KONA
HONGWANJI MISSION
E - JIHO
March 2011
Theme & Slogan 2011: Path of Entrusting: Listen and Reflect!
ESHINNI-KAKUSHINNI DAY SERVICE
Sunday, March 6, 2011 at 9:00 a.m.
Speaker: Dr. Sandra Matsumoto
SPRING OHIGAN SERVICE
Sunday, March 20, 2011 at 9:00 a.m.
Guest Speaker: Reverend Shinkai Murakami, Wailuku Hongwanji Mission
Ohigan - meaning Other Shore, is a service conducted during the spring equinox. At this time the weather is neither too warm nor cold, the days and nights are of equal length. Harmony pervades throughout the universe. The Buddhists gather before the sacred shrine of Amida, meditating on the harmony of nature and devote themselves to the realization of this harmony in their inner lives.
2011 ACTIVITIES----MARK YOUR CALENDAR
Bon Festival------Saturday, June 11, 2011 at the Keauhou Shopping Center
Keei Bon Dance ------Saturday, July 16, 2011
Kona Hongwanji Bon Dance-----Saturday, July 23, 2011
Education Fund - Manju Sale----Sunday, October 23, 2011
Jr. YBA Mochi Sale------Friday, December 30, 2011
AWARENESS
The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968)
American Civil Rights Leader
NEED THE ASSISTANCE OF THE MINISTER OR TO SCHEDULE SERVICES/ACTIVITIES
Please call the church office at 323-2993 Monday thru Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Office will be closed on weekends and holidays. If unable to contact the office clerk, leave a message on the answering machine. In case of emergencies and unable to contact office clerk, call Rev. Shoji Matsumoto at
323-2993 or cell 987-9900,or Stanley Kunitomo, at 328-2107 or cell 987-5524.
MARCH
5 Saturday………………………… Bishop’s Aloha Luncheon @ Hale Koa Hotel
6 Sunday ………… 9:00 AM …. Eshinni-Kakushnni Day – Speaker–Dr. Sandra Matsumoto
11 Friday ………… 8:30 AM …. Senior Activity Program
12 Saturday ………………………….. IKEBANA CANCELLED
13 Sunday ………. 9:00 AM …. English Family Service
16 Wednesday …. 9:00 AM …. United BWA Meeting
19 Saturday …….. 8:00 AM …. Hosha-#2; Food Prep-#3; Omigaki-#1
9:00 AM …. Ikebana in Scout Room
10:00 AM … BWA Board Meeting
20 Sunday ……… 9:00 AM …. Spring O-Higan Service
21 Monday ………………………... Minister’s Meeting @ Hilo
26 Saturday ……. 9:00 AM …. BSC Spring Seminar @ Puna Hongwanji
27 Sunday ……… 9:00 AM …. English Family Service
APRIL
1 Friday ………… 8:00 AM …. Hosha-#2; Omigaki-#3
2 Saturday …….. 7:00 AM …. BWA Manju Making for Hanamatsuri
3 Sunday ………. 9:00 AM …. Hanamatsuri – Guest – Rev. David Fujimoto
8 Friday ………… 8:30 AM …. Senior Activity Program
10 Sunday ……… 9:00 AM …. English Family Service
13 Wednesday … 6:30 PM …. Board of Director’s Meeting
17 Sunday ……… 9:00 AM …. English Family Service
22 Friday ………………………….. Investiture Ceremony & Welcome Banquet
for New Bishop Rev. Eric Matsumoto
Hawaii Betsuin and Sheraton Waikiki Hotel
24 Sunday ……… 9:00 AM …. English Family Service
CUB SCOUTS & BOY SCOUTS
EVERY MONDAY CUB SCOUT PACK 12 MEETING AT 5:00 PM
EVERY WEDNESDAY & THURSDAY CUB SCOUT PACK 12 MEETING AT 5:00 PM EXCEPT 1ST WEDNESDAY
EVERY TUESDAY BOY SCOUT TROOP 59 MEETING AT 7:00 PM
TAIKO PRACTICE
EVERY THURSDAY TAIKO PRACTICE AT 5:30 PM
TAIKO MEETING EVERY 2nd THURSDAY IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM AT 6:30 PM
JUDO PRACTICE
JUDO CLUB MEETING EVERY 1ST WEDNESDAY IN SCOUT ROOM
EVERY MONDAY AT 7:00 PM NIGHT CLASS
EVERY WEDNESDAY AT 6:00 PM NOVICE; 7:00 PM NIGHT CLASS
EVERY TUESDAY AT 6:30 PM ADULT BEGINNERS
EVERY THURSDAY AT 7:00 PM CHOKE ARM BAR CLASS
IKEBANA
EVERY 2ND SATURDAY AT 9:00 AM IN THE SCOUT ROOM
KANIKAPILA UKULELE JAM SESSION
EVERY 4TH MONDAY AT 7:00 PM IN THE SOCIAL HALL
TAI CHI CLASSES
EVERY MONDAY & WEDNESDAY AT 10:30 AM
DHARMA TALK CLASSES
EVERY TUESDAY AT 9:00 AM and 7:00 PM IN THE CONFERENCE ROOM
KYUDO CLASSES
EVERY SATURDAY AT 1:00 PM IN THE JUDO HALL
NIHONGO DE HANASOU GROUP
EFFECTIVE JUNE – CLASSES ARE TEMPORARILY CANCELLED
URASENKE TEA CEREMONY
