Minister s Message: Why Do We Chant? By: Rev. Kurt

Transcription

1 The Newsletter of Ekoji Buddhist Temple alavinka Fairfax Station, Virginia - Established 1981 Vol. XXXII, No. 3 March 2013 Minister s Message: Why Do We Chant? By: Rev. Kurt A question that I often get asked by people visiting the temple, as well as members, is, Why do we chant? The question that usually follows is, Why do we chant in Japanese and not in English? These are great questions. Now that Jodo Shinshu has been practiced in America for over 100 years, and the rest of our service is in English, why are the chants still in Japanese? To start we need to know the meaning of our chanting ritual. In most schools of Buddhism one does a ritual like chanting or copying a sutra to earn merit for oneself or to give to others. Merit is something one accumulates over many lifetimes. Eventually this merit accumulates to the point where one s Karma allows them to be born into a life during which they will be able to reach enlightenment. In Shin Buddhism our understanding is different. Shinran s teachings, the teachings that form the basis of Shin Buddhism, tell us that by entrusting in the Nembutsu, upon our death we will achieve Nirvana by going to the Pure Land. In Shin Buddhism the afterlife is resolved. Our understanding is to focus on the present and live the most honest life we can lead. So if we don t earn merit by chanting, what function does it serve? We must remember that the Buddhist sutras are a way for us to receive the Dharma from Sakyamuni Buddha. Sutras have been chanted and read through the Asian continent for over 2,300 years. Shinran specifically chose sutras to help deepen our understanding of the Pure Land teachings. The Junirai teaches us of the Pure Land Master Nagarjuna s gratitude to Amida Buddha. Amida kyo talks of the beauty of the Pure Land, and how one reaches it by reciting the Nembutsu. The most important chant in our tradition is the Shoshinge which was a poem written by Shinran. It is an outline to our tradition discussing Amida and Sakyamuni Buddha and the seven Pure Land Masters. Chanting the sutras is a way to express our gratitude at being exposed to the Dharma and a way for us to deepen our understanding of Shin Shu. But why do we still recite it in Japanese? There are many historical and cultural reasons. What many members might not know is that the sutras are not written in Japanese but Chinese, the language that the educated used at this time in Japanese history. The Chinese kanji [script] are verbally expressed using Japanese pronunciation,or what we now call transliteration, so, in reality, many Japanese speakers would not know what they are chanting! In Shin Buddhism we say our main practice is deep listening. This means to listen with full attention when hearing a Howa [Dharma talk/message], or having a discussion about the Dharma. The reason we chant before hearing the Howa is that it helps up prepare for deep listening. Not only do we have to concentrate on the lines we are reading, but we also are engaging our whole body. We breathe deeply to bring forth our chanting, and truly interact with other members of our Sangha by becoming one voice. Last year I attended the Minsters meeting in Hawaii and there they have translated our sutras into English. Every service we Continued on page 2. In this issue: Sangha News and Events Ekoji Spring Seminar You Belong Here! Page 2 Page 3 Page Thoughts Ekoji President s Message Ekoji Dana Page 4 Page 5 Page 7

2 March 2013 KALAVINKA Page 2 Sangha News and Events March and Future Events March 10 11:00 a.m. 3rd Year Memorial Service, Japan s Tsunami Victims March 23 Ekoji Annual Spring Seminar, Guest Speaker, Rev. Patricia Usuki, Resident Minister, San Fernando Buddhist Temple, CA April 7 Hanamatsuri Joint Service July 13-14, 2013 Ekoji s Annual Obon Festival and Hatsubon Service, respectively Crafting at Ekoji On February 3, members of the Ekoji Sangha learned about Kokeshi dolls, their history, and meaning. We were honored to have Akiko Keene, Master Doll Maker, lead the activity with help from Joy Aso. Ms. Keene has taught traditional Japanese doll making since On March 3, 12:30-2:30 p.m., you will learn the art of jewelry making. The instructor will be sangha member Kathleen Kelly, artist and jewelry maker. She has donated some of her handmade jewelry to Ekoji. They are in the display case in the temple. There will be a charge of about $5-$8 per person to cover the cost of supplies for 1-2 projects. If you are interested in attending the crafting workshops or would like more information, please contact Joy Aso, at smudgie@comcast.net or (301) , and leave your name, telephone number, Minister s Message and address. Ekoji to Mark 2nd Anniversary of Japan s Tsunami and Earthquake Ekoji will commemorate the second anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that struck the northeastern coast of Japan on March 11, 2011, with a special Sunday service at 11 a.m. on March 10, Rev. Kurt Rye, Ekoji s resident minister, will lead the service to remember those who lost their lives during what was the strongest earthquake in Japan s history. In Japanese Buddhist tradition, this service is known as the Third Year (Sankaiki) Memorial Service (the two-year anniversary entering the third year). As with all Ekoji s Sunday services, this event is open to the public and will begin at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 10. Join the Discussion Be a part of the Dharma Exchange, a discussion group following service every Sunday (except special