Daifukuji Soto Mission

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1 Daifukuji Soto Mission Practicing the Four Kinds of Wisdom Giving, Kind Speech, Beneficial Deeds, Empathy Mamalahoa Hwy., Kealakekua, HI October, 2018 (808) See archives on our website for previous newsletters. Daruma-ki & Eitaikyo Service Sunday, October 14 9:30 a.m Potluck Lunch All are invited to join our Sangha in observing Daruma-ki in remembrance of Bodhidharma, the 28th patriarch in our lineage. Also known as Bodai Daruma Daishi, this 6th-century Indian Buddhist monk transmitted Zen from India to China. We honor him on the day of his memorial. The Dharma message will be delivered by Rev. Jiko. Following the Daruma-ki service, an Eitaikyo service will be held in memory of those whose names are recorded in the Daifukuji Eitaikyo record book. The word eitaikyo means chanting the sutras in perpetuity. This annual service ensures that prayers are offered for the departed, even when family members of the deceased cannot be present for the service. If you are interested in having an individual or family s name entered into Daifukuji s Eitaikyo record book, please contact Rev. Jiko ( ) to submit the name(s), along with a one-time donation of $250 per request. All are invited to stay for lunch which will be a potluck affair. Bring bring something to share if you can. A bazaar evaluation will be held after lunch. Unit chairpersons and interested persons are invited. One may also bring canned food donations to the service for the Hawaii Food Basket. The gift shop will be open. 1

2 October Programs Dharma Study Classes - Tuesdays, October 2, 9, 16, 23, & 30 3:30-5:00 p.m. Kannon Hall Zen Mind, Beginners Mind by Shunryu Suzuki Roshi is the subject of study. All sessions begin at 3:30 p.m. with 30 minutes of zazen followed by an hour of Dharma sharing. Please plan on arriving before 3:30. Late arrivals, please do your zazen sitting in the pews & remain outside the meditation room. One may purchase a book for $8.50. Contact Rev. Jiko for information: info@daifukuji.org, (808) All are welcome. Family Sangha: A Dharma Program for Children - Sundays, October 7, 21, & 28 at 9:30 a.m. Child-friendly 45-minute services which include yoga, zazen, chanting, singing, & Dharma lessons. For children of all ages and their parents & grandparents. Call Rev. Jiko for information: (808) Zazen (Meditation) * Every Wednesday morning from 6 a.m. - 7:20 a.m. * Thursdays, October 11 & 25 from 6:00 p.m. - 7:20 p.m. Both morning and evening sessions include 20 minutes of chanting. Donations may be placed in the box on the incense table. All are welcome. Please arrive at least 5 minutes before starting time. Call ahead if you are new to zazen practice. (808) Shakyo & Shabutsu Art Meditation - Saturday, October 6 from 8:00 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Mindfully tracing the Heart Sutra & pictures of buddhas and bodhisattvas in silence unifies body, breath, and mind. All supplies provided. By donation. Call Rev. Jiko at (808) Baikako Plum Blossom Choir Practice - Sunday, October 7 from 7:45 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Beginners classes on Oct. 4, 11, 18, & 25 from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Call Rev. Jiko at for information. The Gay Sangha - Friday, October 5 6:00-7:30 p.m. A Buddhist group open to all, with a particular invitation to gay women and men and their families and friends. Meetings are the first Fridays of each month at 6:00 pm. Meditation and discussion. Call Clear or Steve at (808) Japanese Song Classes October 29 & November 26 7:00-7:50 p.m. Temple Library A fun way to learn Japanese. All are welcome. Contact Takako sensei: (808) , oxleyj002@gmail.com. T ai Chi Tuesdays at 9 a.m., Wednesdays at 12 noon, Thursdays at 9 a.m. All classes are one hour. $5.00 per class. No prior experience is necessary. Call instructor Philip Kakuho Hema : (808) Yoga Mondays from 8:30-9:30 a.m. in the Hisashi Kimura Cultural Hall. No fee, but donations accepted. Bring a mat or towel. Call instructor Liz Aschenbrenner: (808) or Liz217a@hotmail.com. 2

