From Megumi, November 2008

As of today, the BCA is still considering our request for a new head minister. It will probably be a long process. Of course, in the meantime, we will have to make do.

So what do we have to do to prepare ourselves in the coming months?

We have around 750 members, the majority of which are in their 70s and 80s. That’s a lot of Dharma talks. In absence of a head minister, we will have to take it upon ourselves to make sure that we have what we need. So if a member needs some comfort, all we have is each other, so please take it upon yourself to visit someone who we have not seen at temple. Check in with them and see if they are all right.

Read. There are lot of books written about the Dharma and about Jodo Shinshu. You can find them at Hongwanji Place in Little Tokyo, or order them from the BCA Bookstore. Maybe, just maybe, we can form book clubs so we can read them together and ask each other questions.

Come to temple. Sundays, it’s a gathering place. Or donuts. Once a week, we can have a donut. Its all about nembutsu.

Remember to bow before entering the Hondo, and even bow before entering the grounds – we do that at Hongwanji in Kyoto, we bow before entering the gates! Remember to step in with your left, exit with your right. When you pass in front of the center of the Hondo, remember to bow.

And think how lucky you are that you can do all that. Sometimes, I sit before the o-naijin and remember all the different ministers that have come before us, the guest speakers, the special services. The funerals, the weddings…all these things that have been witnessed. It’s amazing.

As an adult coming back to Gardena, it has been quite an experience. Now as the chairman of the board, I wanted to make sure that we take a leap into the future. At that time Rev. Mayeda gave the English-language sermons, and Rev. Miura had just started (with a ponytail!) And in my first year of my term, both are gone within a year of each other! It doesn’t seem fair, does it? I miss them both.

But we practice perseverance and we would be moving on. Those were great moments, and we will have more moments.

We all know what we have to do, and that is to practice what we have learned – “to think pure and beautiful thoughts, to do pure and beautiful deeds and to say pure and beautiful words.” Sure sometimes, we forget and maybe our thoughts aren’t as pure and beautiful, nor we do things that are pure and beautiful, and sometimes we may not say pure and beautiful words, but we are just One Sangha, and the Dharma lives.

So in this interim, while we figure out where we will be… please take care of each other.

In Gassho,

The New Normal

I still don't have any news, but there a few things we can do as a temple to prepare ourselves for the future.

While we wait for an answer, we do need to talk and ask ourselves what we like about ourselves, what we don't like about ourselves and what we see about ourselves in the future. No, not individually but as a Sangha as a whole.

This is a good time for us to do this. So if you are thinking, let me know.

Remember Me ...

Remember me with smiles and laughter, for that is how I will remember you all. If you can only remember me with tears, then don't remember me at all.
Laura I. Wilder

Those who have been born first ....

I have collected true words to aid others in their practice for attaining birth, in order that the process be made continuous, without end and without interruption, by which those who have been born first guide those who come later, and those who are born later join those who were born before. This is so that the boundless ocean of birth-and-death be exhausted.

-- Shinran Shonin, Kyogyoshinsho