LAS VEGAS BUDDHIST SANGHA BULLETIN 4110 N. Martin Luther King Blvd., Las Vegas, NV 89032 SEPTEMBER 2018 www.lasvegasbuddhist.org/email: lvsangha.info@gmail.com VOLUME 9 REVEREND BRIAN NAGATA TO PRESIDE AT OUR SEPTEMBER SERVICE On Sunday, September 9, Rev. Brian Nagata will preside at our 10 a.m. service. Rev. Nagata was born and raised in Fowler, California and has been working for Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai America (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism) for the last 20 years. He oversees the BDK English Tripitaka publication project and the Numata Programs in Buddhist Studies at 12 North American universities. In his spare time, he serves as managing editor for the WHEEL OF DHARMA and volunteers in the kitchen at the Jodo Shinshu Center. His Dharma Talk subject will be, "Just what is Happiness?" As Buddhists, we know that September 21st is the Fall Ohigan (Shuki Higan-E) and autumn equinox. It is a time to emphasize the Six Paramitas of Charity, Morality, Patience, Effort, Meditation, and Wisdom. Also, September 1 is BCA Founding Day for us to remember the two ministers, Reverend Shuei Sonoda and Reverend Kakuryo Nishijima, who were sent by the Nishi Hongwanji in Kyoto, Japan, as ministers for the Buddhists in America. They arrived in San Francisco on September 1, 1899. MINISTER ASSISTANT UPDATE by David Hopper We are proud to welcome Meya Stout to the Minister Assistant (MA) program. Rev. Harada and all of us MA s feel that she has the makings of a great MA at LVBS. We felt that since we were introducing her to the Sangha last Sunday, it would be a good idea to introduce ourselves to the Sangha as well. As each of us became minister assistants, we didn t really introduce one another to everyone. As such, it would be a good opportunity to present each one of us to everyone by providing a five minute talk on how we came to Buddhism. The results seemed to be very positive as many of the members in attendance expressed how they enjoyed hearing our stories. We have many plans for LVBS in the near future. By adding a second service each month, it has been well received with positive impact on members. Eventually, our goal here is to have weekly services. We have implemented numerous small changes in our services to make them more enjoyable and educational. Recently, Rev. Harada stated that he liked the changes he saw and planned to implement some of them at OCBC. As we learn from each visiting minister, we become better MA s which leads to better services. Many other changes have occurred with the MA s. Dharma school is now following BCA educational guidelines. Our limitation right now is space. We do not have classrooms to hold more formal classes so we are forced to hold Dharma school during service and must mix the different grades together. This is a huge task for Chelsea but she is doing a great job. The children all love her and have fun learning with her. Looking through the BCA material revealed that some of the lessons are very dry so, we have been working to liven them up and make them more interesting and fun. We have started up a musical program and choir. I hope you have enjoyed the performances provided during services. Eileen and Myke have done a great job getting the choir going and we have now added several more names to our choir list. I just ordered myself a new keyboard designed for arranging and composing so the music played during the choir performances can be composed faster and sound better. I have been very busy putting the music together for the choir and during services. My goal is to develop a songbook of songs that we can use to expand our Gathas and music for services and to create music CD s combining my arrangements with the choir vocals. We are constantly looking for ideas to improve life in our Sangha. Some of our ideas have not panned out so far such as meditation and study groups. We need input in the form of new ideas and how to improve what we are already doing. Some of the ideas we are trying to get going and improve includes visiting the sick, giving others rides to church when needed, social activities like game or movie night, and several other projects. Becoming involved is a sign of belonging. We want everyone to become involved, to belong to our family here. LVBS is growing. Lets keep it alive and well. Please fill out a suggestion form and help us all become better.