3 Daifukuji Fujinkai Women s Association News Fujinkai members, please save the dates below: Saturday, October 20 at 10 a.m. - Fujinkai General Membership Meeting & Potluck Lunch All Fujinkai members are invited to this annual meeting. Important topics will be discussed. Saturday, October 27 - Autumn Field Trip This year, our Fujinkai will be heading out to Honokaa to take a farm tour of Mauna Kea Tea, an organic tea farm founded by Taka and Kimberly Ino. Also on the itinerary is a visit to the monument of Katsu Goto, a sugar cane plantation labor advocate known as the Honokaa Hero. (At the general membership meeting on October 20, a video on the legacy of Katsu Goto will be shown.) Lunch will be at Sushi Shiono at the Mauna Lani Resort Golf Clubhouse. Transportation will be by private cars and vans. Carpooling will be arranged. The field trip, including lunch, is free for Fujinkai members. Fujinkai members may invite guests for a fee of $30 which includes lunch and the tea farm tour. District representatives will be calling Fujinkai members by October 1 for a headcount. If you don t get a call, please call your district rep or Rev. Jiko to sign up. Questions? Please ask field trip coordinator Lorraine Tanimoto or Rev. Jiko. Be sure to come to the general membership meeting for updated field trip information. Women ages 18 and up are welcome to join the Fujinkai. Call Merle at for information on membership. Project Dana News 9:00 a.m. is the new starting time for Project Dana, Daifukuji s monthly activity program for temple seniors age 60 and up, which is held on the 2nd Wednesday of the month. Not an early riser? Not a problem. Seniors are welcome to mosey in after 9 a.m. It s perfectly okay! Just let Rev. Jiko know that you ll be coming Halloween Project Dana is a program for temple members that s funded by Daifukuji Soto Mission. There is no charge. Volunteers prepare nutritious snacks and lunches, help with activities such as chair exercises, bingo, presentations, and seasonal celebrations, pick up and drop off seniors who need transportation, give massages and haircuts, and clean up after everything is pau around noon. On October 10, we ll be observing Halloween, so feel free to bring a costume. Seniors, we invite you to give Project Dana a try. fellowship. Need a ride? Call Rev. Jiko ( ). Join us for fun, exercise, yummy meals, and 3

4 Receiving the Precepts by Jessica Myōju Falcone, Ph.D. I wandered into Daifukuji temple for the first time in the summer of It was my hope to study with Daifukuji members and learn more about the Jess, Tina, & Rev. Jiko culture of the temple. Back then I explained to Reverend Jiko that I was a Buddhist, but my Buddhism was somewhat fractured. My previous research project in India had scarred and pummeled my trust in my Buddhist foundations. As an anthropologist, given my research, I had found myself in the intractable position of feeling obligated to critique my former sangha s giant statue project in India. I was confused and saddened by the amount of suffering caused to poor farmers by the Buddhist statue plan, which had been forwarded by non-heritage Tibetan Buddhist practitioners. (By the way, that ethnography took a long time to write, but I discuss the story in my new book, Battling the Buddha of Love: a Cultural Biography of the Greatest Statue Never Built, which is coming out as of September 15 of this year. Spoiler alert: it is not a happy story. Still, I will send a donated copy to Clear for our Daifukuji library soon, in case anyone is curious about it.) Three years ago, when first joining Daifukuji, I hoped that it would be a place for me to rebuild in both scholarly and spiritual ways, but my expectations were muted. I hoped for a Buddhist band-aid, or maybe a little bit of spiritual triage. I didn t anticipate a Buddhist rebirth. Over the past few years, as I grew increasingly fond of Zen practice in general, and the Daifukuji sangha in particular, I began to reconnect with parts of myself that had slipped away. I did more meditation. I found myself wanting to move further along the path as laid out before me. As I learned about the precepts, I felt that it would be ideal to commit myself to working towards those vaunted practices; I knew that some would be hard, but all were worth aspiring to. Last year at the tail end of my sabbatical, I had to return to Kansas after just a few precepts meetings, but Reverend Jiko was willing to allow me to do long-distance writing and reflection assignments to make up for lost time. I took the precepts in Summer 2018 alongside my dharma sister and friend, Tina. It was an incredibly meaningful and special day. To me, it was a commitment ceremony to the community and its core beliefs. It was an affirmation that I was more than happy to make, as it was a sign that I had found firm Buddhist ground to stand on again. There were several important, unforgettable moments in the Precepts Ceremony, but here is one that stands out: Reverend Jiko called me over to sit before her and I received my Buddhist name. I sat across from her and she announced my name, Myōju, which she translated as bright jewel (or bright pearl ) which is taken from a book of Dōgen s Shōbōgenzō that is entitled One Bright Jewel, in reference to the mani jewel, a mythical transparent object mentioned in a wide variety of Buddhist texts. I am fascinated by this text, and I deeply appreciate that Reverend Jiko has challenged and inspired me with this lovely, aspirational name. Afterwards, as I sat with Tina and our dharma friends, we said to each other that it felt like a birthday party. We enjoyed the delicious cake, snacks, and tea that our friends had made for us. Our dharma family gave us sweet cards, and we unwrapped some lovely Buddhist presents, which Tina and I had not expected at all. We all laughed and talked together, and it was just one of those good, perfect kind of days. And if you really think about it, it was a birth day of a sort: we were celebrating our rebirth into the sangha with new perspectives, new names, and new commitments. 4

