THE GEPPO. A Sufi Jewish Buddhist Tale ~ By J.K. Hirano

Transcription

1 THE GEPPO A publication of the Ogden Buddhist Temple 155 orth Street Ogden, UT / P.O. Box 3248 Ogden, UT Temple President: Steven K. Supervising Reverend: Rev. Jerry Hirano Minister s Assistant: Annette K. Rev. Hirano contact info: Office Minister s Assistant: Mike M. Home Web site: Emergency ogdenbuddhisttemple@gmail.com A Sufi Jewish Buddhist Tale ~ By J.K. Hirano The asrudin stories are known throughout the Middle East and have touched cultures around the world. Superficially, most of the asrudin stories may be told as jokes or humorous anecdotes. They are told and retold endlessly in the teahouses and caravanserais of Asia and can be heard in homes and on the radio. But it is inherent in a asrudin story that it may be understood at many levels. There is the joke, followed by a moral and usually the little extra which brings the consciousness of the potential mystic a little further on the way to realization. ~The Sufis Idris Shah (Taken from Wikipedia) I would like to begin this article with a Sufi story I heard from Mark Epstein. He is a Jewish man who writes about and practices Buddhist Psychiatry. He has studied a great deal about Buddhism and considers his teachers people such as, Jack Kornfield, Joseph Goldstein, Stephen Batchelor and many other Buddhist scholars and teachers. From what I have read, he does not identify his Buddhism with any particular sect. This story I want to tell you is written in a couple of his books, but I can t remember if I first heard it at a talk of his I attended or read it in one of his books. The way I remember it is probably a little of both. But it is a story about a man named Nasrudin. As the short quote I began with explains, Nasrudin stories are told throughout the Middle East. There are many different ways people spell Nasrudin. They were originally about a real man born in the Middle East in the 13th century. Within the Sufi tradition, he is usually a combination of wise man and fool. In Jodo Shinshu we often have similar stories about people we call Myokonin. Over the centuries there came to be many various stories about Nasrudin and I believe Nasrudin could represent any of us human beings. In this story we find Nasrudin on his hands and knees in the village square. He seems to be searching for something, crawling around under a street light. Some villagers see Nasrudin and ask him, Nasrudin what are you doing? Did you lose something? He answers, Yes, I lost my key and I can t seem to find it anywhere. One of the villagers asks him, Did you lose your key here in the square? Nasrudin answers, No, I lost it at home. The villager questions him, Then why are you looking here when you lost your key at home? Nasrudin pauses and answers incredulously, Because this area has the best light. Mark Epstein talks about how he first heard this story from his teacher Joseph Goldstein, who used the story as an example of how people search for happiness in inherently fleeting, and therefore unsatisfactory, pleasant feelings. He himself had a number of interpretations to this story. He then talks about reading this same story in another book called Ambivalent Zen by Lawrence Shainberg. In this book the author talks about liking this story and asking his Japanese Zen teacher about it. I will quote from Mark Epstein s book, Going on Being. You know the story about Nasruddin and the keys? Shainberg asked his master. Nasuruddin? the Roshi replied. Who is Nasruddin? After Shainberg described the story to him, his master appeared to give it no thought, but sometime later the Roshi brought it up again. Continued on next page

