Our Obon Festival ended yesterday. I am exhausted. I have some pictures to upload so I'll be working on those for the next few days.
Thank you all who came, and thank all the members and friends who gave up their time to help pull this feat all together with their volunteer hours.
We probably had around 1,000 dancers on Saturday and over 900 on Sunday. And there were still as many watching the dancers as there were still on the church grounds getting dinner and playing bingo.
More later...
-- Gassho
Monday, August 6, 2007
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Hongwanji - Getting There
The Hongwanji Overseas meetings are in November. I had to decide when and how to get there. I decided I'll do some of my own sightseeing around Japan, so I am making it a 111-day trip.
I would have to miss a USC home football game on Nov. 3 and the Southern District ABA "Fun-Food-Friendship" on Nov. 10, for this opportunity. Oh well. Namo Amida Buddha.
Airfares are not cheap. In fact, traveling to Kansai International (which is the closest to Kyoto) from Los Angeles is about $200 more than flying to Narita (Tokyo). But since I wanted to take a side trip to the Sea of Japan coast and do some personal stuff in Tokyo, I opted to fly to and out of Narita and use a Japan Rail Pass.
The web-based prices were no different than from the traditional travel agents...at least one airline, United Air Lines, was consistent in coming up with the lowest fare, yet they charge a "fuel fee" which brought the total closer to what other airlines were charging. I ended up using JTB online to book the ticket.
I put together a quick and affordable 11-day itinerary that I'll cover in the future.
to be continued...
Gassho...
I would have to miss a USC home football game on Nov. 3 and the Southern District ABA "Fun-Food-Friendship" on Nov. 10, for this opportunity. Oh well. Namo Amida Buddha.
Airfares are not cheap. In fact, traveling to Kansai International (which is the closest to Kyoto) from Los Angeles is about $200 more than flying to Narita (Tokyo). But since I wanted to take a side trip to the Sea of Japan coast and do some personal stuff in Tokyo, I opted to fly to and out of Narita and use a Japan Rail Pass.
The web-based prices were no different than from the traditional travel agents...at least one airline, United Air Lines, was consistent in coming up with the lowest fare, yet they charge a "fuel fee" which brought the total closer to what other airlines were charging. I ended up using JTB online to book the ticket.
I put together a quick and affordable 11-day itinerary that I'll cover in the future.
to be continued...
Gassho...
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Head Minister Rev. Miura subbed for Rev. Nakano today and also did a Japanese-English sermon for the adults.
His topic: "Teaching of Enlightenment." He gave an analogy by ringing a bell. The clear tones represented the day you were born. Later in life, the sound becomes unclear. When you reach enlightenment - the bell sound is clear once more.
Traditional Buddhists believe enlightenment is achieved through meditation and purification. The Shin-Buddhist tradition is very simple, "know oneself." Self-awareness is the key to enlightenment.
Got G.A.S.? "G" is for "greed," "A" is for "anger," and "S" is for "stupidity." These things are not the way to enlightenment, however if you are awareness of these things you are practically there.
Shinran's favorite word is "shin-jitsu". The kanjji for "shin" is "true" and the kanji for "jitsu" is "real." Which could really mean "not to decieve oneself." Sometimes you have to be something for someone, for work or school, for parents. But "are you really doing "you?" "Are you doing the right thing?" Without the deception you cannot live, meaning you are an employee, a parent, a child, a teacher, etc., but "what is you?"
To be true to oneself is what Shinran has taught to be the highest goal to achieve.
Self-awareness.
Gassho...
His topic: "Teaching of Enlightenment." He gave an analogy by ringing a bell. The clear tones represented the day you were born. Later in life, the sound becomes unclear. When you reach enlightenment - the bell sound is clear once more.
Traditional Buddhists believe enlightenment is achieved through meditation and purification. The Shin-Buddhist tradition is very simple, "know oneself." Self-awareness is the key to enlightenment.
Got G.A.S.? "G" is for "greed," "A" is for "anger," and "S" is for "stupidity." These things are not the way to enlightenment, however if you are awareness of these things you are practically there.
Shinran's favorite word is "shin-jitsu". The kanjji for "shin" is "true" and the kanji for "jitsu" is "real." Which could really mean "not to decieve oneself." Sometimes you have to be something for someone, for work or school, for parents. But "are you really doing "you?" "Are you doing the right thing?" Without the deception you cannot live, meaning you are an employee, a parent, a child, a teacher, etc., but "what is you?"
To be true to oneself is what Shinran has taught to be the highest goal to achieve.
Self-awareness.
Gassho...
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)