5 Gay Sangha Celebration October 5 Arrive by 6:00 p.m. Friday, October 5th will be a special meeting of the Gay Sangha. It will be the second birthday of the group and, to celebrate, there will be three meditation sessions (with kinhin between sessions) that evening, instead of two---to commemorate moving into our third year. Philip Kakuho Hema will be the guest of honor. He is the tai chi instructor and was instrumental in forming the Gay Sangha. After meditation there will be tea served. Everyone is invited. You don't have to be gay---you just need to like to meditate. The bell to start meditation rings at 6:00 p.m., so please arrive early. For information, call Clear or Steve at (808) Dear Sangha Dear sangha members and friends of Daifukuji, Every year I am humbled by the sheer effort and tremendous dedication of the volunteers who work day after day in preparation for the temple s bazaar. A lot of care is put into sorting, cleaning, pricing, & displaying hundreds, if not thousands, of items. There are many people working hard in all departments, some seen and some behind the scenes. What I see is bodhisattva practice in full action, and I am humbled and filled with gratitude. Once again, the Japanese phrase Okagesama de comes to mind. Thanks to you and you and you, Daifukuji is here today. I also appreciate those who take the time to drop off donations of items. Without your donations, such a bazaar would not be possible. On bazaar day, I appreciate the crowd that gathers to shop and support our cause. Did you know that there are folks on the mainland who time their trips to Hawaii just so that they can come to our bazaar? We are blessed by the support of countless people. This annual bazaar, which benefits our building maintenance fund, is the result of many hands working together and many hearts beating together, all for the sake of sustaining our historic temple so that we may continue to offer Buddhist teachings and wonderful programs for all. Every piece of manju, every roll of sushi, every item sold, every massage given, every smile & kind word shared benefited our community. Thank you very much to all. Thank you for your hard work & dedication. Thank you from my heart. Namu kie butsu. Namu kie hō. Namu kie sō. We take refuge in Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. Warm aloha, in gassho, Rev. Jiko 5

