Rimban George Matsubayashi  |  Reverend Usuki  |  Reverend Briones

BY RIMBAN GEORGE MATSUBAYASHI
JIHO JULY-AUGUST, 2004

As part of the Centennial Celebration of our Los Angeles Betsuin Buddhist Temple’s founding, we are constructing a Nokotsu-do where the remains of loved ones can be stored, and a small chapel where services can be conducted.

We purchased the lot adjoining the western side of our temple for this purpose in 1999.
Since then, five years have just flown by. During that time, dedicated members of our temple have worked fervently in planning construction of the “Muryokoju-do” (Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life), which is what the “Nokotsu-do” will be named, and “Wisteria Chapel.”

We held a Teiso-shiki, Groundbreaking Ceremony on September 28th of last year, after which we sought a city permit to construct the addition and solicited bids to select the construction company.

We received the permit from the city of Los Angeles on April 20th of this year. After carefully considering the four bids we received, we decided on “Toda America” as our contractor. 

The contract with “Toda America” was signed on April 28th of this year during our regular Sunday service, and a Kiko-shiki, Construction Kick-off Ceremony was held. The actual work was started the next day, the 26th. All construction is scheduled to be completed by June of 2005.

The tentative dates that we will celebrate our centennial are August 26, 27, 28 and 29 of next year. We are honored that the Monshu, Spiritual Leader of our Hongwanji, the Right Reverend Koshin Otani and his wife, Lady Noriko Otani have agreed to join us on this auspicious occasion. This is a rare and most unusual opportunity for you to greet the Spiritual Leader of our Buddhist denomination. You should make every effort to attend.

A trailer that serves as a temporary office for the construction crew has been placed in the construction area, and a wire fence has been built around the site. For five days, bulldozers repeatedly dug up the ground and replaced the dirt to prepare the site. I was told this is referred to as “soil reconstruction” and assures the ground is firm and capable of supporting the structure that will be constructed on top of it.
The work of laying the corner stones began the week after that. Holes were dug at strategic places and concrete was poured to support the structure. The holes were dug three feet deep and four feet square across, and lined with wooden siding in which iron bars were placed. Concrete was poured three feet deep and two feet above the ground.

They will last, hopefully, at least until our next centennial celebration. That’s the explanation I received from the construction foreman. While watching the structure beginning to take shape, I couldn’t help, but sensed a great arigatai feeling of gratitude.

What occurred to me then was: We have this magnificent Buddhist temple right in the middle of downtown Los Angeles to which an addition is now being built. Although I am unable to see the foundation on which our temple sits, that foundation clearly does exist.

I am not speaking only of the physical foundation, but the human foundation that caused a Buddhist organization to be established 99-years ago, that caused the original temple structure to be constructed on First and Central Streets 79-years ago, and that caused a new structure to be constructed as a Nembutsu dojo (*) in our present location 35 years ago which has been maintained ever since. How heavily I sensed the weight of my indebtedness to our predecessors for establishing this temple to which we are making an addition. Truly, they are the real unseen foundation on which our present temple rests.

***

The Obon season is presently upon us. The formal name for Obon is Urabon, which is transliteration of the Sanskrit word Ullambana meaning, “suffering the cruelty of being suspended upside down.”

This Obon celebration began in India, was transmitted to China from where it was brought to Japan, and has now found root in the United States. It is based on the story recounted in the “Urabon Sutra” (Urabon-kyo) about Mokuren and his mother.

After Mokuren’s mother passed away, he used his occult powers to discover where she was. To his surprise, he found her in the “Hell of Suffering by Being Suspended Up-side Down.”

While she was alive, Mokuren thought his mother was a very compassionate person who would be born in the Pure Land. Actually, however, his mother engaged in devious activities in order that Mokuren caused hardship for others, and that was why she was born where she was after leaving this world.

When Mokuren asked the Buddha for help, the Buddha told him to celebrate by helping others, and that became the cause for Mokuren’s mother being released from the “Hell of Being Suspended Up-side Down.” That was how Mokuren demonstrated filial piety and that is how we express our indebtedness to the Buddha and to our predecessors for everything that we presently have.