MY PATH TO BUDDHISM by Meya Stout I joined the Las Vegas Buddhist Sangha about two and a half years ago. I was six months pregnant. On the surface, I was drawn in by my circumstances at the time, but as my experience deepens and grows, I have been finding many footsteps in the path of my life that have led me here today. I have enjoyed finding the connections throughout my life and family s culture and history that reveal layer upon layer of a solid foundation in the path that I thought was calling to me in truth, I was calling to it. I have been seeking that refuge, that balance, that peace. I am always smiling inside and in awe and wonder when I make these connections that it has always been there, just waiting for me to come home when I was ready. During my pregnancy, there was a lot of hardship and stress. I started looking at Buddhist quotes and online groups for some solace, but craved more. I began searching for a physical place in Las Vegas. Then, at six months pregnant, I discovered my partner had a gambling problem. I discovered it the day our rent money went missing, and in the course of just that one day, we went thousands of dollars into debt. I was a 36-year old high-risk pregnant woman living in Las Vegas, and all my close friends and family lived in Seattle. I felt overwhelming stress, anger, and an- guish. I feared that all these emotions would affect my pregnancy as well as how I would navigate being a parent to my child. This sealed the deal: I was go- ing to reach out to Buddhism. On Mother s Day, 2016, I walked through these front doors, terrified that my weakness was showing. I was literally shaking and had tears in my eyes. There to greet me at the threshold to the service area was a sweet little girl, smiling and holding out a flower to me. She told me, Happy Mother s Day! She was just what I needed to pull myself together, calm down and smile in return, thanking her for the flower and then was finally able to enter. Here is where scratching the surface then became the peeling back of the first of many layers. As I stepped through, I could smell the incense burning for the oshoko. I saw the beautiful obutsudan, very much like the one at my great-grandmother s house in Yokohama. It felt like coming home, and a great calmness washed over me. It took a couple of short months to realize this was a path for my life for good. I began to understand more depths and meaning to some of the cultural practices within my life growing up, and making those connections was like finding missing puzzle pieces in the murky clouds of a cultural cross-over from one country and three generations to this country now. Learning how to actively live the Dharma has helped me with those circumstantial situations as well, solidifying the practice in my heart. For example,there was a happy resolution to my partner and the gambling. He now has his two year chip for not gambling. That does not mean it will not happen again, but what it does mean is that I no longer will be overwhelmed by it. I can remain calm in the center of the storm because now there is the understanding that everything passes. It brings me such joy to know that not only have I found my spiritual calling, but that it also holds a connection to my family history, that it creates a bond with my Sangha here in Las Vegas that continues to flow wherever I go. Not only did Buddhism bring me peace, It bridged a gap for me being torn between two cultures, two worlds where I didn t belong in either one. Now I don t only belong there I belong wherever I go. I exist in all places, all things. And for me, the greatest part is I have so much more to learn, so much more to grow, so many more connections to make to complete those hidden meanings as well as make new ones. The greatest hope that I have is that I am able to impart these new joys and discoveries to my family, my Sangha, and to all others, that it might enable them to find their own way as well. MEYA STOUT IS OUR NEWEST MINISTER S ASSISTANT Meya will be joining Dr. David Hopper, Michael Tanaka, and Al Kayatani as a Minister s Assistant. Our Supervising Minister, Rev. Marvin Harada, of Orange County Buddhist Church, will be training Meya along with the others. She has been doing a great job as the service chair.
OBON PHOTOS Jason Feinberg & Jan-Ie Low MC s Wayne Tanaka & John Kosora Jennifer Caballero June Maruyama & Roy Sangha Kitchen Ladies Tayeko Kurashige Megan Arakaki, Derek Uehara, Takako Ogata Jan-Ie, Betty Atkins & Granddaughters, and Caryl Suzuki ONE OF THE BEST OBON FESTIVALS EVER! Roy Nakamura & Bob Shannon at Obon Golf Tournament Preliminary financial reports indicate that our 30 th Obon Festival is close to our most profitable ever! Attendance was excellent, most of the parking issues were solved, the food vendors were happy, the exhibitors did well, and the attendees gave us rave reviews. We are already making plans for next year s event! The Holiday Sangha Craft Fair will be on Saturday, 12/1 from 10am to 3pm at our Sangha Center. Booths are free for Sangha members. Contact Yamano (patty.yamano@gmail.com) for a booth. Patty We need lots of volunteers for this events, so mark your calendar. ALL proceeds go to the Sangha. IMPORTANT NUMBERS Sangha (702)228-3071 Center Rental (619)888-5301 Dharma Ed. (702)371-0947 Illness/Death (702)806-5520 Sangha Crafts (818)219-6982 Editor (702)228-3071