Buddhist Church of Lodi Newsletter 23 North Stockton St., Lodi, CA 95240-2214 (209) 368-5589 office@lodibuddhist.net http://lodibuddhist.org/ Sunday, December 31, 2017 3:30 PM Joya-E (New Year s Eve Service) 108 times bell hitting / Japanese Calligraphy Light Refreshment will be served Rev. Miyaji at the Dharma School Mochitsuki Monday, January 1, 2018 10:30 AM Gantan-E (New Years Day service) New Year s welcome drink / Write a New Year s resolution Sunday, January 7, 2018 9:30 AM Shotsuki Service Tuesday, January 9, 2018 11:30 AM Ochanomi Hoza 12:00 Noon Shinyukai Saturday, January 13, 2018 12:00 Noon LBWA New Year s Luncheon Sunday, January 14, 2018 9:30 AM Family Sunday Service/Dharma School Monday, January 16, 2018 9:00 AM Meinichiko (Shinran Shonin s Monthly Memorial) Sunday, January 21, 2018 9:30 AM Family Sunday Service /Dharma School Buddhist Name Presentation Photo by Steve Ogata Movie Day, Thursday, January 11, 2018 at 1pm in the annex. LBWA New Year Luncheon, January 13, 2018, noon in the annex. Please send in your RSVP by January 5 th. The newsletter is a monthly publication of the Buddhist Church of Lodi, 23 N. Stockton Street, Lodi, CA 95240. There is no subscription charge for members and friends, but donations are welcome.
Cough of Nenbutsu Happy New Year 2018!!! Rev. Nobuo Miyaji, Lodi Buddhist Church I welcome the first Oshogatsu since I came here, Lodi Buddhist Church. Thank you very much for your support and understanding for the last year. We, I believe, did the good job for spreading the teaching of Buddha last year together. I appreciate your efforts that did not create any serious problem in our Sangha. This year we have many things to do and accomplish. Among them listen to the teaching of Nenbutsu is the most important thing, I believe. Let s make an effort to do so together! Shinran Shonin left Mt. Hiei and knocked on the door of Honen Shonin to listen to the true teaching of Shakya-muni Buddha. There were two problems which Shinran had at his young age on Mt. Hiei. One was the problem of impermanence: he was worrying about his life ends which nobody knew about it. The practice on Mt. Hiei was so severe and long time to finish. He had a doubt he could finish or not before his last moment. Another problem he had was the issue of sin: actually, the life of marriage. On those days, Buddhist monks were not allowed to marry because it bothered the life of seeking truth. If it were true, he thought, 99 % of people could not be saved by the teaching of Buddha. Is it the universal teaching or not, he had a doubt? He, however, could not find any answer for that. Then he had a chance to meet with Honen Shonin who spread the teaching of Nenbutsu in Kyoto. He decided to listen to his teaching and left Mr. Hiei. For the person who had faced to his limitation, Honen Shonin advised Shinran that people should always live by creating the proper condition for being able to say the nenbutsu (pg 15 of the Life of Eshinni by Yoshiko Otani). Shinran could open his eyes to the question and be awaken in Shinjin at the age of 29. Honen emphasized that the life of Nenbutsu was more important than his /her ordinary life. It means that people can marry or not is not important for his religious life. People can do anything for his/her life if he/she can recite the nenbutsu. Nenbutsu life should come first any time and place. Shinran, then, decided to take the marital life for his nenbutsu life. Because of it, we, as an ordinary person, can follow his teaching and 100 % of people could find the chance to be saved by Amida Buddha s Compassion. This must be the universal teaching and the essence of the Shakyamuni Buddha, which is the Buddhism. I am very happy to share the true and universal teaching of Nenbutsu with you for this year, too. Namo Amida Butsu The number of attendees (Lodi) Date Attendees Date Attendees Dec 3rd 33 Dec 10th 20 2018 Memorial Service Schedule 2018 is the memorial year for those who passed away in: 2017 1 year 2002 17 year 2016 3 year 1994 25 year 2012 7 year 1986 33 year 2006 13 year 1969 50 year MESSAGE Dear Sangha: Just want to let you, the members, know the Church is installing a new wrought iron fence around the open perimeter of the church buildings. The construction should start sometime in January. This is an unexpected and costly expense, but we feel a necessary one. The homeless people have been camping in the office area and in the court yard. This has caused much damage to the property and with the new fence, we hope to resolve this problem. We are asking for donations in any amount to help cover some of the cost of the fence. Thanking you in advance for your consideration. With Gassho, Gordon Nitta BUDDHIST CHURCH OF LODI General Meeting December 12th In attendance: Gordon Nitta, Judy Waters, Steve Ogata, Bruce Sasaki, Fred Nagata, Joyce Nagata, Ron Oye, and Hannah Egi. Chairman Gordon Nitta called the meeting to order with gassho at 7:02 pm. Correspondence Received a Thank you from Rev. Roy Mayhugh Family.
