REV. USUKI S PAGE. What Is It? Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Vol. 52, No. 4 April 2009

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1 Web: Vol. 52, No. 4 April 2009 REV. USUKI S PAGE What Is It? Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) What is it? 1952 Chevrolet Deluxe, four-door, six-cylinder with three on the column. Where did it come from? It was donated by Mrs. Tamako Yamada of Santa Barbara, CA, Kathy and Vance Nishimoto s aunt. What are you going to do with it? Restore it. Why? It needs TLC tender loving care, just like a rescue animal or other neglected things. Can it be fixed? I think so. Do you know how? I think so. How long will it take? A few years? Will it be expensive? Perhaps not as much as taking care of children or pets. What then? It will become a temple car and part of the WLA Hotrods car club. Does you wife know about this? I think so. (cont d on page 2)

2 Seriously, many of you have seen this odd car in our parking lot and asked many questions. Some of you may have just shaken your head and walked away. Many of you laughed. However it may have looked to you, it has been interesting to observe your reaction to this car that is in need of rescue. It may be similar to bringing home a stray dog out of compassion or a sense of responsibility. I have several old cars that are in need of tender loving care. They were rescued from friends and others who had just given up and would have given them away, frustrated by seeing them sitting in the garage for a number of years. This 52 Chevy has been sitting outside in the elements for about 20 years and is overrun with dirt and rust. I had been reflecting on this old car for a few years, ever since Vance Nishimoto and I thought about bringing it to the temple. As tired and sick as it is, I am a couple of years older than the car, whatever this means. I am also clogging the temple garages with these cars hoping that someday they will be as good as new and that they will again serve us as they should. This is their carma. Now I have enough karma projects to last ten years. So, how will the car be used, once restored? Well, I think it would be good fun just to drive it around. Practically speaking, it might be nice to give guest ministers or VIPs rides in it from the airport. Of course, if they were embarrassed by the plastic magnetic signs on the doors advertising WLA Buddhist Temple, then they would be given the option to decline before they arrived and it would not hurt my feelings. I must admit that I have burdened the temple with many projects, such as making taiko and using the garage for my other hobbies. The taiko project took a couple of years and for the most part it is done, but this new project will take much longer. I am grateful that I can fulfill my hobbies here and I hope I am not taking too much liberty. But I do not plan to work on this car alone. Over the years I have found that there are many young and older car enthusiasts among the temple membership and many indirect (potential) members (children or friends of members) who have an interest in old cars as well. I have been urged by these people to start a car club to bring them together. The club will be called the West LA Hotrods and will be open to men and women, whether you have a car or not. One young lady suggested that it would be very practical to learn how to change oil or put on snow chains. Some have even suggested that they could put in some time to help us with sanding or using a wrench interesting. I wondered if Shinran Shonin or Shakyamuni Buddha would have something to say about this, but I m sure they would have chuckled and just walked away. Perhaps, automobiles can be rescued and be enlightening. They can give us just as much joy as dogs, cats, or other salvaged and saved items. I have other rescued treasures, but have not done well with goldfish. The following photos are our family rescue members. Rev. Fumiaki Usuki Sumi and Mookie 66 Mustang 2 (cont d on page 3)

3 Wisteria (sagari fuji) Shinshu Corner Fifth in the series on various Buddhist Symbols This is the more familiar of the two crests used by the Hongwanji-ha. It consists of two pendant Wisteria flowers forming a circle in the center of which are two intertwining vines. The earlier crest of the Hongwanji was the Chrysanthemum crest associated with the Imperial Family. The Ohtani family, the direct blood line from Shinran Shonin, married into the Imperial Family, becoming a Monzeki Jiin or Imperial Temple in the late Muromachi Period. Later, when the Emperor Meiji ascended the throne in 1868, the Chrysanthemum crest was restricted to members of the immediate Imperial Family. The family crest of the Kujo family, a great patron of the Hongwanji, was then offered to the Hongwanji. This Wisteria crest has since been the official crest of the Jodoshinshu Hongwanji-ha and the Ohtani family. 3 End of REV. USUKI S PAGE HANAMATSURI 2009 On Sunday April 5, the annual Hanamatsuri (Flower Festival) Service will be held at 9:30 a.m. to commemorate the birth of Sakyamuni Buddha. At the service, a miniature pavilion standing before the altar area will be decorated profusely with flowers. This represents Lumbini Garden where the birth took place. In the pavilion, a small statue of the infant Buddha will be standing in the middle. Those attending this service will have the opportunity to perform the rite of pouring sweet tea over the statue (kanbutsu). This represents the sweet rain that was said to have fallen to bathe the body of the baby Buddha right after his birth. The statue has the right arm pointing to the sky and the left to the earth, representing the story told of the baby Buddha taking seven steps, making these gestures with his arms, and then speaking the words: Above and below the heavens, I alone, am the World-Honored One. How can this be real? is not the right question to ask here. Instead ask, What does this story mean? (Editor s note: The baby statue in the photo above was exhibited in a building at Lumbini, Nepal. The photo was shot on the 2543 (our year 2000) Nembutsu Pilgrimage led by Rev. Masao Kodani of Senshin Buddhist Temple. Sixteen mainlanders, and nineteen Hawaiians led by Rev. Tatsuo Muneto, were joined by Prof. Taitetsu and Mrs. Alice Unno. On this Pilgrimage, the group retraced most of the locations important in the life of Sakyamuni Buddha.)