2 So Larry-san, what s Nasruddin saying? the Zen master questioned his disciple. I asked you Roshi. Easy, he said. Looking is the key. When I read this explanation, I understood the depth of Nasrudin. It wasn t in the details of how or where you got there; it was the search, the looking that was important. Buddhism has many different forms and in the West, many of the teachings that we hear are an amalgam of Japanese, Indian, Thai and Tibetan forms. Our temple is a Jodo Shinshu temple, which is Japanese. We have been in America for over one hundred years and there are many things that have changed to fit our American environment. At the moment there are many things that are still changing (how ridiculous to think they won t change). As Shakyamuni Buddha advised, Do not wish for the changing to be unchanging. However, our particular Sangha is Jodo Shinshu and the basis for our gathering is that we are a Jodo Shinshu Buddhist temple. I hope that our Sangha will never forget where we came from or as the Buddha said, How will we know where we are going? With all this in mind I would like to mention one more book that I recently read: Outliers: The Story of Success written by Malcolm Gladwell. The definition for outlier is as follows: Outliers, noun, 1 : something that is situated away from or classed differently from a main or related body 2 : a statistical observation that is markedly different in value from the others of the sample I first heard about this book in the discussion session of our recent Mt. States District Conference, which I would like to thank Reiko Mitsunaga for so skillfully and successfully chairing. In the beginning of the book the author writes about a small Pennsylvanian town named Roseto. He writes how scientists first began studying this small town because of a chance encounter with one physician mentioning that it seemed as though the residents of Roseto didn t suffer heart disease. They did a study of the town and found that this was true. Scientists than began to try to find out why the Rosetans differed from their neighbors. Was it the food, the air, the water? What was it that made life less stressful for the Rosetans. In their studies they found that it was none of these outside factors. I will quote from the book. What Wolf slowly realized was that the secret of Roseto wasn't diet or exercise or genes or the region where Roseto was situated. It had to be Roseto itself. As Bruhn and Wolf walked around the town, they began to realize why. They looked at how the Rosetans visited each other, stopping to chat with each other in Italian on the street, or cooking for each other in their backyards. They learned about the extended family clans that underlay the town's social structure. They saw how many homes had three generations living under one roof, and how much respect grandparents commanded. They went to Mass at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church and saw the unifying and calming effect of the church. They counted twenty-two separate civic organizations in a town of just under 2000 people. They picked up on the particular egalitarian ethos of the town, that discouraged the wealthy from flaunting their success and helped the unsuccessful obscure their failures. In transplanting the paesani culture of southern Italy to the hills of eastern Pennsylvania the Rosetans had created a powerful, protective social structure capable of insulating them from the pressures of the modern world. The Rosetans were healthy because of where they were from, because of the world they had created for themselves in their tiny little town in the hills. I would like to believe that our small Jodo Shinshu temple at the base of the Wasatch Mountains can become an outlier from other Sanghas within BCA and America in general; a place that creates a powerful, protective social structure capable of insulating us from the pressures of the modern world. It would be a place that supports and encourages one another, not flaunting our successes and not pointing our failures. If you have been wondering, what these two stories have to do with each other, I would like to offer you my wish for our Sangha and explain why it is so important. The story of Nasruddin reminded me of another story of Shakyamuni Buddha. The Buddha was once asked by a disciple about what place did the Sangha hold in his teachings. In other words, how important was the Sangha in understanding the teaching? The Buddha replied, It is everything. Just as Nasruddin s searching for his keys was not so much about the keys, but that the search itself was the key. I believe in a similar manner that there are many who believe that a Sangha is defined by the type or sect of Buddhism taught there and that the goal is knowledge of Buddhism or possibly enlightenment itself. In terms of Continued on next page

3 universal truth, these are much too confining of parameters. In this interpretation they are misunderstanding the true nature of the Sangha. The Truth cannot be defined in the simple terms of Jodo Shinshu, Tibetan, Zen, Buddhist, Jewish or Sufi. The Sangha is not the key to Buddhism, the Sangha is Buddhism itself. Dear Members and Friends: President s Message Calendar year 2009 is quickly coming to an end which means the start of the festive and often hectic, holiday season. Please have an enjoyable and safe time with your family and friends. I want to thank everyone who helped make our annual Bazaar another success both financially and with the general public. Such an event, with its numerous aspects, requires the time and efforts of many people. The list of individuals, including Temple members, friends, and members from the Salt Lake Temple, is too large to mention. Thank you all again for your assistance that greatly contributes to the financial interests of our Temple. The General Board meeting will be November 15 th, following the 1:00 pm Eitaikyo Service. If you have a topic that you d like discussed at the meeting, please contact me. In addition to election of next year s Temple Officers and Board Members, there will be discussions on several significant financial issues that will affect all Temple members. Please attend if you re able. In Gassho, Steven K. Minister s Assistant Report By Mike M. Our Buddhism 101 Class has 19 students enrolled. All are enthusiastic. Attendance has been at 95 percent, a fact that reflects a lot of interest. Reverend Hirano has been a regular attendee. We now have two people attending our sessions at the Mill Creek Youth Center. Both seem interested and capable of transferring Buddhist Teaching to their lives. It is nice to observe the increase in their understanding of the Dharma. Our Discussion Group has been slow in building attendance. Mike Koga has repaired the house so that it is very usable for our group.