Minutes The minutes of the November 1 meeting were approved as printed in the December newsletter. M/S/P Judy Waters/Fred Nagata Treasurers Reports: General Treasurer, Bruce Sasaki submitted written report showing regular monthly expenses and orei and koden for Rev. Mayhugh. Special Treasurer, Steve Ogata submitted written report of the church s various accounts. Coming expenses will be the fencing around the property. Donations to help defray the additional costs will be greatly appreciated. The temple has custodial account started 3 years ago, made 17 1/2 % growth. New mallet for mochi were purchased and arrived, purchased from the Youth Fund. Both reports were approved. M/S/P Judy Waters/Steve Ogata LBWA Judy Waters reported January 11 is next Movie Day with refreshments at intermission. New Year s Luncheon on Jan. 13, with food from Yen Ching at the annex. Also have prizes and 50/50 raffle, RSVP by Jan. 5, 2018. Dues are still $10.00. Shinyukai Judy Waters reported Dec.12 the group enjoyed delicious potluck. January 9 will have sashimi, soup, and rice. Dharma School Hannah Egi reported the group will have mochitsuki. Besides DS families, Gordon and Tatsuko Nitta will direct the prepping and cooking. Tyler Ogata and his sister Jessica will assist those who attend on the proper technique of pounding. The students are working on a long-term project of using Mindcraft to construct our temple. Building Maintenance Report Custom Iron Works will begin work soon; contract was signed. The body approved adding Gary Funamura to the Building Maintenance account. M/S/P Steve Ogata/Hannah Egi. Office lights in the storage section flickers. Old Business: Church Officers No President found yet. National Council meeting Gordon Nitta will not be able to attend as a delegate since 3 people have signed up for our booster activity. A member needs to be a delegate for Lodi. Also looking for wine donation for Hawaii and Canada delegation and for the Hospitality Room during the conference. Ron Oye will look into a donation from Gary Tsutsumi. Hannah Egi requested a day and time change for church cleanup, sometimes only 2 people come out. New Business: National Board meeting Gordon Nitta reported temple dues increased $3 per member. The Asset Restructuring Committee proposed the selling of the Headquarters and residence in San Francisco and relocating the BCA office on the eastside of the Bay. These transactions should equal a net profit and pay off the loan in the Endowment Fund. Tentative Calendar for 2018 was prepared by Hannah Egi and sent to Rev. Motoyoshi and Walnut Grove. Rev. Miyaji s contract will end at the end of February. Judy Waters will oversee a farewell luncheon for him after service. New Rev. coming and we hope Rev. Miyaji can stay a little longer and help with the transition. Upcoming events: Mochistuki December 17, 2017, for the experience, not for sale. New Year s eve service at 3:30 pm, looking for volunteers to bring snacks for after the service. New Year s Day service Jan. 1, 2018 at 10:30 am. With no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 8:23 pm with gassho. LBWA UPDATE Judy Waters Movie Day is scheduled for Thursday, January 12, 2018 at 1pm. We have a couple of options for the movie at this time. Refreshments served during intermission (no lunch). Little activity for LBWA during the December month. Letters are being mailed this week for the New Year Luncheon on January 13, 2018 in the Annex at noon. Lunch to be catered by Yen Ching Restaurant. There will be raffle prizes, 50/50 raffle, and great camaraderie with our members. Please return the RSVP for the luncheon by January 5th if you wish to attend the luncheon (still $10 for lunch) and for your convenience, dues may be paid with your lunch reservation. The dues remain at $10 for the year. Next meeting is January 12, 2018 at 9am in the annex. Please join us, we appreciate your input. DHARMA SCHOOL Jill Walter For the month of December, Dharma school students will continue to plan, draft, and then digitally build their Minecraft Jodo Shinshu temple. We have thus far studied our own temple s exterior architecture and intend to use it as a model for our
own creation. In addition, we will be creating a Shuro, or bell tower, in a traditional temple style. We look forward to sharing our creation with our members. SHINYUKAI Judy Waters $20 Birthday Grace Watanabe Judy Waters Irene Furuoka Sumiko Mikami December was celebrated with potluck dishes brought by our friends of Shinyukai. There were so many delicious dishes, it was difficult to choose which ones to try. Thank you everyone for bringing your favorite dishes, it was enjoyed by all. January menu will include sashimi donated by Kazuko Shimozaki caught by her son. There will be a delicious Japanese soup and a salad. If you need a ride to attend Shinyukai, please feel free to ask us. You can call the church office and leave a message. We will make arrangements for your transportation. Also, if you cannot come to Shinyukai, your family or friends can pick up the Bento. Please call the church office to make a reservation for your takeout bento. No Enryo ( えんりょ ), please. SCRIP UPDATE Kelly Yamane In February, we will be offering a Valentine s Day special. If you order a one pound certificate for See s Candies, we will provide the box of candy with your order. Choose from a one pound box of Nuts & Chews, Assorted Chocolates or Soft Centers. Do you shop online at Amazon? If so, please try AmazonSmile. It is a simple and automatic way for you to shop, at no cost to you. To shop at AmazonSmile simply go to smile.amazon.com from the web browser on your computer or mobile device. On your first visit to AmazonSmile (smile.amazon.com), you need to select Buddhist Church of Lodi to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping. AmazonSmile will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation. The AmazonSmile Foundation will donate 0.5% of the purchase price from your eligible AmazonSmile purchases. Thank you to all who are participating in our scrip program! If you have any questions, please contact Kelly Yamane at 365-7124 or any of the scrip supporters listed below. Scrip orders will be due by 10 a.m. on the order date. Please note that scrip pick-up days are changing to Tuesdays. December Scrip Supporters Chris Smith Hannah Egi Harriet Matsumoto Haru Oga Janet Morimoto Joy Sasaki Kathi Sasaki Kelly Yamane Kenneth Egi Liza Kanemura Mataga Buick GMC Cadillac Mieko Komatsu Nancy Burgess Calendar Dates: Scrip orders due:1/5 at 10 a.m. (Friday) Scrip pick-up: 1/16 (Tuesday) 2018 WISH LIST Donations may be made in any amount to be used towards purchasing your specified item: Gift card (Scrip) from Staples ORGANIST Buddhist Church of Lodi is in search of an organist (or pianist) for Sunday Services. If you or you know of anyone with musical skills who would like to volunteer, please contact the church office. Thank you for your consideration.
CHURCH DUES as of December 18th 2017 Dues: George Iwamiya Leland/Janet Noma 2018 Dues: James Sakoda Fred/Joyce Nagata Leland/Janet Noma