4 PRESIDENT S MESSAGE 大川へ吹なぐられし桜哉 ōkawa e fuki nagurareshi sakura kana blown to the big river floating away... cherry blossoms Kobayashi Issa ( ) Kobayashi Issa, the famous haiku poet and Shin Buddhist, helps us welcome April and cherry blossom season with his many-layered haiku shown above. Issa s haiku often mention the Big River (ōkawa) which is a common reference in his poetry to both the Sumida River in Edo (today s Tokyo) and to the Yodo River in Osaka. He invites us to appreciate the impermanence of the cherry blossoms we may have been watching as each speck of each blossom floats away from us on the water. It also reminds me of the symbolism of the flowers Rev. Usuki arranges in our onaijin each week. The flowers make me mindful that while they are symbolic of the beauty of the Pure Land inside each of us, eventually, we will all die and be literally and figuratively blown away. Hence, Issa reveals the impermanence of life itself. April brings us two wonderful services. Hanamatsuri, which will be on Sunday, April 5 at 9:30 a.m., commemorates the birth of Siddhartha Gautama in Lumbini Garden (who later became enlightened as Sakyamuni Buddha). One of my favorite services will take place on Sunday, April 12 at 10:00 a.m. in memorial to and honoring Eshinni and Kakushinni, the wife and daughter, respectively, of Shinran Shonin. Eshinni s intimate letters to her daughter appear and are explained in a compelling book entitled The Letters of the Nun Eshinni by James C. Dobbins, which is available in our temple library. The letters offer us a glimpse into the world of everyday life in 13 th century Japan before Shin Buddhism had a significant following. But it is the final three chapters that I found fascinating as they are essays inspired by Eshinni s letters. I recommend the book to everyone. And for those of you who are interested in Bon Odori (dances performed at our annual Obon carnival), you re in for a great opportunity. On May 16, Saturday, from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. at Los Angeles Hongwanji Betsuin, the Southern District Dharma School Teachers League will present a seminar entitled The Japanese-American Bon Odori Tradition. The day will be filled with the history of Bon Odori in the U.S., music, dance, taiko, discussion, the works! Join me for this great day of fun open to temple members or those just interested in learning what all the fuss is about. (See the flyer for this event on the next page, and the registration form at the bottom of page 6.) Please contact me anytime at wlabtpres.rick@live.com or at (310) Gassho, Rick Stambul WLABT President 4

5 盆踊り Bon Odori THE JAPANESE AMERICAN BON ODORI TRADITION Date: Saturday, May 16, 2009 Place: Time: Registration Los Angeles Hongwanji Betsuin 815 E. First Street Los Angeles, CA (213) :00 a.m. 4:00 p.m. $20.00 (includes lunch), Use form at bottom of next page PLEASE COME DRESSED IN A YUKATA or HAPPI COAT and bring kachi-kachi (wooden clackers). PROGRAM Begun by the late Rev. Yoshio Iwanaga in the 1930 s, Bon Odori has grown into a uniquely Japanese-American Buddhist tradition in America as found in the temples of the Jodoshinshu Hongwanji-ha of the Buddhist Churches of America. There will be a series of presentations and workshops on: The history of Bon Odori in Japan and America The meaning and purpose of Bon Odori An American definition arising from a Japanese-American tradition Bon Odori music Bon Odori dance Bon Odori as folk dance Not performance dance but participatory dance Religiously remembering our ongoing connection with and indebtedness to the dead To be self-conscious is to need to be in control To be in control is to be out of harmony with everything else, yet from the samsaric point of view, not being self-conscious is being out of control, and being out of control means chaos, havoc and mayhem an interesting point of view and point of value Remembrance of the dead a state of egolessness Bon Odori taiko The ultimate Buddhist taiko, not a performance but support for the dancers Bon Odori dress Not for show, but for comfort, i.e., The yukata, happi, or any casual dress Geta, zori, etc. Bon Odori equipment Yagura Kachi-kachi, uchiwa, tenugui, etc. 5