Incidentally, the word bon of Obon is considered to have the meaning of “tray.” It is used in two senses. The first use is as a utensil on which to serve food and drink, and the second as an object which is used to “save” those suffering in the “Hell of Being Suspended Up-side Down.” In any case, Obon is an article with which to serve others, and also an article on which to place something.

We, the children, grandchildren and succeeding generations of our predecessors are the ones who are placed on the Obon and supported so strongly in this life. Those serving us are the Buddha, and the virtue of our predecessors. We are firmly supported solely because of their efforts and compassion. Only because we were born and supported on such a firm foundation -- only because of the Obon on which we work and play--can we be considered a small part of the banquet served on the Obon.

By the time we celebrate our Centennial in the summer of 2005, the firm foundation on which our temple addition stands will no longer be seen. Rest assured, however, that from deep in the earth it will continue supporting the structure presently being built over it.

Without that foundation, neither the “Muryokoju-do” (Hall of Immeasurable Light and Life) nor the “Wisteria Chapel” could be built. Similarly, although the divine providence within which the Buddha cultivates us cannot be seen with our physical eyes, we would not be able to exist without it.

***

On both July 10th and 11th at 2:00 PM, we will conduct a special Hatsu-bon service in memory of the one-hundred-and-forty former members of our temple who passed onto the Pure Land this past year. The speakers in English are: Rev. Briones on Saturday;
Rev. Usuki on Sunday and in Japanese, Rimban Matsubayashi on both days. Our annual Obon Carnival will also be held on both of those days, starting at 3:00 PM. The very popular Obon Dance will start at 7:00 PM on the 10th (Saturday) and at 6:30 PM on the 11th (Sunday).

Our Urabon Service will be held the week after that, July 18th (Sunday). A Dharma Talk will be given in English at the service beginning at 10:00 AM and in Japanese beginning at 1:30 PM. The speaker for both services will be Minister Emeritus of the BCA, Reverend Kakuei Tada. I invite you all to attend.

Gassho.

____________________________

* Jodo-Shinshu temples were originally referred to as “dojos” in the same sense as the term is used today when referring to Judo Dojos and Karate Dojos. Accordingly, our temples are really places to “practice the Nembutsu.”

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BY REV. FUMIAKI USUKI
JIHO JULY-AUGUST, 2004

Sunday Dharma Message

This dharma message is from the Collection of Wartime Message now at the Japanese American Museum and was translated by Rev. Fumiaki Usuki.

Sunday Dharma Message Series
– No. 53

Fifty-Three Stages of Tokaido
(Goju San Tsugi)
By Rev. Daisho Tana

Dharma passage:
… in this fleeting world – this burning house – all matters without
exception are empty and false, totally without truth and sincerity.
The nembutsu alone is true and real.

– Tannisho

If I say, “Today is April 1,” then everyone would immediately say “April Fool.”
Therefore, thinking that you’re going to be fooled, you would be suspicious of everything you heard today. But for myself, at least, and not only today, I wish someone would yell out “April Fool” to the nightmare of a war that began on December 7, 1941, the three years of being incarcerated in the camps, those Nikkei soldiers who died in battle, and the closure of the relocation centers. It would be just fine if someone told us that it was all just a joke that never happened.

So we come to realize that it is not only today that we are distrustful of everything that happened after the war. When I thought about this, Shinran Shonin’s Dharma passage came to mind. Four years ago, in a camp where there were no children, I wrote this dharma message recalling the happy faces of the Sunday school children. I thought of those three years before the start of the war when I had the privilege of seeing the children’s faces. Now the pretty daughter may be a beautiful bride and the young rascal, a fine young man. I was also shocked to hear that even Mamoru Kikuno has become an adult and has grown to 5 feet 2 inches tall.

And yet, if I give a Dharma talk to the children as I remember them, then someone might look at me with a strange reaction. So, I thought, if we count the Sundays from today to next March, we will have fifty-three Sundays. Then I recalled from a reading from the Garland Sutra about a young man, Zenzai Doji, who traveled through Fifty-Three Stages in his Buddhist practice. From this story, the famous Fifty-Three Stages (rest stops) of the Tokaido, long ago the main highway from Edo to Kyoto, came to be.