4 BWA NEWS By Ruth K. Where would we be without our Sangha and our friends? I m grateful and thankful for how hard our BWA members worked this year to make the bazaar a success. Getting through bazaar this year was only possible with the help of some special people. Besides our members, we again could not have done it without some extra outside help with our manju and mochi making. Thanks to: Betty Y., Kris Y., KayLe Y., Mackenzie H., LaVerne K., May & Richard (Oriental Market) and Darlene M. Thank you Aiko H. for donating all the mochiko. I especially would like to thank everyone who came early Saturday morning to help make sushi, especially our friends from the Salt Lake Temple: Maya C., Christy F., Brenda K. and LaVerne K. Big thanks also goes to Linda R. and Becky H. B. for folding all the origami cranes that decorated our sushi plates, to Geoff and Linda R. for the making and donating the wasabi flowers and cups with ginger for the sushi plates and one more Thank You to Aiko H. and Masako R. for donating all the fish. The BWA quilt raffle did well this year thanks to all the work that Yoshiko Y. did to finish our quilt and make the matching pillow shams. Yoshiko also donated the pillows. THANK YOU Yoshiko! Applications for the FBWA Student Exchange Program to Japan are due January 4, The instructions and application are in the Geppo. Please read the requirements and turn in your applications as soon as possible to me. Next BWA Meeting which will also be our General BWA Meeting: Sunday, November 22 at 1:00 p.m. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ BWA DONATIONS Non-Monetary Donation Omitted for online version Omitted for online version

5 BCA FBWA STUDENT EXCHANGE PROGRAM The Mountain States BWA is happy to announce that we are accepting applications for the BCA Federation of Buddhist Women s Association (FBWA) Student Exchange Program for We will be sending two girls to Japan in the summer of The program in Japan is usually held around the end of July through the beginning of the first week of August, lasting for about two weeks. This is a homestay program open to girls who are high school seniors or currently a college student of Jodo Shinshu faith, as a means of nurturing future leaders for Jodo Shinshu women s activities. Travel expenses (minimum round trip air fares) from the United States to Japan shall be financed by the Federation. Participants shall make a written report of their experiences to the Federation. In addition, an oral report shall be encouraged when a Federation conference is scheduled. All expenses of the youth to the conference will be paid by the Federation. You may create this form in the word processing format of your choice or you may request to have the application sent to you in Word or WordPerfect format from your temple representative. Please write as much as you feel is needed to convey your answers. Applications are due no later than January 4, 2010 so that the selection can be made to give whoever is selected time to obtain their passport. Complete and return the application to your temple representative: Tri-State Buddhist Temple: Mitzi K. - kishiyamam@q.com Ogden Buddhist Temple: Ruth K. - rakawashima@hotmail.com Salt Lake Buddhist Temple: Christy F. - christykf@hotmail.com **If you would like a soft copy of the application, please notify one of us and we would be happy to provide that for you.**

6 APPLICATIO FOR 2010 BCA FBWA STUDE T EXCHA GE PROGRAM MOU TAI STATES DISTRICT Name: Temple: Age: Grade: Complete the following essay questions. 1. Why would you want to be selected for the student exchange to Japan? What would you hope to gain from this experience? 2. What leadership positions have you held at your temple? List your membership affiliations and years of affiliation. 3. Why are you Buddhist? How does being Buddhist guide you in your everyday life?