6 BWA NEWS Connie Yahata Our monthly meeting was held on February 1. Topics of discussion included our annual luncheon at Asakuma, BWA's performance at the temple New Year party, BWA treasurer's report presented by Lori Nakama, and future events such as WLA's visit to Venice, Hanamatsuri, and the San Fernando/WLA visit exchange. At this time, I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank the following people who assisted me on February 12 and 13 preparing the dinner for the BCA Southern District Council meeting: Shirley Ito, Haru Matsumune, Tamiye Yahata, and Terumi Yahata. Your help was greatly appreciated. I have been in contact with other BWA groups around the U.S. such as Oregon, Sacramento, Seattle, Hawaii, and San Jose to name a few. I thought it would be interesting to share what type of activities and events other BWA groups were involved in last year. Perhaps we might seize an opportunity to borrow an idea from one of the other groups and have it materialize into a WLA activity. This month I am focusing on Seattle BWA. Last year, they participated in their Centennial Celebration at the Maplewood Golf Course. Socho and Mrs. Ogui attended. During the year, some of their members held cooking and baking classes, as well as various craft classes. Speaking of crafts, members of their BWA knitted a total of 84 scarves and hats and donated them to a homeless shelter. It was well received, especially during the cold winter months. Another craft class they conducted peaked my interest. It is called mizuhiki, which is an ancient Japanese art form that uses a special cord. Aside from their annual events such as Obon, Spring Bazaar, new members service, and lunch, they also had a day trip to Mt. Rainier. We encourage all BWA members to attend and participate in our monthly meetings. I have listed the dates and times of our meetings for 2009 (subject to change): 12:00, 12:00, 10:00, 10:00, 1:00, 12:00, 12:00, 12:00, and 10:00. MRS. AKUTAGAWA CELEBRATES 96 YEARS At the February 80 Plus Lunch, these three ladies celebrated their birthdays, with Mrs. Akutagawa (right) celebrating her 96 th! The younger celebrants are Alice Umeda (center) and Kiyo Teramaye (left)... THE JAPANESE AMERICAN BON ODORI TRADITION Registration Form ($20, includes lunch) Name: Address: Telephone: Temple Affiliation: Checks Payable to: SDDSTL Mail to: Bon Odori Seminar Nishi Hongwanji 815 E. First Street Deadline: May 9, 2009 Los Angeles, CA

7 APRIL SHOTSUKI HOYO, 10:00 a.m., Saturday April 4, 2009 GUEST SPEAKER: Rev. Ensei Nekoda Araki, Walter Baba, Hiroichi Dohi, Misao Dote, Yasuo Fuchiwaki, Momoyo Fujimura, Rev. Bunyu Fujita, George Fukumoto, Tomiko Hada, Betty Hara, Ben Hara, Kameichi Hirano, James Hisaoka, Waye Ikemiya, Kitaye Iwasaki, Dorothy Kafka, Robert Sr. Kakuta, Tora Kishi, Zenichi Kitajima, George Kotake, Alan Kotake, Sumio Kubota, Kanji Kurosaki, Kamezo Kuwamoto, Chie Maeda, Toyoshige Masuda, Shizuko Mataga, Asa Matsui, Taro Matsumi, Tai Matsuura, Hana Mayetani, Gary Mayetani, John Miyata, Tatsuye Morita, Kintaro Mukai, Akira Mukai, Isao Mukai, Itsuo Mukai, Mitsuye Nakagawa, Tadashi Nakamura, Emiko Nakamura, Kenzo Nakasako, George Nakawatase, Hidemi Nakawatase, Moyo Nishida, Hirokichi Nishimoto, Hideo Nishimoto, Yahichi Ohigashi, Sensuke Onami, Saichi Pierce, Robert Sakoda, Carl Sera, Mikio Sera, Tokiye Shintaku, Hisaye Shirai, Yanokichi Suzuki, Tatsuo Takahashi, George Takeda, Kumazo Takeda, Tsutomu Takemoto, Kinuko Tanaka, Fusa Tanigawa, Hasu Taniguchi, Susumu Tashima, Yachiyo Terada, Chiyo Terada, Fujio Tomita, Carol Toya, Aki Uchida, Harry Yabuta, Ayako Yamaguchi, Chiye Yamaguchi, Peter Yasui, Miyeko Yugawa, Harry CONDOLENCES to THE FAMILIES of ALAN HIRANO October 28, 1956 January 15, 2009 NATSUTO NAT KAWAGUCHI June 3, 1916 February 22,