observance days with after-service events). This is a chance for you to discuss the Dharma, ask questions and share stories with others. The Dharma Exchange is a great opportunity for newcomers to come with questions and for long-time Buddhists to share their insights. Rev. Rye will lead the discussion each week in the Sangha Hall. Hope to see you there! Continued from page 1. would chant in English and it was an interesting experience for me. I found I was very engaged with what the sutras said and was not focusing on the chanting itself like I normally would. The experience was different. I cannot say one is superior to the other, but I admit when we chanted in Japanese for the last service it felt much better. As you can see there are many different reasons why we chant and all have value. Just as our understandings of the Dharma are as different as our personalities, so too is our understanding of chanting. The one idea that ties them all together is the idea of gratitude. So the next time you chant take a moment to reflect that you are fortunate to have been exposed to the Buddhist Dharma and let your chanting express your gratitude. In Gassho, Rev. Kurt

3 March 2013 KALAVINKA Page 3 Spring Seminar to Feature Rev. Patti Usuki Ekoji Buddhist Temple s Spring Seminar will feature Rev. Patricia Kanaya Usuki, resident minister of the San Fernando Valley Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, near Los Angeles. This public event will be held in Ekoji s Sangha Hall on Saturday, March 23, from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Rev. Usuki was born in Toronto, Canada, to an Anglican father and a Buddhist mother, Rev. Usuki was raised in the United Church of Canada, one of the few Canadian religious institutions that welcomed people of Asian heritage. As an adult, Rev. Usuki began reflecting on her life, and found answers to her question, Why am I able to enjoy such a life as this? through the Jodo Shinshu (Shin) tradition of Pure Land Buddhism. Speaking of the Shin Buddhist perspective, she says, I am the beneficiary of the wisdom and compassion of all life that has come together. In 2004, she became head minister of the San Fernando Valley Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, and in 2007, her master s thesis, Currents of Change: American Buddhist Women Speak Out on Jodo Shinshu, was published as a book. Even though Jodo Shinshu was the first Buddhist organization to ordain American women back in the 1920s, Rev. Usuki s study was the first systematic exploration of women s experiences in America s oldest Buddhist tradition Jodo Shinshu was first established in Hawaii in the 1880s and in California in the 1890s. She has been invited to speak at temples across the continent. Rev. Usuki has lived and worked in France, New York, Ecuador, and Japan. She served for several years with the Government of Canada in international trade and investment, and also served as a public school teacher in Toronto. She also served in the International Department of the Nishi Hongwanji in Kyoto as a European language specialist (French, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Italian) as well as the English editor her main project was the 2002 publication of Jodo Shinshu A Guide. Rev. Usuki has a Bachelor of Arts in Modern Languages and Literature from the University of Toronto, and a Bachelor of Education from the University of Ottawa. She received a Master of Arts degree from the Institute of Buddhist Studies in Berkeley, Calif. After graduating from Chuo Bukkyo Gakuin Seminary, Kyoto, she received her Tokudo (2001) and Kyoshi ordination (2002). Ekoji s Spring Seminar is open to the public. Lunch will be provided for a $5 donation. You Belong Here! Become a Part of Ekoji Temple With a new year underway, Ekoji once again begins its annual membership drive. This year s theme is You Belong Here. Become Part of Ekoji Temple. Please consider supporting Ekoji as a member. Applications are available in the Hondo foyer or you can apply online look for the Become a Member link on the top right navigation bar of our website at Ekoji does not have a formal dues policy, but rather, we set an annual Dana (giving) guideline. The current guideline is set at $500 per member, per year. However, we encourage people to give what they can. For some, $500 is more than they can afford, but others are able to give much more. Our policy is designed to ensure that people know they are welcome to be members and to support the temple in a way that fits with their current circumstances. For those of you who have already completed membership applications, you will be able to update your contact information and pledge amount immediately following each service this month. A computer will be set up in the Hondo foyer for you to check your information and accept your pledge. Members do not become active until a pledge amount has been received. Envelopes are available in the foyer for your dana, and whether cash or check, your contributions will be tallied. All dana of $250 or more for the year will receive a letter in January for tax purposes. You can also set up an automatic dana payment transferred from your bank account directly to Ekoji s bank account. You can have your bank send a check or make a direct deposit every month to Ekoji please contact your bank. If you have a PayPal account, you can also set up PayPal to automatically send a designated amount to Ekoji. You can find a link to PayPal on our website. Choose whatever method suits your lifestyle. Thank you for your dana.