7 More BWA News By Ellen K. and Suzan Y. We attended the 41 st BCA Federation of Buddhist Women s Associations Conference on Oct 9-11, hosted by the Northern California BWA. Socho Koshin Ogui and Mrs. Mayumi Ogui were in attendance and pleasant as always greeting everyone. This year s theme was Kako to Mirai Wo Mitsumeru. Looking Back, Looking Ahead, Passing on the Legacy. The keynote speakers were Rev. Mariko Nishiyama and Rev. Diane Johnson who reinforced the importance of spreading the Nembutsu. As BWA members, we open the doors of opportunity for others in the future. It was a memorable experience which covered a broad spectrum of topics, stimulating discussions, important decisions and offered opportunities to network meeting other BWA members. It was difficult to select two of the eleven workshops offered to the attendees. All of the workshops were excellent and offered important information. For instance, the Memorial Service workshop was conducted by Rev. Bob Oshita. Very simply put, two words that describe the Jodo Shinshu religion is Impermanence and Interdependence. As Jodo Shinshu Buddhist, we do not live for the past or the future; it is the present or middle path. It was a wonderful learning experience and we appreciate the Ogden BWA for allowing us the opportunity to attend. We would encourage everyone to attend future FBWA conferences. In Gassho, Ellen K. and Suzan Y. Hello Everyone, DHARMA SCHOOL NEWS Superintendant: Suzan Y. With the start of Dharma School in September, you may have noticed a change. Our Sangha is growing and so are the needs of the Dharma School. The parents, teachers and advisors for Dharma School met in September and decided they wanted to hold classes every week. When there is family service at 1:00 pm we will hold classes immediately following the family service. When there is not a family service, Dharma School Service will be held at 10 am followed by the Dharma School classes. As I look over the Dharma School Committees, I realized Dharma School is in session from September June During this 10 month period, Dharma School is overseeing 13 activities. Please help me thank the parents and members who volunteer to chair the various monthly activities (see chairmen information below). Thank you everyone for helping with this year s bazaar. As some of you may know, the Dharma School is in charge of the kids activities. I want to thank Justine H. and Robyn H. for being in charge of the kids activities. They increased the number of activities and kept up with the steady flow of traffic. The comment cards collected during Bazaar was also a positive reflection as there were no requests for additional activities in the kids area. Thank you everyone for helping out with this very important fundraiser. Dharma School ews Continued on ext Page

8 Dharma School Monthly Activity Chairmen List October/November: Annette K. & Stacie H. Halloween Party with Salt Lake (10/25/09) Bazaar Games area (10/3/09) December/January: Suzan Y., Stan H. & Alice H. Mochi Fundraiser (December) Bodhi Day Special Event (December) Perch at the Church (January) Ho-onko Service (January) Omigaki (January) April/May: Lorraine S., Ellen K. & Geniel S. Hanamatsuri (April) Gotan e Hatsumai (May) June/July: Betty Y., Kris Y. & Tami H. Lagoon Day (June) Dharma School End of Year Party & Parents Day (June) Obon (July) February/March: Robyn H. & Justine H. Ohigan & Keirokai (March) Ski Party with SL (March) ORDER YOUR CHRISTMAS SHOPPI G SCRIPS OW SCRIP Schedule Remember, by purchasing SCRIP money for all your holiday shopping, Dharma School receives 3%-6% of the total sales from the retailer. Order Deadline Scrips Received November 1 November 8 November 8 November 15 November 15 November 22 (Thanksgiving Nov. 26) December 6 December 13 December 13 December 20 (Christmas Dec. 25) Dharma School Service ~ Chair Schedule Date Time Chair Pianist November 1 1:00 p.m. 2 nd 6 th Grade Marisa November 8 10:00 a.m. 7 th Grade HS Daley November 15 1:00 p.m. Board Marisa November 22 10:00 a.m. 2 nd 6 th Grade KayLe November 29 10:00 a.m. 7 th Grade HS Mackenzie December 6 1:00 p.m. Board Marisa December 13 10:00 a.m. 2 nd 6 th Grade Daley December 20 1:00 p.m. 7 th Grade HS Marisa Dharma School ews Continued on ext Page

