The Right Time Is Now
Calendar
Father’s Day/Mother’s Day and Rennyo Shonin Hoyo
Hatsubon
Thank you! to Roberta Cook for teaching the Obon dances. The Obon dance practice schedule is as follows:
Saturday, June 21: 1 pm – 3 pm
Friday, July 11: 6:30 pm – 8:30 pm
Friday, July 18: 6:30 pm – 7:30 pmAll practices will be held at the temple.
The Shotsuki Hoyo Memorial Service 祥月法要
| MR. HIROSHI FUKUSHIMA MR. DAINOJO ITO MR. KIICHIRO KATO MR. YASUSABURO NARUSE MR. SHINTARO HARUKI MRS. MITSU HARUKI MRS. SUDE YONEDA MISS FUMIKO FUKAMAKI MR. SHIGEZO KOGA MRS. ISO NAKASHIMA THE EEJIMA FAMILY MRS. SAKI INOUYE MRS. SHIKA NISHIHARA MR. ROBERT FUJII |
MR. TORAKICHI KONO MR. YAICHI TSUNODA MR. YOICHI OCHI MR. TAKASHI MORISHITA MR. KEISUKE YANAGIHARA MRS. MINE KUROZUMI MRS. KUMA TABATA MR. JOE TABATA MR. SHIGERU EEJIMA MRS. MACHIE MORIHISA MR. AKIRA YAMADA MR. JOSEPH ICHIRO WATANABE MR. TOSHIYUKI BABA MRS. MIYOKO YANAGIHARA |
Treasurer’s Report on Donations
Setsuko Furuike $2485
The temple gratefully acknowledges the following donations:
Special Donations
Monday Qigong (April) Dennis Ito
Memorial Service
M/M Dennis Furuike (S. Arima, T. Muneno, K. Morihisa)
Reiko Takeuchi (Nami Ikeura)
The Muneno Family (Tomiye Muneno)
M/M Tadashi Kamei (Hirose Nakashimo)
Fumi Suzuki (Yonekichi Inouye)
M/M Donald Muneno (Tomiye Muneno)
Hanamatsuri
Tamako Nishimura
Gotan e
M/M Dennis Furuike
JJ Uyehara
Marcia Warrecker
Mary Saito
Tamako Nishimura
Obon
Lonny Ishihara
Church News
May Service Recap
Rev JP explained how to meditate and concentrate on the bell calling us in. He noted how we were here, in this place, because of those that came before us, leading us to be here in this time and place. He remembered that when he was in the main temple HQ, he and all those before him had sat and chanted in the hall, with the words being absorbed by the temple walls. Thank you to Christophe Sautot for recording the May service! You can view it here: https://www.facebook.com/SBBuddhist/ The message was viewed 44 times already. My favorite part is to just listen to the beginning kansho bell — very soothing.
OBON News
Thank you to Jodi Miles who is spearheading the Obon event on July 19, starting at 1 pm. She has been busy inviting organizations to participate. And, thank you to Roberta Cook who has arranged for dance practices. Come and join in the practices!
The Dancing and demonstrations such as taiko will be outside in the parking area, but we will also have tables inside with Japanese wares. Bonsai Club will show their bonsai on the stage area.
If you’d like to assist, please contact Jodi Miles, miles.jodi@gmail.com or mail@buddhistchurchofsantabarbara.org
NISHI HONGWANJI
The Jodo Shinshu headquarters where our ministers are trained is in Kyoto, Nishi Hongwanji. JJ and Doug Wilson recently visited the temple. This very welcoming sign was at the entrance as well as a washing station. If you’d like more information on the Kyoto Main temple, they have a webpage, of course! https://www.hongwanji.kyoto/en/
DHARMA MESSAGE: Teachers All Around Us
It’s final exams season, so here is a brief quiz:
1. Who was the highest paid actress in 2024?
2. What is Elon Musk’s net worth?
3. Who has the most followers on Instagram?
If you’re like me, you did not know the answers off the top of your head. They are: 1) Nicole Kidman, 2) $386bn, 3) Soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo.
Here’s another quiz. Who is a teacher that…
1. … taught you to love a discipline you thought you hated?
2. … saw and treated you as a whole person, not just a name on a roster?
3. … taught you a lesson you still use today?
I am confident that the second quiz was probably easier! For me, the answers are: 1) My 12th grade math teacher Mr. Spelta, 2) my 12th grade AP Literature teacher Mrs. Sand, 3) Rev. Dean Koyama who opened an Ohigan seminar with this activity back in 20141.
Koyama Sensei pointed out that as a society, we place value on wealth, fame, and celebrity. But how much do those really matter to you as an individual, as evidenced by the difficulty of the first quiz?
Teachers, however, leave valuable imprints on our lives that shape us long after we leave their classrooms, as evidenced by the ease of the second quiz.
In Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, a good dharma teacher is one who helps clarify true reality for us—a reality of the oneness of all life and that our spiritual liberation is assured through the working of Great Compassion. In the Jodo Wasan (or Hymns of the Pure Land), Shinran writes:
And difficult for them to instruct.
It is difficult to hear the teaching well,
And more difficult still to accept it.
These difficulties stem not from any fault of the teacher, but rather our bonno (blind passions) that cloud our perceptions. Our greed, anger, and aversion prevent us from grasping the precious lesson that despite, or precisely because of, our bonno the dynamic activity of infinite wisdom and compassion guides and supports us tirelessly without discrimination. When we open our hearts and minds we find that true dharma teachers are all around us as Rev. Dr. David Matsumoto poetically wrote in the Feb. 2022 Wheel of Dharma:
Others may be the voices of our parents, spouses, children, or friends.
They may be the voices of the homeless, the disabled, or the oppressed.
Or, we may hear the Dharma in the voice of a flower.
Thank you all for being my dharma teachers.