4 March 2013 KALAVINKA Page 4 84,000 Thoughts - Excluded Shows the Tough Compassion of Amida Buddha By Rev. Yushi Mukojima (The ministers of the Buddhist Churches of America have important lessons to share with us. Through this column, we would like to share many of those lessons with the readers of the Kalavinka. The following article is by Rev. Yushi Mukojima which appeared in the December 2012 edition of the Buddhist Temple of San Diego newsletter, Bussei Script.) In the 18th Vow of the 48 Vows which Bodhisattva Dharmakara (Amida Buddha) established, he made this promise: If, when I attain Buddhahood, the sentient beings of the ten quarters with sincere mind entrusting themselves, aspiring to be born in my land and saying my Name perhaps even ten times should not be born there, may I not attain the supreme enlightenment. The 18th Vow is called the selected Primal Vow. Shinran teaches that it is the vow which clearly shows the real intention of Amida Buddha which is the expression of his great compassion: I will assure all those uttering the Nembutsu and entrusting themselves to the Primal Vow, birth in the Pure Land without exception. There is no one who will ever be denied the Primal vow. Irrespective of your age or sex or whether you are good or ignorant, the vast vow of Amida Buddha will surely save all beings, abandoning none. Amida Buddha will never say, You are an exception. However, those of you who are ardent students of Buddhism may question my words. If you object to my claim, saying, No, Sensei! There is a proviso in Amida Buddha s Primal Vow in which he declares that those who commit the five grave offenses and slander the Buddha Dharma will be rejected. If this is your objection, then it shows that you have listened to Dharma talks very well. Certainly when you read the Larger Sutra which includes the 48 Vows, Amida Buddha clearly says at the end of the 18th Vow, Excluded are those who commit the five grave offenses and those who slander the right Dharma. Yet Amida Buddha had declared no matter what kind of person one might be, by entrusting oneself to the Primal Vow and reciting the Nembutsu one will attain Buddhahood. So why are only the five grave offenders and slanderers of the Buddha Dharma excluded? According to these conditions, might there in fact be some excluded from the Primal Vow? First, what are the five grave offenses? They are (1) killing your father, (2) killing your mother, (3) killing one who seeks the Buddha Dharma, (4) causing the Buddha s body to bleed, and (5) causing disunity in the Buddhist order. In other words, these five grave offenses disrupt or cause trouble for the Sangha group which believes and rejoices in the Buddhist teachings. Any one of these is considered a serious offense but all five are the gravest offenses in all of Buddhism. As the five grave offenses are caused by making light of the Buddha Dharma, those who slander the Buddha s teachings are regarded as ones committing the gravest offense. Does this mean that no matter how vast the compassion of Amida Buddha, those who commit the five grave offenses and those who slander the Buddha Dharma are excluded from the benefit of the Primal Vow? This is the way the 18th Vow has been interpreted in the long history of Buddhism, so it is quite understandable that you might conclude some will be denied the Primal Vow and therefore you might challenge the words, Amida Buddha saves all beings equally without discrimination. However, a point to notice here is one made by our founder Shinran Shonin in his writing, Shoshinge. When ignorant and wise, even grave offenders and slanderers of the Dharma, all alike turn and enter Shinjin, they are like waters that, on entering the ocean, become one in taste with it. To be more specific, irrespective of how ignorant or wise these grave offenders or slanders of the Dharma are, if they set aside their mind of calculation and entrust themselves completely to the Primal Vow, the ocean of Amida Buddha s boundless compassion will accept all beings in oneness equally and enable them to become established in the stage of the truly settled in this present life and be born in the Pure Land after their death. Doesn t this strike you as odd? The 18h Vow states clearly that the five grave offenders and slanderers of the Dharma will be excluded from the Primal Vow, yet Shinran says that Amida Buddha accepts all beings without exception. It is quite a contradiction. In Jodo Shinshu, the phrase, Excluded are those who commit the five grave offenses and those who slander the right Dharma, is called the passage of de- Continued on page 5.