6 Welcome, New Members Our sangha extends a warm aloha to the following new members: Katherine Florer Jared Niimi Mike Sato New members are always welcome. For information, see Rev. Jiko or visit our website: membership_brochure.pdf. Story & Clark Piano Solid, 1960s, one-owner Story & Clark piano with bench to sangha member. Needs tuning which, among others, is done by Rev. Myoshin K a n i u m o e o f A l a n e o Z e n d o (myoshin.alaneozendo@gmail.com; phone ). It will have to be picked up at my house at Kanaloa Drive, Kamuela (4 miles past Kawaihae and 4 miles up hill). Suggested donation of $95 - $150 (you decide) with check written to Daifukuji Soto Mission Legacy Endowment Fund. Call Jiho Hall for d e t a i l s o r e m a i l pisca88@icloud.com. Sharing Aloha at the Regency at Hualalai On August 31, Rev. Jiko, Deacon Jikai, and Kona Daifukuji Taiko, under the direction of sensei Akemi Iwamoto, shared their aloha at the Regency at Hualalai, a retirement community in Kailua-Kona. It was their hope that the lively dancing and drumming would bring joy to the residents & staff. It turned out to be a happy time for all and what was perhaps the first of such Bon Dances to be held there. A group of students from Kanto Gakuin University, escorted by their instructor Mahito Uchida, Ph.D., visited Daifukuji on August 31. They learned about the history of the temple & the role it plays in our community. Mahalo for visiting! 6

7 Library News By Clear Houn Englebert Here are our new arrivals: Our latest books in Japanese are: Zen no Kotoba ni Ikikata o Manabu (Learning How to Live Through Zen Sayings) by Roshi Shundo Aoyama, and Introduction to Painting Buddha by Adachi, which shows exactly how to paint Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. A Stranger in Tibet by Scott Berry is one of my favorite books in the entire library. It tells the story of Kawaguchi Ekai, a young Japanese Zen monk, who in 1900, went to Tibet. Mind you, Tibet was closed at the time, but Ekai did not let that stop him and his story is fabulous. It s so well told that you end up learning quite a bit about Tibetan Buddhism which, frankly, was a mystery to me before I read this book. Ultimate Journey is the story of Hsuan Tsang told by Richard Bernstein who retraces the path of the pilgrim by going along the exact route. Cat's Yawn: A Zen Miscellany is a facsimile compilation of the newsletter of The Buddhist Society of America by Sokei-an (Sasaki Shigetsu, the first Zen Master to make his home in the Western World). The newsletter came out in 1940 and 1941 and his wife, Ruth Sasaki, brought out this facsimile in We are fortunate to have this precious book. Sacred Calligraphy of the East by John Stevens is well written and beautifully illustrated. Hsin Hsin Ming by Seng-tsan is my favorite Zen poem in my favorite translation by Richard Clarke. This is one of the bestselling books in the gift shop, and for good reason! Lost Temple of Java by Phil Grabsky is a DVD about Borobudur in Central Java. The film was made for the BBC and is top-notch---a wonderful way to learn about and appreciate the world s largest Buddhist temple. The Scripture in 42 Parables translated by Chris Wen-Chao Li Is an anthology of three scriptures. We have two new books by the Dalai Lama: Live in a Better Way and The Good Heart. Living by Vow by Shohaku Okumura is subtitled: A Practical Introduction to Eight Essential Chants and Texts. These are the exact sutras that are commonly used here at Daifukuji and I can t imagine a more readable guide. I highly recommend this book. Amazon Smile For those of you who shop online at Amazon.com, we have recently registered Daifukuji s Legacy Endowment Fund in the Amazon Smile program. You can help support our endowment by going to smile.amazon.com to shop. Same products, same prices, same service and 0.5% of eligible purchases are donated to the Daifukuji Legacy Endowment Fund. We will have more information on our website soon. 7