9 Food Bank Donations Thanks to everyone who helped donate food towards the church s involvement with the food drive last year. It was a great success; over 200 lbs. of food was donated! We re starting up again this year and hope to give even more. Just a reminder, this is a year-round project and we are donating any non-perishable food items you might have. Everything helps! Thanks for your support! If you have any questions, please contact Daley Y. ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ YBA/Jr. YBA ews The YBA forgot to THANK a very special person for her contributions to this year s Obon Festival. We would like to acknowledge Marie H. for her donation of the Neck Coolers that we sold. They were a BIG hit and we sold out even before the dancing started. THANK YOU MARIE! We appreciate your kindness and generosity in supporting us. ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ ~~ My Offerings By Suzan Y. The FEDERATON OF DHARMA SCHOOL TEACHERS LEAGUES has three funds for education. The Bishops Project Foundation Fund, FDSTL Education Fund, and My Offerings. The Bishops Project Foundation Fund is named for Bishop Shinsho Hanayama who had a concern for the proper religious training of our youth. The fund awards projects that will contribute to the advancement of teaching Buddhism in the Dharma Schools. This fund is funded by donations and the Dana and/or the osaisen collected from the Dharma Schools. The Ogden Dharma School will designate the osaisen collected at the next family service held on November 1 st be donated to the FDSTL, Bishop s Project Foundation Fund. The My Offering fund was formerly administered by BCA s Department of Buddhist Education. The fund is used for support of efforts to conduct research for teaching aids and new materials for Dharma Schools, to purchase and to distribute new materials for Dharma School students and teachers, and to provide resource speakers for various district conferences. The fund is funded by donations from Dharma School parents and students in the My Offering envelopes distributed to the Dharma Schools annually. We will have some My Offering envelopes available for those who wish to donate. Dharma School ews Continued on ext Page

10 Jr. YBA Mochi Making Fund Raiser The Jr. YBA is having their annual mochi making fund raising event. We appreciate your continued support of our youth. Order forms need to be filled out and given to any Jr. YBA member by December 13 th. The YBA will be making the mochi on December 19 th and your orders can be picked up on December 20 th. If you have any questions call Daley Y. (phone number omitted for online version) or Stan (phone number omitted for online version). Or you can questions to stanhirai@msn.com. Ogden Jr. YBA / YBA Mochi Fundraiser Thank you for your support!! Mochi will be ready for pick up or delivery on Sunday, December 20. Mochi is $7.00 per tray of 6. Your Name # of trays ordered X $ 7.00 each = $ total due Please make checks payable to: Ogden Buddhist Church YBA We will pick up order on Sunday, December 20 th after service. Please deliver my order to: (information and phone numbers omitted for online version)

11 Thank You! Thank you to Eiko & Tom K. of KOTO Restaurant for donating the tables,. chairs, and matching partition from your restaurant! We are sorry to see your restaurant close but, WISH YOU LUCK IN YOUR RETIREMENT! Shinran Shonin 750 th Memorial Observance and Symposiums By Steven K. Concurrently with National Council meeting in San Jose, CA, February 2010, a separate Shinran Shonin 750 th Memorial Observance will also be held. This Memorial will consist of several guest speakers and interesting workshops. It is the goal of the organizers to have this event be family oriented and encourage everyone to attend. Start thinking about attending this special event. I will post additional information on the Church bulletin boards as it becomes available. If you have questions, do not hesitate calling me. Library Contribution By Suzan Y. I met Priscilla VanValkenburgh last year at the Thursday evening adult discussion group. She donated the book Wabi Sabi by Mark Reibstein to our Dharma School students. I don t want to give the story away but it has a beautiful message derived from a cat s quest to find the meaning of her name. You will find this book in our library. Thank You Priscilla for this wonderful book on a Japanese concept about beauty and simplicity.