5 March 2013 KALAVINKA Page 5 Ekoji President s Message March 2013 By: Fujie Ohata Happy March Madness! March marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. For the Washington D.C. community, it marks the earnest waiting for the cherry blossoms to bloom. We of Ekoji are proud of our cherry trees that greet visitors and members alike from the driveway entrance and surrounding the entire parking lot. By the time you read this, my family and I will be ending our trip to India. We will have visited the important sites and following the path of the historical Buddha. We hope to share the photos and thoughts of our momentous pilgrimage with 25 other Shin followers in a future Kalavinka edition. We have an active Buddha Dharma program for this month. March 10, 11 a.m. is the 3rd Year Memorial Service for the Great Tohoku Japan s Earthquake and Tsunami Victims. Join us at this Sunday service to remember the thousands who lost their lives that day, two years ago. Ekoji s Spring Ohigan Weekend is March 23-24, It starts on Saturday, March 23, with a public seminar conducted by Rev. Patty Usuki, Resident Minister, San Fernando Valley Hongwanji Buddhist Temple, San Fernando, California. She is a very in demand Dharma speaker and Ekoji is grateful she accepted our invitation to speak. She will also be our guest Dharma speaker for the Spring O-higan Joint service. A Pot Luck Luncheon will follow so once again, Food Network s Iron Chef beware!!! Finally, Suzuki Farms will start their monthly fresh veggie sales on March 3, and the first Sunday of each month thereafter. Knowing the source of your fresh vegetables is very reassuring for you and your family and a percentage of the total sales are donated to the temple. Please mark April 6-7, 2013, on your calendars it is Ekoji s Hanamatsuri Weekend. This is the weekend we celebrate the historical Buddha s birth. On April 6, Ekoji will hold a public seminar, featuring Dr. Jeff Wilson, Associate Professor, Religious Studies and East Asian Studies, Rennison College, University of Waterloo, Canada. Dr Wilson earned his Tokudo (Shin Buddhist priest ordination) this past summer and is the author of Buddhism of the Heart, Reflections on Shin Buddhism, and Dixie Dharma: Inside a Buddhist Temple in the American South. On April 7, Ekoji will hold its annual Hanamatsuri Joint Service. If you haven t already done so, please consider signing up for or renewing your Ekoji membership. Remember you belong here, as part of the Ekoji Sangha community. I would like to thank our Kalavinka layout editor, Andrea Walter, for her efforts in producing the important monthly newsletter for our readers. This newsletter allows us to keep our Ekoji community informed of our activities and keeps us connected. See you soon and Gassho, Fujie 84,000 Thoughts Continued from page 4. terrence. It is very important for us to regard the passage of deterrence as another side of Amida Buddha s great compassion or his tough compassion which will save all beings without exception. Like those who commit the five grave offenses, we might hurt others when faced by certain circumstances, or even kill others depending on the situation. Like those who slander the Dharma, we don t always live embracing the Buddha Dharma as our spiritual support. So we should understand that the passage of deterrence is the teaching which makes us become aware of our true selves. When we think deeply about it, the Buddha s use of the word excluded is much like a parent who scolds her child by saying, If you do such a bad thing, I won t care about you anymore! I think that you can relate to having a child or grandchild. Suppose that this child likes to gamble, playing cards with his friends for money. When he goes off to college, his parents might feel more worried about him than lonely for him. It is because they fear he might become absorbed by the casino, horse racing, or the lottery and neglect his studies. So when he is leaving for school, his parents, who see through their child s character, might threaten him, Listen, if I find out you re gambling, I ll disown you. This is like Amida s warning of exclusion. When the child hears that threat, he realizes their concern and parts from them saying, Alright, I will be careful. When he s away at school, he makes a lot of good Continued on page 6.

