Rev Hosho Shindo - Selflessness

On Sunday, Rev Harada, supervising minister, talked about selflessness, based on an essay written by Rev Kubose of the Chicago Buddhist Temple.

One person who exemplifies this is Rev Shindo. He would be working til late at night prepping for services. Sometimes, I would have to tell him to go home to rest. He worked daily, always thinking of our temple and the people it serves. He did not care to be the center of the center of attention.

I wished he hadn't always thought this way. For about one year and ten months, he had been battling a stubborn cancer. I wished we could all been in on it and fight it together. But he probably did not want us to be bothered by it. But he could not win it over and succumbed to it on Sunday. For us who only knew towards the end of service, it was not a surprise. Nor would we ave been surprise to learn that he wanted to come to temple to thank the people. Probably, not really to thank us for the gifts and thoughts of him during this illness, but most likely to thank us all for giving him the opportunity to be a service to us.

He really was a selfless person. I am truly blessed to have known him.

Also, we truly appreciate Mrs. Shindo, who had gone through all this alone, and probably not of her own wishes, but respecting the wishes of Rev. Shindo. She is a remarkable woman and should be noted.

In gassho,