8 Yoga Classes Mondays 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. Cultural Hall general community. Daifukuji member and Hatha yoga instructor Liz Aschenbrenner is offering Monday morning classes from 8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. These classes, which are held in the Hisashi Kimura Cultural Hall, are open to temple members, as well as the No fees are charged. However, monetary donations to both the instructor and the temple may be given. Students will be asked to sign a waiver at their first class. Bring a yoga mat or towel. For more information, contact Liz at or Liz217a@hotmail.com. Daifukuji Gift Shop News The gift shop has some lovely ojuzu pouches from J a p a n. I n t h e picture, the pouch on the right is purple silk with the crests of both Sojiji and Eiheiji embroidered in gold thread on the front flap. The price is $16. B a z a a r E v a l u a t i o n Meeting Sunday, October 14 Noon Social Hall A bazaar evaluation meeting will be held after the Darumaki service lunch around noon on October 14. Unit chairpersons and interested persons are invited to attend. Please come with your comments and suggestions for improvement. If you cannot attend the meeting, you may give your suggestions to Joyce St. Arnault, Stephen Tanaka, or Rev. Jiko, or them to rev.jiko@daifukuji.org. Coming up in November Project Dana November 14 Thanksgiving Service. November 18 Coffee Festival Bento Sale..November 17 Temple & Grounds Clean Up November 25 Kannon-ko Service..November 21 Regency at Hualalai Service.November 28 8

9 Daifukuji Bon Dance & Orchid Show Aloha Soleful Strutters! Ready, Set, Walk! Blue Zones Walking Group starts Tuesday, October 2, :30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m. It's time to lace up our walking shoes and put on our Blue Zones tee shirts. As you probably remember, Daifukuji Soto Mission became certified as an approved Blue Zones Project faith-based group in May One of the suggested activities for completing our application to obtain certification was to form a Blue Zones Project Moai (Mow-eye) or walking club, and our group name became the Soleful Strutters. As we discovered in the spring, our Moai was very beneficial to everyone. As our program grew, we added an additional form of exercise, a short Tai Chi warmup, which we all enjoyed. Since we would like to continue these healthy activities, the Daifujkuji Soleful Strutters will be offering the opportunity to walk and practice T'ai Chi again this fall and would like to invite you to join us. The Daifukuji Soleful Strutters will meet for 45 minutes each Tuesday morning from 8:30 a.m. until 9:15 a.m. beginning on October 2, We will begin the mornings with the T'ai Chi warmup, and then we will walk around Daifukuji's front yard and parking area, where the ground is level. Once again, those who would like a greater challenge can walk up the hill toward the cemetery and back. All in all, we can help motivate one another, create and strengthen our friendships, and get some great exercise. Please consider joining our Moai. If you are interested, please let us know by September 30. Call Hannah at (408) or Rev. Jiko at (808)

10 An Appreciation of the Bazaar: From a Gift Shop Perspective by Clear Houn Englebert This year's bazaar wasn't as busy and hectic as it has been in the past. Before the event I was concerned that the gift shop might be short staffed, but thank goodness there were not super-busy "rushes" of customers. (It has been like a shark "feeding frenzy" at times in the past.) We were all tired at the end, but not exhausted. The shop is open for an hour before the bazaar and that hour can be quite busy, especially as 9:00 approaches. Every year, customers are in the middle of buying things when Rev. Jiko starts the opening prayer. The customers are quite surprised that we pause in the middle of the transactions and put our palms together in gassho. I think they go beyond surprise, when they see that we're staying in gassho for the full prayer. They're itching to make their purchase so they can get back down to where the gate is about to be opened to enter the bazaar. I feel for them (part of me is a shopper) but I love the prayer and my favorite part is at the end when we recite the Three Refuges together, so I stay in gassho for the full time. Artwork, especially religious art, waits for the right person, and I don't think you can rush that. I've seen pieces sell immediately to the right person, and I've seen pieces wait for years. I'm a Buddhist---I've got patience galore. A lady bought one of Spring Liao's tiny eggshell paintings, and was incredibly fascinated by it. She wondered about the symbolism of painting on an eggshell. I told her I wasn't aware of the special symbolism, although there might be some. I pointed to the ostrich egg (which she hadn't noticed) and I said, "It could be that these eggshell paintings were practice for this..." You should have seen her eyes get big when she saw that gorgeous ostrich egg painted with Buddha and Kannon! A very generous person bought Mayumi Oda's largest piece in the silent auction for $ and he didn't have that much cash on him, so he asked us if the gift shop could let him charge it and we said yes. Luckily we had made that much in sales and we took the cash directly over and gave it to the silent auction folks for the purchase. The thing that impressed me about the buyer's generosity was that the minimum bid was $500 and he could have gotten it for that, but he bidded the extra amount to help the temple, and even though it cost the gift shop almost $15 in Paypal fees, it was very worth it to make that large transaction flow easily. The bargain books sold well in the gift shop. One of the things I love most about the bazaar is that it's a window of time when people who are not rich can, all of a sudden, afford things. Several times I looked over where the boxes of inexpensive books were placed beside the stairs to the residence, and I'd see somebody (often a young person) carefully looking through every book. I recognize a future Buddha when I see one. The shopper part of me waits until Walter announces that everything is half price---that's when I take my list and go shopping for great deals. Walter Kimura is the reason to come to the bazaar. You never know what is going to come out of his mouth! Gilbert s mellow choice of music is appreciated by the gift shop volunteers, because the speakers are right there where we are. At one point I looked out at the three tee-shirts that were hanging on display at the edge of the lanai, and they looked like they were dancing to the music. We had picked small sizes of shirts to hang there and when the midday breeze started up, those shirts were really moving, and their beautiful designs looked like prayer flags dancing. 10