12 BAZAAR SPECIAL THANK YOU The board would like to thank all the members who came to help with the bazaar. We would especially like to thank our friends from the Salt Lake Buddhist Temple who came to help with all aspects of our bazaar: Maya C., Samantha C., Bruce & Christy F., Brenda K., Amy K., Andrew K. and LaVerne K. Thank you to the members who donated prizes for the raffle, Bingo and baskets for the special raffle or collected prizes from retailers. Big Thank you to Georgia & Max Y. for providing lunch for all the bazaar workers on Saturday - it was greatly appreciated. We would like to thank the following people for their donations. Your donations truly do help to defray our costs. (omitted for online version) SPECIAL THA K YOU TO ALL THE BUSI ESSES THAT DO ATED ITEMS TO OUR BAZAAR! We could not do this without the generosity of these businesses. Ben Lomond Golf Course Andy s Club Jimmy s Flowers Car Quest Auto Parts Ed Kenley Ford The Iron Horse State Farm Insurance Valley View Golf Course Motor-Vu Drive-In Oriental Market Kiesel Sales & Service Johnson Electric Raw Image Salon Great Basin Electrics AKA Distributing Timbermine Restaurant Heinz Utah Bean Sprouts Utah Onions

13 Eitaikyo & ovember Shotsuki Hoyo Sunday, ovember 15, 2009 Service at 1:00 p.m. The Eitaikyo Service is a memorial service for people who have handed down the teaching of the embutsu to us. In the glossary in our temple s service book, "Eitaikyo" is defined as a "perpetual memorial service." This is a general memorial service for all departed members of the temple. The word Eitaikyo actually means "perpetual sutra." Eitai means "perpetual" and Kyo means "sutra," or "teaching of Buddha." Bodhi Day & December Shotsuki Hoyo Sunday, December 6, 2009 Service at 1:00 p.m. Otoki Lunch at 11:30 a.m. At the age of 35, while meditating under the bodhi tree, Siddhartha Gautama attained enlightenment and became Sakyamuni Buddha. By his example, the Buddha showed us that it was possible for anyone to become a Buddha - a fully enlightened person. We commemorate this very special event on Bodhi Day. Joya-E (Last ight Gathering) ew Year's Eve Service Thursday, December 31, 2009 Service at 6:00 p.m. Potluck Dinner following service This year end service is held to express gratitude for all the causes and conditions which have allowed us to live this past year. It is a time to reflect upon the interdependence of all Sangha members and the lives we live. At the end of the service all those attending the service participate in the ringing of the Joya no Kane (Last ight Bell). The Temple Bell is rung 108 times signifying the 108 Bonno or Passions that make up our human existence. This bell is rung to recognize these traits in our own personalities and express appreciation for Amida Buddha's compassion, which embraces us, even though we are bound by these passions.