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9 2009 ACADEMY AWARD WINNER Foreign Language Film Category Departures ( おくりびと ) EDITOR S NOTE: In an Oscars year devoid of any real surprises, a shocker was the win of the Japanese film Departures over the odds-on favorite Waltz with Bashir. Aside from showings to Academy members and film festivals, few had seen Departures or even heard about it. Even now, after Oscar night has long gone, Departures is not scheduled for general release in U.S. theaters until end of May. When it finally comes to your neighborhood theater, we encourage our readers to go see this film, not just because it is an Academy Award winner, or because it won ten awards (including best picture) in Japan s equivalent to the Oscars, but because it is based on the book Coffinman (available in our Temple library). At the beginning of the Foreword to Coffinman, Rev. Dr. Taitetsu Unno writes, This little book, a diary of a mortician, invites the reader into the fascinating world of Buddhist spirituality which sees the extraordinary in things ordinary, mundane, and even repugnant. Written with deep affection for life and poetic sensibility, the author Shinmon Aoki evokes the world of boundless compassion found in Shin Buddhism which evolved from the Pure Land tradition of Mahayana Buddhism. The degree to which Departures attempts to capture the spiritual essence of Coffinman, or how closely it succeeds, remains to be seen. Go and see for yourself. A synopsis of Departures is quoted below from The inset picture is from the film s website, where trailers, a longer synopsis, and other information can be viewed. Nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, Departures is a delightful journey into the heartland of Japan as well an astonishingly beautiful look at a sacred part of Japan s cultural heritage. Departures follows Daigo Kobayashi (Masahiro Motoki), a devoted cellist in an orchestra that has just been dissolved and who is suddenly left without a job. Daigo decides to move back to his old hometown with his wife to look for work and start over. He answers a classified ad entitled Departures thinking it is an advertisement for a travel agency only to discover that the job is actually for a Nokanshi or encoffineer, a funeral professional who prepares deceased bodies for burial and entry into the next life. While his wife and others despise the job, Daigo takes a certain pride in his work and begins to perfect the art of Nokanshi, acting as a gentle gatekeeper between life and death, between the departed and the family of the departed. The film follows his profound and sometimes comical journey with death as he uncovers the wonder, joy, and meaning of life and living. 9

