Buddhist Thoughts Newsletter
With the recent shootings and anti-Asian racism that has been in the news, I am reprinting a revised version of an article I wrote almost 30 years ago, just after I came back to Salt Lake City, Utah after almost thirteen years of living in Berkeley, Oakland, San Jose, California and Kyoto, Japan. In each of these places, I felt like an outsider.
This pandemic has given each of us so much to think about. I know that there has been a great deal of suffering and that does make me sad. But I believe that in many ways, the pandemic has forced me to really look at what I’m doing with my life. I really enjoyed my life before the pandemic. I traveled a lot and met a lot of different people. However, in retrospect I realize my life was so fast!
The week of January 6 was an interesting week. Once again there are talks of impeachment for Ex-president Trump, that has a nice ring to it, ex-president. I’m sure our new President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris were hoping that their administration would start under far less controversial terms.
The reason I love the holiday season is because it is about happiness and family. It is about love for all of humanity. However, I know that this year has been a difficult year for many people. It may be one that you wish never happened. Yes, this Thanksgiving was very different than most other Thanksgivings you have probably ever experienced.
Each of you has come to see me, crossing the borders of more than ten provinces at the risk of your life, solely with the intent of asking about the path to birth in the land of bliss. But if you imagine in me some special knowledge of a path to birth other than the nembutsu or of scriptural writings that teach it, you are greatly mistaken.
In our new world, we hear the ridiculous sound bite “Fake News” over and over. We usually hear this being spouted by our “President” on some news programs. We know that his entire presence on the world stage is not for our country but for whatever publicity fuels his fevered little mind. I try hard not to listen. I try hard not to get discouraged by witnessing our country being dragged down like some dead decaying whale corpse sinking to the bottom of the sea.
Obon is a generic term for the Buddhist service and dancing called Bon Odori. This Obon service and dance have been going on for some 500 years. I personally really like the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji Ha (Nishi Hongwanji’s) the BCA term for this service “Kangi-E” this literally means Gathering of Joy. During this age of corona virus isolation and the black lives matter movement, we are facing an unprecedented time of suffering, isolation and death.
I know that we are all feeling confused, fearful, anxious, angry, grieving, etc. during this time of the Covid-19 pandemic. If you are like me, there are days when I wake up feeling pretty good thinking, “What will I do today? Wonder what the weather is like? I don’t have to really do anything, it’s a free day!”
We are in an unprecedented time. People my age, the so called baby boomers, have never faced anything like it. The “Greatest generation,” my parent’s age group faced it, with World War II and the incarceration of all Japanese on the West Coast of the U.S. My grandparents’ generation faced the depression, World War I and the flu pandemic of 1918. I have been thinking that maybe this is just the way life is meant to be.
In general, I find myself at a wonderful point in life. If I were to die tomorrow, I could go without regret. This may just be a natural occurrence of my age, to feel a sense of contentment. I read in a book called The Happiness Curve: why life gets better after 50 by Jonathon Rauch, that all human beings, including most large primates, after about age 50, feel life gets better.
Last September I had an opportunity to make an official visit to the temples of the Buddhist Churches of America as Monshu for the first time. This allowed me to complete the first round of visitations to all of the overseas districts, which include Canada, Hawai’i, South America, and the U.S. mainland.
A few weeks ago, Bishop Umezu and I were discussing some of the problems that we see in our BCA temples. As though a light bulb went off in his head he said, “They think they are all good people?!” He was referring to the fact that some of our temples have become like Christian Churches or even spiritual gymnasiums.
The Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of America is the religious leader of our organization (lay and clergy). The Bishop helps set the religious and spiritual vision for our organization, oversees the religious propagation of the BCA temples, manages the personnel issues of the ministers (Kaikyoshi) of the BCA, works with the BCA President to raise funds for BCA development, and reports to Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji Ha.
As some of you know, I have been nominated and have accepted to run for Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of America. If I am successful, which I will know by the end of September, I will be moving to San Francisco next year. I will try to come back and forth as much as I can, but Carmela and I will basically have two homes. She will be coming to visit me a few times a month, as well as continue with her private practice here in Salt Lake.
On behalf of the 2019 OBON Committee, we send our sincere and deepest appreciation to everyone who helped to make the 2019 OBON a very big success. We all know how much work it is to put an event together, but the success is driven by involvement of the entire board & mostly the Sangha. This year we looked for ways to stream line set up, especially the Yagura and lights.
Two years ago at our Mother temple in Kyoto, Japan, Shaku Sennyo, Kojun Ohtani was installed as the 25th Gomonshu (Abbot) of Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji Ha (Nishi Hongwanji). I was fortunate to have attended the ceremony (Dento Hokoku Hoyo) where Shaku Sokunyo (Koshin Otani) and Shaku Sennyo ritually transferred the position and title from father to son. It was a very moving ceremony. At that time, I wondered how Hongwanji would change under this new Gomonshu.
I just returned from a quick five-day trip to Kyoto. Japan as a country is a particular mix of tradition and a very modern high tech culture. Kyoto station is a good example, extremely modern design, yet only a few blocks from Higashi and Nishi Hongwanji. I decided to stay at the Granvia Hotel in Kyoto station because it was very convenient. I ate around the station and went to our Mother temple Hongwanji for services and meetings.