6 March 2013 KALAVINKA Page 6 84,000 Thoughts Continued from page 5. friends. Suppose that one of them with whom he eats lunch happens to really enjoy gambling and claims to make money playing cards at the casino. The friend invites him to go to the casino with him. But when told by the son that if he gambles he will be disowned, his friend says, Your father isn t here; he won t ever know. So finally they decide to go to a casino the next weekend. Since there are many kinds of games like slot machines, black jack and so on, if he wins even once, because he has always like gambling, he is gradually hooked. However, the nature of gambling is that we can t continue to win. In the end, he finally presses his friends to pay a debt. Even forced to borrow money from a lot of his friends, he can t let gambling go. Meanwhile, Thanksgiving Day passes and his parents receive a phone call from someone who presses them to pay their son s debt. Although the parents try to contact their son, he doesn t answer his phone. Concerned about his safety, they go to his apartment but cannot find him because he hasn t been there for a while. They listen to all the details about their son from his friends and desperately try to find him, meeting some of his wastrel friends. After much effort they finally find their son. The son, seeing the distraught faces of his parents, becomes resigned and confesses everything that has transpired. Faced with this situation, what would you do? Would you abandon him, saying, I told you if you gambled, I would disown you. So from now on, I will have nothing more to do with you! I don t believe that you would say that. I think that it is rare for a parent to actually disown a child. Then what will the parents do? I think that with their son, they would go to the friends from whom their son had borrowed money, apologize for their son s behavior, and shoulder his debts. After that, they would tell their son, I m turning a blind eye to this matter this time. You can come home to us for the New Year s. But you must never gamble again! Although I know that there are all kinds of parents, I believe that the parents love of a child is just like this. Therefore, defining what exclude means sees through everything and reveals all about us. Unfortunately, we are terribly self-centered. We can slander the Buddha Dharma to satisfy our own selfish needs. We are so foolish that we can even kick the Buddha, and we can live in this selfish way. Even the Buddha s teachings we sometimes trample underfoot. Amida Buddha sees through our selfish choices and wishes that we would not commit the five grave offenses nor slander the Buddha Dharma. In Notes on the Inscriptions on Sacred Scrolls, Shinran Shonin wrote: By showing the gravity of these two kinds of wrongdoing, his words make us realize that all the sentient beings throughout the ten quarters, without a single exception, will be born in the Pure Land. Because Amida Buddha understands that we are burdened with the weight of our karmic evil, he admonishes us, Please do not act in this way. Thus the Buddha s wish became the word excluded. So now we can see that Amida Buddha will never abandon anyone. The Primal vow is his unconditional and great compassion which saves all beings without discrimination no matter what their circumstances. Had the son noticed his parents searching for him and tried to avoid a meeting, he would not have been rescued nor would his parents have found relief from their worry. The son might not have imagined that his parents would seek him by visiting his friends. But because his parents refused to abandon their own son no matter what might happen, they continued to look for him. As a result of their determination, they were bound to find one another eventually. We, too, will experience this kind of encounter with Amida Buddha because of his unconditional compassion. To encounter Amida Buddha means to attain the state without any doubt by simply listening to his Primal Vow. The state without any doubt is the precious world where we rejoice in the stage of the truly settled; namely, that we are assured Buddhahood. It is the world of profound joy and security where we are guaranteed Buddhahood because of the Primal Vow. Whether we describe it as an encounter with the Primal Vow or as gaining Shinjin, in short, it is the embrace of the great compassion of Amida Buddha which will never abandon even the grave offender and slanderer of the Dharma. In appreciating and respecting the depth of Amida Buddha s great compassion, we should always reflect deeply upon our foolishness which can be any kind of behavior depending on the condition, including gravely offending and slandering the Dharma. And let us rejoice in the fact that there is a Nembutsu way, namely the way to the Pure Land open for the sake of such as us. In gassho.

7 Ekoji Dana List - February 2013 American Charities Anna Tecson Jane Blechman Kay and Aravind Dasu Cris Fugate Ernie and Cheyenne Fugiltt Tom Griffin Rachel Harris Rev. Shojo and June Honda Laverne Imori Yuko and Toshiak Keicho Kenichi Kuwabara Paula Lucas Sandra Lukic Mark Lawall Dewanda Marlow Richard and Jeanette Martinez Mary Okamoto Hisao and Reiko Matsumoto Melanie Hatter Michelle Moody Arlene Minami Jeffery Mitchell Richard and Margaret Myer Ron and Nora Nagatani Trust Norman and Gail Kondo Rebecca Perry Lani Pham Paul Q. Piper Arturo and Marlene Politano Rich Wolford Ron and Fujie Ohata Audrey Sato Jeff Tabb Ngoc-Yen Vu Shige Walton Jeny Wyre Alexis Yamashita Kalavinka Managing Editor: Andrea A. Walter Assistant Editors: Melanie Hatter, Fujie Ohata, Ken Nakamura Advertising: Sangha members and community businesses can publish advertisements in Kalavinka. Please contact us for information! Kalavinka is published by the Ekoji Buddhist Temple, 6500 Lake Haven Lane, Fairfax Station, VA 22039, (703) Join us at Ekoji! Adult Service: Sundays at 11 a.m. Meditation: Thursdays at 8 p.m. Yoga: Mondays at 7:30 p.m. Children s Dharma School (Sept. through June): 10 a.m. family service and 11 a.m. classes Consult the Ekoji website for the complete event calendar at EKOJI BUDDHIST TEMPLE 6500 Lake Haven Lane Fairfax Station, VA ADDRESS CORRECTION REQUESTED FIRST CLASS