EVERY 1ST & 3RD THURSDAY FROM 9 AM IN THE SOCIAL; HALL ON THE STAGE
MEMORIAL SERVICES FOR MARCH 2011 and APRIL 2011
One Year (2010) March 4 HELEN HISAE IKENO
6 HENRY YOSHITO MORIMOTO
30 DORIS YASUKO MURATA
Three Years (2009) March 15 SHINICHI SHIOTSUKA
April 14 MINNIE MITSUE KANAI
19 KATSUE NAKAMURA
Thirteen Years (1999) March 9 TORAO SAKAMOTO
28 ELEANOR FUSAKO MURATA
April 1 SHIZUICHI SAKANASHI
7 AIKO FUKUNAGA
24 STANLEY SABURO HORIBATA
Seventeen Years (1995) March 16 ICHIRO HASEGAWA
17 HAROLD KIYOSHI SASAKI
April 12 ALBERT KIICHI OMORI
16 SAKAE NISHIBUN
30 KIYOMI ASHIHARA
Twenty-Five Years (1987) March 24 HARUE TOKUNAGA
26 KENNETH KATSUSHI HORIBATA
Thirty-Three Years (1979) March 29 SHIGEO SHIBATA
April 15 TAKESHI AOYAGI
27 NATSU NONAKA
Fifty Years (1962) April 18 KIKUE FUJIMOTO
One Hundred Years (1912) March 13 BUNKICHI KANNO
23 SATSUKI MASUDA
April 18 YUKIO MATSUZAKI
20 MITSUNORI NAGATA
24 CHIYOKO MARUMOTO
30 HAMA SHIKADA
HARD IT IS TO LIVE by Rev. Shoji
This title is part of the Homage that you and I have been discussing for a month. It is very hard to be human. Death, loss, suffering and inhumanity form an essential frame within which my life takes place. And living means asking and answering those vital existential questions at the heart of today’s Buddhism.
I am my life, and my life is me, my own whole, expressed unique self. My task is to live a life that is fully my own, and not quite like any other. Then I can make a small but unique personal contribution to the fabric of humanity taken as a whole.
I believe that it takes courage to live. I must trust my ability to live through the suffering and chaos of life. There is no life without suffering. I must suffer, not every day but at various times, because if I try to avoid suffering, then I will kill joy. The two are linked. Joy never comes without suffering, and therefore life demands courage. My goal is not to make my life problem-free, but to give it the depth and value that comes with my Buddha-nature. I organize and shape my life for the good of my nature.
I live, and choose to act upon life, instead of merely being acted upon. I cannot control everything that happens to me. But, each day I make the choice not only to determine my actions and destinations but also to live my life of purpose. When I make my decisions, I’ll discover what I value, what really matters to me, and what kind of person that I am.
I live to reflect on the way my life takes shape and re-imagine those things I think I already understand. The changing of familiar Buddhist teachings into new wordings is, at this moment in my life, more revealing and significant than acquiring new knowledge. Buddhism inspires creativity and invites new interpretations in light of my ever-changing circumstances. Long after I’m gone, people will continue to make new interpretations of Buddhism.
I live to chant the Buddhist Sutras and listen to Amida’s vows. I chant them so as to think and manifest my hidden Buddha-nature, for Shinran encourages me to listen and think. The Buddhist Sutras are not a source of information, but a way to have dialogues with Amida Buddha; I talk and listen to him. The chant allows my heart to be nourished. The act of chanting the Buddhist Sutras is to take them in and to be change. If I can read any secular book in this chanting way, I may be able to encounter with Amida in the book. Every book is sutra. There I can hear Amida’s vows. There my Buddha-nature is nourished.
I live a hard, challenging life, knowing that from being challenged, I gain awakening. It’s time for me to wake up and begin to think for myself without the Buddhist dogmas blocking me from my own individual path to enlightenment and the discovery of Buddha within me. Buddha is not a Buddhist or any other label I give. Buddha dwells within me and without me at the same time. And Buddha is mine, yours, and all others’.