11 2018 Building Fund Bazaar Mahalo to all! If you donated items to the bazaar and would like to receive a letter for tax purposes, please drop by the temple office or call Rev. Jiko at (808) More bazaar mahalos, as well as the bazaar financial report, will appear in next month s newsletter. 11

12 October 2018 September 2018 S M T W T F S 1 October 2018 S M T W T F S November 2018 S M T W T F S Major Service Home Work Work Work Zazen Sangha Sisters Youth Taiko Adult Taiko Family Service Happy Strummers Temple Board Fujinkai Kannon-ko Service Project Dana Orchid Club Samu Special Events Baikako Practice Dharma Study Found in Apps Offsite Backup Bon Dance Group Teen Sangha Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Family Sangha Field Trip 8:30 AM Yoga 7:30 PM Happy Strummers 8:30 AM Walking Moai 3:30 PM Dharma Study 6:00 AM Zazen 12:00 PM T'ai chi 7:00 PM Fujinkai Board 9:00 AM Beginning Baika 7:00 PM Temple Board 7:30 AM Samu 6:00 PM Gay Sangha 5 6 8:00 AM Shakyo 9:30 AM Youth Taiko 7 7:45 AM Baika Practice 9:30 AM Family Sangha 8 8:30 AM Yoga 8:30 AM Walking Moai 9:00 AM Bare Bones 3:30 PM Dharma 9 10 Project Dana 9:00 am 6:00 AM Zazen 12:00 PM T'ai chi 6:30 PM Orchid Club 9:00 AM Beginning Baika 6:00 PM Zazen :30 AM Samu 7:00 PM Sangha Sisters 13 9:30 AM Youth Taiko Darumaki 9:30 am Potluck Lunch 12:00 PM Bazaar Evaluation Meeting :30 AM Yoga 8:30 AM Walking Moai 3:30 PM Dharma Study Kannon-ko 10 am 6:00 AM Zazen 12:00 PM T'ai chi 9:00 AM Beginning Baika 18 7:30 AM Samu Fujinkai Meeting 10 am Fujinkai Potluck Lunch 9:30 AM Youth Taiko 9:30 AM Family Sangha :30 AM Yoga 8:30 AM Walking Moai 3:30 PM Dharma Study Regency Service 9 am 6:00 AM Zazen 12:00 PM T'ai chi 9:00 AM Beginning Baika 6:00 PM Zazen 25 7:30 AM Samu Fujinkai Field Trip 9:30 AM Youth Taiko 9:30 AM Family Sangha :30 AM Yoga 7:00 PM Japanese Song Class 8:30 AM Walking Moai 3:30 PM Dharma Study :00 AM Zazen 12:00 PM T'ai chi 9:00 AM Beginning Baika 1 7:30 AM Samu 6:00 PM Gay Sangha 2 3 9:30 AM Youth Taiko Page 1/1