September 30, 2007

Laughter Yoga...
Laughter is so good for you. At the Southern District Conference yesterday in San Diego (Fantastic job!), one of the workshops was on Laughter Yoga. Simple games that encourages the kid in you to play and of course, laugh.

A few of us thought it would be a great idea to share the laughter games with the rest of the Sangha, so we wrote down several of the games and shared that with Rev. Nakano, who could not attend this workshop because she was giving a Dharma talk for the elementary school kids at the same conference.

One thing led to another, so I ended up trying to share these games with the Sangha at church the next day. It was a lot of fun. To see the adults laugh like kids seemed so healthy and so good.

Gassho

Hongwanji - Jokoji Temple

I plan to take a side trip to Joetsu City in Niigata Prefecture on the Sea of Japan, primarily to visit Jokoji Temple. This temple was founded by Shinran Shonin during the period of his exile from Kyoto. Although if you read the link below, he was in Ibaraki Prefecture. This temple moved a few times before its current location.

This Website has more information on this temple.
http://www.city.joetsu.niigata.jp/english/contents.files/Jokoji.html

Joetsu City itself is a new city. It was created from different towns in the area not too long ago. The area has many onsen and ryokan, but not on the regular tourist map. JNTO and JTB could not book me a ryokan, so I will have to contact one when I get there.

Thank You!

Thank all the volunteers for their hard work to make this year's Obon Carnival a huge success! We did about 5% better than last year.

Our Obon Dance is huge. It is probably the largest Obon Dance in the United States, according to a guest from the San Jose Buddhist Betsuin, which he thought was the biggest until he came to Gardena this year.

I have pictures, but they are not with me now. I'll add them in later.

And Thank All of You for coming to our Obon.

Obon Obon Its Festival Time!

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

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...

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...

Sunday, July 22, 2007 - Obon Service

Sunday was our temple's Obon Service.

A time to remember ones who have passed away. The Jodo Shinshu tradition of Obon is slightly different than most Japanese Buddhist traditions. Traditionally, Japanese (non-Shin buddhists) believe that family members' souls return for a visit during the O-Bon period.

In Japan, it is time for homecoming, as most Japanese return to their roots to pay their respects. The ceremonies surrounding the festival including welcoming the spirits back home and sending them off.

Traditionally, O-Bon is celebrated with a dance as originated by Mogallana to help his departed Mom find her way.

Our O-Bon service featured guest speaker, Rev. Hata, a retired minister now living in the San Diego area. His sermon was about the poem, "A Thousan Winds." As noted below, it is thought to be a Native American poem or attributed to an Ohioan named Mary Frye. It has been rewritten into a song by Mitsuru Arai, a Japanese songwriter, who also recorded this song. He had heard the poem, and decided for a friend who had parted that he would write it into a song. His friend's daughter used the song as part of her wedding day, because it reminded her that her late mother was "around."

The song became very popular in Japan.

These aren't the translated lyrics of the song, but a version of the poem...

Do not stand at my grave and weep

Do not stand at my grave and weep;
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
I am the sunlight on ripened grain.
I am the gentle autumn rain.
When you awaken in the morning's hush
I am the swift uplifting rush
Of quiet birds in circled flight.
I am the soft stars that shine at night.
Do not stand at my grave and cry;
I am not there. I did not die.

Written at least 50 years ago, this poem has been attributed at different times to J.T. Wiggins (an English emigre to America), two Americans: Mary E. Fry and Marianne Reinhardt, and more recently to Stephen Cummins, a British soldier killed in Northern Ireland who left a copy for his relatives. Others claim it is a Navajo burial prayer.

The following was taken from The London Magazine December / January 2005:
"Mary Elizabeth Frye nee Clark was born in Dayton, Ohio, on November 13th 1905. She dies on September 15th 2004. Mary Frye, who was living in Baltimore at the time, wrote the poem in 1932. She had never written any poetry, but the plight of a German Jewish girl, Margaret Schwarzkopf, who was staying with her and her husband, inspired the poem. She wrote it down on a brown paper shopping bag.

Margaret Schwarzkopf had been worrying about her mother, who was ill in Germany. The rise of Anti-Semitism had made it unwise for her to join her mother. When her mother died, she told Mary Frye she had not had the chance to stand by her mother's grave and weep.

Mary Frye circulated the poem privately. Because she never published or copyrighted it, there is no definitive version. She wrote other poems, but this, her first, endured. Her obituary in The Times made it clear that she was the undisputed author this famous poem, which has been recited at funerals and on other appropriate occasions around the world for seventy years. A 1996 Bookworm poll named it the Nation's Favourite Poem"[London Magazine Editor, Sebastian Barker]

(This was also substantiated by research conducted by the staff of Dear Abby. -- Alan)