Sunday, May 25, 2008

Memorial Day Service at Chapel at Green Hills Cemetary in San Pedro, CA.

This is conducted by a multi-denominational South Bay group of Buddhist temples, similar to the Los Angeles Buddhist Coordinating Council, and is comprised of Gardena Buddhist Church, Higashi Hongwanji, Koyasan Harbor City, Long Beach Buddhist Church, Jodo-shu, Nichiren-shu, and Zenshuji Soto Mission. I may have missed one.

Rev. Naomi Nakano of Bardena Buddhist Church spoke in English of it being a day to memorialize the casualties of American wars, past and present, and for appreciation of the Japanese Americans for their tenacity during internment during World War II. She opened with words of Lao Tse a sage in China from the 6th Century BC:

If there is to be peace in the world,
There must be peace in the nations.

If there is to be peace in the nations,
There must be peace in the cities.

If there is to be peace in the cities,
There must be peace between neighbours.

If there is to be peace between neighbours,
There must be peace in the home.

If there is to be peace in the home,
There must be peace in the heart.

Reb. Shummyo Kojima of Zenshuji Soto Mission spoke in Japanese about his discovery of U.S. Memorial Day Observance when he first came to the U.S. - it really is about the remembrance of war casualties and about the origins of gassho, putting one hand's together.

Gassho and itakimasu before a dinner is getting rarer, even in Japan. However, when Rev. Kojima did some research, he discovered no reason why putting one hands together in Japanese text. He did discover in Inida the use of gassho while reciting the word, "namaste," which is the equivalent of "hello."

He told an amusing story of sitting down at dinner in India, and the traditional way of eating was without utencils and with the fingers on the right hand. He then discovered that the left hand is used to clean oneself, and is considered the "soiled" hand. So one hand is the outward, external self (use the same hand to eat and shake hands), and the other other hand is the inner, self-preserving...but to welcome each other, it takes both hands together to represent the whole of oneself. Thus how the tradition began.

Gassho
"Namaste"

Facebook

If you are registered with Facebook, Gardena Buddhist Church is also a group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=16332556812

Also, if you are interested in an Adult Buddhist Association group:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=14622502411

Gotan-E

We had a special service to celebrate Gotan-E, which commemorates the birthday of our founder, Shinran 845 years ago (May 21, 1163). Traditionally, the sutra Shoshinge is chanted because that is the sutra written by Shinran.


This coming Sunday we will have services the nearby cemetaries - starting with Pacific Crest in Redondo Beach, CA at 9:00 am and the chapel at Green Hills in San Pedro at 11:00 am.

May 11, 2008 - Mother's Day

The Adult Buddhist Association provides breakfast to the Sangha every Mother's Day. They get to the temple early (starting at 6pm), and roll out the tables, canopies, chairs and griddles to serve pancakes outside. In the meantime, inside the kitchen, sausages and eggs are being cooked, and apples and strawberries are washed and sliced.

The idea on Mother's Day started with Dan Shikuma years ago. He approached the then-YABA (Young Adult Buddhist Association) to serve breakfast on Mother's Day since the Jr. Young Buddhist Association had been serving hot dogs on Father's Day for years, without reciprocating on Mother's Day.

Then when the YABA dissolved itself to become the new ABA, the ABA members continued this Dana tradition. Dan Shikuma died a few years ago after fighting ALS, and in his memory the ABA members make pancakes and serve it free.

Ross and Elaine have been chairing this for awhile and they have made much improvements. We have bought two commercial griddles just for this purpose which are also being used for beef teriyaki during carnival time.

The ABA practices "dana" the buddhist idea of giving. The Sangha, in turn, gets together and share a meal, which is also known in Japanese as "o-toki."

Mother's Day

Services on Mother's Day start at 10:00 am instead of 9:30 am. This is to accommodate the ABA's pancake breakfast that will be served to the Sangha starting at 8:00 am. To get ready, the ABA members start setting up at 6:00 am! The breakfast is served outdoors at the Fuji patio. Its sausages and eggs with the pancakes. Plus fruit, including strawberries from Ventura County! There is no Dharma School as there is a combined English and Japanese service and a special art fair with projects from each Dharma School class.

May 3, 2008 - Fujimatsuri

Fujimatsuri was fun this year. We had a crowd early for plants and sushi, and continued throughout the day but it was so much as it was overwhelming. We sold out on sushi, udon and even hot dogs this year.

We also moved our performers from indoors to outdoors this year. We had a ukulele group, a keiki hula group, a Japanese dance group, our own Isami Taiko and the North Torrance Jazz Ensemble and North Torrance Stings-n-Things.

It took us awhile to wire up the stage for electricity.

Thanks to all who lend a hand in helping put it on for the community.