14 ovember/december, July/August, 2009 Issue November and December Shotsuki Hoyo ovember Shotsuki Hoyo November 15, 2009, 1:00 p.m. Nov Shizu Fukuda Nov Masaru Hamada Nov Shigeru Hamada Nov Norma Hatsuye Inouye Nov Kunimatsu Inouye Nov Kyuta Ishibashi Nov Kikujiro Ishii Nov Masami Itakura Nov Chiyoji Kamita Nov Toshio George Kano Nov Yoshito (Yosh) Kato Nov Kiyoyasu Kawashima Nov Jimmie Noboru Kunimoto Nov Todd T. Kuroiwa Nov Masaichiro Marumoto Nov Yagoro Nakamoto Nov Shigako Nimori Nov Kimi Nishikawa Nov Jisaku Sakurada Nov Kamesaburo Suekawa Nov Motoharu Sumida Nov Sanji Tawatari Nov Dan Tsukamoto Nov Kiyonobu Watanabe Nov Tomesaku Watanabe Nov Suzumi Yamada Nov Sidney Yukiyoshi Yamasaki Nov Shunjiro Yamasaki Nov George Yamashita Nov Munagi Yoshitaka December Shotsuki Hoyo December 6, 2009, 1:00 p.m. Dec Kristen Taeko Fukawa Dec Kasumi Hamada Dec Yorito Hamada Dec Dick Setsuji Hirabayashi Dec Yasu Hirabayashi Dec Tome Inouye Dec Masayasu Ito Dec Nobuo Kamigaki Dec Shigeru Henry Kawaguchi Dec Ray Isao Kano Dec Hideo Kawaguchi Dec Shizu Nakano Miya Dec James Sunao Morinaka Dec Hanako Moriyama(Yonemoto) Dec Yae Murakami Dec Suyeo Frank Nakano Dec Isekichi Nishiki Dec Masashi Nozaki Dec Staci Sachiko Oda Dec Wataru Jack Oda Dec Mitsugu Oda Dec Tokiichi George Sato Dec Yonekichi Shirazmizu Dec Hajime Tokifuji Dec Asao Tsukamoto Dec Tatsuji Watanabe Dec Takako Watanabe (Onishi) Dec Torahei Yamamoto For those years not having a specific memorial service such as 2 nd, 4 th, 5 th, etc. the temple is holding these monthly Shotsuki Hoyo. During these services, the temple will list the names of those members who have died during the month in the preceding years. The families then attend that monthly service in memory of their loved one. These services are not meant to replace the specific memorial services. Please contact Rev. Hirano to make arrangements for those services. Rev. Hirano contact information - Office: , Home: , Emergency: Memorial Service Schedule for those who passed away in: year year year year year year year year year Corrections/Additions to the Shotsuki Hoyo list - please contact Ruth Kawashima,

15 NOVEMBER, 2009 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat *Daylight Savings time ends!* 10:30 am Discussion Group 12:00 pm Budget Committee Meeting 1:00 pm Family Service 2:00 pm Dharma School 2:00 pm Sensei Social :00 am Buddhism :00 am Dharma School Service 10:30 am Discussion Group 11:30 am Meditation 10:30 am Discussion Group 1:00 pm Eitaikyo Service and November Shotsuki Hoyo No Dharma School 2:00 pm General Meeting and Sensei Social :30 pm OBC Board Meeting 11 10:00 am Buddhism :00 am Dharma School Service 10:30 am Discussion Group 11:30 am Meditation 1:00 pm BWA General Meeting Happy Thanksgiving! :00 am Dharma School Service 10:30 am Discussion Group 11:30 am Meditation ****TOBA CLEA I G**** Ruth K. (Toban Cleaning Leader) Jeanie P. Lorraine S. Julia F.

16 DECEMBER, 2009 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat WFN JACL Holiday Social 10:30 am Discussion Group 11:30 am Lunch 1:00 pm Bodhi Day Service & December Shotsuki Hoyo 2:00 pm Dharma School 2:00 pm Sensei Social :30 pm OBC Board Meeting :00 am Dharma School 10:30 am Discussion Group 11:30 am - Meditation :00 am YBA Mochi Making 10:30 am Discussion Group 1:00 pm Family Service 2:00 pm Dharma School 2:00 pm Sensei Social Merry Christmas! 26 9:00 am Mochi Making No Dharma School Service No Discussion Group *Please come and help make mochi* :00 pm Joya-E Service & New Year s Eve Party! ****TOBA CLEA I G**** Stan & Tami H.(Toban Cleaning Leader) Mackenzie & Alex H. Alice H. ew Year s Eve Party! Please come and ring in the New Year with Toshi Koshi Soba, friends and family! It s pot luck so bring a dish to share.