Tomoda
6/5 Itsuyuki Murakami
6/5 Kiyono Nakao
6/7 Kazuo Kuwahara
6/7 Toichiro Kuga
6/8 Kane Itami
6/9 Ryu Kitamura
6/9 Azami Demise (1996)
6/10 Chosuke Nakahara
6/10 Itsu Nishikawa
6/10 Tomoye Uyeki
6/12 Midori Sugai
6/13 Waichi Nakamura
6/13 Dennis Nakagawa
6/13 Tomoyo Kido
6/14 Yakichi Saito
6/15 Kameichiro Doi
6/18 Takeo Hasebe
6/18 Koichi Shigeno
6/18 Shizuye Amano
6/19 Nick Edward Kuwahara
6/19 Shizuye Abe
6/21 Jim Kuga (1996)
6/21 Miyoko Asakura
6/24 Manhachi Ichida
6/24 Chohachi Murakami
6/24 Frank Umeta
6/25 Kelli Suemi Kameshige
6/26 Wataru Demise
6/28 Kohide Nishihara
6/28 Kaz Yamaguchi
6/29 Koyuki Hashimoto
6/30 Shizumo Goshi
6/8 Yoso Kuramoto

May Monthly Memorial Service (Shotsuki Hoyo) May 4th, 2003 at 11:00 am

5/11 Tagoro Sadamori
5/13 Setsuko Horiuchi
5/15 Gontaro Nishimura
5/16 Niichi Shintaku
5/16 Satoru Kuramoto
5/16 Some Yamashita
5/18 Hatsuichi Mozomoto
5/18 Kenichi Miyake
5/18 Misao Tameno
5/18 Mitsuyo Katayama
5/18 Natsujiro Imada
5/18 Shigeo Katayama
5/19 Asakichi Okuda
5/2 Akira Horiuchi
5/2 Hayato Nishikawa
5/2 Tsugi Nakagawa
5/20 Tasuyo Chikuo
5/21 Kise Nakata
5/22 Ayako Kameshige
5/22 Kantaro Sasaki
5/22 Kumekichi Yamane
5/22/99 Min Nakamura
5/23 George Tameno
5/23 Tom Akira Enoki
5/23 Yukiye Nakano
5/26 Frank Adachi
5/27 Yohei Miyagawa
5/28 Totaro Hosaki
5/29 Chiyo Nakamura
5/3 Kiyoshi Kameshige
5/3 Toshiaki Iida
5/31 Hisayo Okano
5/4 Kenji Shiraishi
5/4 Masao Nakashima
5/4 Ryokichi Nagasaka
5/6 Keith Wood
5/7 Matahei Goshi
5/7 Takei Enoki
5/8 Alyce Morishige
5/8 Buichi Itabashi
5/8 Morio Mizuta
5/9 Hide Teshima
5/9 Kazumi Shoda

Dharma School News

Well, kids, May 18th is the last day for Dharma School service and classes for this year! Wow, it has gone by fast. We plan on having service as usual, then going to McDonalds for lunch and then bowling. You can invite a friend to join you at the bowling alley at noon. Please let me know how many will be coming to lunch and how many for bowling by May 11th. I am going to try to get someone from the bowling alley to give some instructions for those of you who would like it.

We would like to congratulate Keely Koda upon graduating from Vale High School. She is the daughter of Steve and Janet Koda and Granddaughter of Mary Takami, all from Vale. Good luck to you, Keely.

This years summer Dharma School outing is to Salt Lake City. The date is July 11 - 14! We plan on seeing the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple's OBON on July 12th. We also plan on going to the Lagoon, the Utah fun dome and join in on the Ogden taiko demonstration and workshop. Let us know if you are interested.

Also, keep in mind our HAPPY BOWL BOOTH at the Malheur County Fair...July 29 - Aug 2! This is the reason we are able to take these wonderful family summer trips! Everyone have a SAFE and FUN summer and we'll see you in September. Dharma School will resume on September 7th.