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11 (Assistant Editor s note: Temple History was written by Rev. Masao Kodani of Senshin Buddhist Temple and appeared in Prajna: Light of Compassion, Senshin s monthly newsletter. It presents the history of Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha temples in the continental United States. Since the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) remains a predominantly Japanese-American-based institution, this article reviews the history of the BCA in terms of a generational chronology, namely, into the periods of the Issei, Nisei, and Sansei (First, Second, and Third Generation). The entire paper will be presented in serial fashion in our monthly Bulletin until completed.) TEMPLE HISTORY The Nisei Period (cont d from last month): Rev. Masao Kodani By the 1970s and 1980s, however, the attendance of junior high and senior high school aged students at these Sunday Schools continued to drop to alarming figures. What and how to teach the upper grades became a chronic problem. What had been taught to children in these Sunday Schools was no longer enough to keep young adults interested in the temple. The Sansei and the Present: With dropping attendance by the young adult population, many Nisei and Sansei adults gathered to emphasize adult education with an increased interest in the meaning of traditional Jodo Shinshu ritual practices and teachings. This coincided with the renewed interest among the Sansei, in general, in things with a Japanese and Japanese-American identity. The coming of age of the Sansei generation is characterized by the American social phenomenon of third-generation Americans returning to the culture of their immigrant grandparents. Among Jodo Shinshu Buddhists, this expressed itself in a renewed interest in and a return to more traditional ways as well as providing the foundation for the creation of uniquely Japanese-American expressions of these traditions. For example, this renewed emphasis on traditional ritual allowed many Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temples to remove many of the Congregational Christian elements of service worship that found their way into the Sunday service while maintaining the Sunday go to meeting custom of American religion to remain. Furthermore, this return to tradition also provided the groundwork for the creation of uniquely Japanese-American Buddhist forms of culture such as Taiko, a unique form of the Bon Odori, the communalizing of such activities as Mochi-tsuki (pounding rice cakes), food sales, and the creation of fusion musical groups as examples. This return to tradition, however, has constantly been counter-balanced by the increasing number of intermarriages outside the Japanese- American community; in Los Angeles, this rate is estimated at 50%. The increasing outside cultural influences on the children of temple families is a growing challenge to the Jodo Shinshu temple. For example, even within the Buddhist community, until the 1960s Japanese Buddhism was the only form of Buddhism in sizable numbers in America. The overwhelming majority of these Japanese-American Buddhists was Jodo Shinshu Honganji-ha. Since the 1960s, however, other Asian groups have immigrated to the United States bringing with them their own tradition of Buddhism. In Los Angeles, for example, the Sangha Council is made up of Buddhist traditions from Burma, Cambodia, China, Japan, Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tibet, and Vietnam. With the increasing number of options available even within the Buddhist community, Sansei Japanese-Americans have found no difficulty in becoming Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Jews, Tibetan monks and nuns, Hindus and Bahai, but have found it extremely difficult to understand the religion into which they were born, or Jodo Shinshu. With the coming of age of the Sansei generation, the general consensus is that there is an urgent need for adult education in the English language. Although the transition to English is slowly being accomplished, the transition is being hampered by the history of the temple. The temple began as the Hokubei Kyodan (North American Sangha) and was an organization of the Issei modeled after Japanese religious institutions. From this grew the Buddhist Churches of America (BCA) which was born rather abruptly in the concentration camps during World War II. (To be continued next month) 12

12 West Los Angeles Buddhist Temple April 2009 Sunday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Office hours: 10 am - 4 pm Phone: westlabt@verizon.net Website: 1 7:00 pm B-Men mtg 2 1 pm Study Class (E) 7:30 pm Taiko am Shotsuki Hoyo Rev. Ensei Nekoda (J) 5 9:30 am Hanamatsuri and Hatsumairi service 12 pm BWA mtg 6 7:30 pm Temple board mtg 7 4/6-11: Rev. Usuki 8 vacation 9 1 pm Study Class (E) 7:30 pm Taiko am Eshinni, Kakushinni, and Takeko Kujo memorial service Rev./Dr. M. Ama 13 Rev. Usuki off 14 10:30 am SDMA mtg at Betsuin pm Study Class (E) 7:30 pm Taiko 17 7:30 pm bingo :30 am Service/ Study Class (E) 1 pm Study Class (E) Rev. Usuki off Rev. Usuki off 7:30 pm Asoka mtg 7:30 pm Taiko 26 9:30 am Service/ Study Class (E) noon 80+ lunch pm Study Class (E) Bulletin folding toban: Asoka Fujinkai Rev. Usuki off 7:30 pm Taiko 13

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14 The Institute of Buddhist Studies and the BCA Center for Buddhist Education present Pacific Seminar 21 st Century SHINRAN and HIS TEACHINGS June 26-28, 2009 Join us in exploring the significance of the "Larger Sutra ofthe Buddha ofimmeasurable I / Life," as discussed in Shinran Shonin's maj:or work, Kyo-Gyo-Shin-Sho. Registration: General $175 BeA Members $125 Deadline: June 7th EarlyRegistration Discount: $25offifreceived bymay 17th Jodo Shinshu Center 2140 Durant Avenue, Berkeley, California For information: visit or call (510)

15 WEST LOS ANGELES BUDDHIST TEMPLE 2003 Corinth Avenue Los Angeles, CA Return Service Requested Non-Profit Org. U. S. Postage PAID Los Angeles, CA Permit No Major Religious Services for April 2009 (See Calendar page for schedules of regular services) April 2009 Sunday, April 5 9:30 a.m. Hanamatsuri and Hatsumairi service YBA Yakisoba Fundraiser follows Sunday, April 12 10:00 a.m. Eshinni, Kakushinni, and Takeko Kujo memorial service Guest Speaker: Rev. Dr. M. Ama