I try to live each day a life of compassion. Buddhist compassion has four elements; the desire (maitri) to bring happiness to all beings, the resolve (karuna) to liberate all beings from their pain, sympathetic joy (mudita) which takes delight in the happiness of others, and equanimity (upeksa) that enables us to love all beings equally and impartially. I’m against violence and hatred. I appreciate cultural and religious differences and, therefore, cultivate empathy with the suffering of all human beings, including those who hate me. I, together with the Buddha, make compassion a dynamic Dharma force in the world and transcend my selfishness. Compassion and interdependence, essential to human relationships, are the path to enlightenment and create our peaceful Sangha community.
I live to build a new kind of Buddhism on Shinran’s Buddhism. I’m not starting at ground zero. He brought me to the place where I am now. I’ve never had the impression that Shinran was a proselytizer. He never said to the people he met: “You must read my books, listen to me, and become my followers.” Yet, they became his followers. Every day Shinran encourages me to go beyond him and start living compassion so that I can soon build a Buddhism of Compassion.
Why Buddhism? by William Tokuko Lundquist
Last month we discussed what the sages Confucius, Buddha, Jesus and Muhammad said in common, based on a CD course of the same name taught by Professor Mark Muesse of Rhodes College. We, however, are Buddhists. I chose to be one. Most of you were born Buddhists, but would probably choose Buddhism anyway if you had it to do over again. Why? What makes Buddhism so special?
Keep in mind that no one religion is the best for everybody. Whether you believe the divine is within you or somewhere out there, the way you connect with it is uniquely your own. The best religion for you is the one, or combination of many, that helps you make the best connection. This kind of tolerance for the beliefs of others is a Hindu idea, but one that was passed on to Buddhism.
Also keep in mind that the wise advice these four sages gave, and the religions that were later formed to worship the memory of each sage, were two very different things. All four told their followers to listen to them, not worship them, but people did just the opposite. Jodo Shinshu may have found the right balance in that we appreciate the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha, but worship Amida Buddha, who is in us all.
With all that in mind, let’s look at the afterlife, a major reason most people seek religion in the first place. The four sages split west and east on that topic. According to Muesse, Jesus promised eternal life in the Kingdom of God, while Muhammad promised a return to Paradise on earth. Note that neither one said anything about going up to live in some heaven after dying. That idea came later in both Christianity and Islam. No, Jesus and Muhammad were talking about a return to Eden, where humans would live the way God intended them to live. Our idea of the Pure Land is not so different. The Pure Land is something we can make on earth, here and now, if we live the right way. Besides, many people here think Hawaii is paradise on earth, or would be with a little less vog and traffic, and maybe cheaper gas.
Shakyamuni Buddha promised not an end to death, but an end to rebirth. In the Hindu world he lived in, it was accepted as fact that everyone already had eternal life. That was exactly the problem. There would always be some suffering in life, and who wanted that over and over forever? The Buddha taught how people could stop the endless cycle of rebirth and find true peace and happiness. Confucius also promised no blissful afterlife. He was more concerned about what you do with the life you are living now, as was the Buddha.
All four sages believed there was an absolute, or ultimate reality that was critical to human welfare. Call that absolute God, Allah, Buddha nature or Amida Buddha if you will. The sages again split west-east in their concept of that absolute. Jesus and Muhammad felt the absolute is God, but where Muhammad thought Allah was way beyond the comprehension of humans, Jesus portrayed a very approachable God, calling him abba, which translates to something like “daddy” not “father.”
Taking it a step further than Muhammad, Confucius and the Buddha thought the absolute was something beyond anything that could be described as a god. The name Amida Buddha seems to cover all those aspects of the absolute. It is at once a power beyond comprehension, yet inside us all like the Zen idea of Buddha nature, and as friendly and approachable as the “daddy” of Jesus.
All four sages taught what they thought most important. For Jesus and Muhammad that was simply the way of God. That is why Christians and Muslims, along with Jews, are called “people of the book.” They believe everything they need to know was handed down in a single book as the word of God. Read it and live it, end of discussion. For the majority of people in the world, that system works really well, and I kind of envy those who can believe in it. It really simplifies things.
Confucius was more concerned with moral virtue. If one had that, he believed, everything else would take care of itself. The Buddha taught the true nature of reality and of the self. It takes courage to follow the teachings of Shakyamuni Buddha. It isn’t always pleasant to really look at yourself and face up to reality. Most of us would rather not see things as they truly are, but sometimes the medicine you need most doesn’t taste all that great. Jodo Shinshu makes it a little easier by emphasizing Amida Buddha and the Pure Land. You need only have faith that you do have the power to hear and understand the Dharma, and that someday, someplace, you will.
So there you have it. Is Buddhism, is Jodo Shinshu the best religion for you? After all, you really do have a choice every day. Nobody else can make that choice for you.