The name “Zenzai” of Zenzai Doji comes from a passage: “We accumulate good virtues from our parents and make it our treasure (zenzai) in life.” Your name also may contain the hopes and dreams of your parents. Just as with you, Zenzai’s realization of the hardships of human existence did not become clear until he had become a fine young man. From this realization he decided to travel the path to become a good person. 

First, he went to a temple in a town south of Gionshoja and listened to Manjusri Bodhisattva’s Dharma talk. As in the expression, “Manjusri’s wisdom will transmit even to a gathering of three,” hearing the Buddha-dharma from the very famous bodhisattva, Zenzai was so awakened that he declared, “I don’t even have such wonderful treasure like your name.” 

Zenzai then said to Manjusri, “Dear Manjusri, ever since I was an infant, because my name was Zenzai, I believed that I was a good person. Now, I understand that I am not such a good person. One reason is that when I was a child I would play with a pretty girl and in the evening I would say, ‘Goodbye, I will see you tomorrow,’ and we would part. When I got home I would forget about her completely and go to sleep. Now today, if I meet a beautiful woman, I cannot wait until tomorrow, and I wish to be with her all night. Not only that, anything I see and hear is something that gets in the way of what I want. I am constantly getting frustrated. Sometimes, I even put up a wall between myself and my parents who have raised me. Even though I know this is not right, I cannot do anything about my foolish heart. Manjusri, how can I become a kind person?” This was his request.

Manjusri said to Zenzai, “Son, in order for you to truly become like your name (treasure), simply walk the path guided by a teacher.” Fortunately, south of here in Karakukoku there is “kudokuumbiku” (monk) who can teach you. Listen and learn from what he has to say. Taking the suggestion, Zenzai left. When he reached the destination, he was then referred to a “kaiunbiku” (monk) further to the south. He continued to travel south from one place to another learning from one teacher and another. Finally, at the fifty-third stop, that of the Bodhisattva Samantabhadra, Zenzai deeply realized that the true meaning of “good virtue” is to trust wholeheartedly in the Dharma and be born in the Pure Land.

At a certain point while we are growing up, we have a tendency to doubt everything that people tell us. And just as though we were infants who do not seem to need to rely on parents, we say things like “Mom, I don’t believe you, and Dad, the same.” Not only this, there are times when we don’t trust our own lives and existence. If we bring this doubting mind to where we listen to the Dharma, we cannot attain the true treasure. It is this doubting mind that thinks Sunday school is useless. Just like the obedient Zenzaidoji who continuously followed instructions and lived life sincerely, one can become a true Nembutsu practicer. 

So, no matter how old we are, let us become children of the Buddha and with obedient minds follow the next 53 stages of Sunday school.

Gassho.

April 1, 1945

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BY REV. WILLILAM BRIONES
JIHO JULY-AUGUST, 2004

Tannisho … Chapter 5


The season of Obon is upon us … it’s a time for carnival games, food, bon odori, and of course a time to be with our friends and family. 

Obon is certainly a time to have fun, but Obon too is especially another opportunity for all of us to listen and reflect upon the Dharma.

Obon is a time to pay tribute to our loved ones who have passed away. It is a time for us to reflect upon all that continues to influence our lives and those benefits we have received from the lives of others. It is a time to express our gratitude for being given those conditions to live this life. It is an opportunity to truly reflect upon my life and it is with this understanding that we visit the graves of our loved ones and attend memorial services. So, when we visit the cemetery and conducting memorial services, it is no more than an expression of the gratitude that arises when we embrace the Truth of those causes and conditions of your life.

Yet the story of Bon Odori as an attempt to appease or petition the “gods” and the tale that Obon is a time to welcome our ancestors back for a reunion with the living is continued to be perpetuated every year during the Obon season by many newspapers and even misinformed members.

The above reading I began with is from Chapter 5 of the Tannisho. Here
Shinran expressed his view towards filial piety towards his parents, in other words ancestral worship. Prior to and during Shinran’s time it was customary to hold services, build temples and statues, chant sutras and recite the Nembutsu for the sake of those who had passed on, in the hope of increasing their merits and securing for them a higher and happier state of existence. Shinran felt that these practices were superficial and unimportant. He discouraged the idea of saying Nembutsu to gain merit for other beings, even for the sake of ones parents.

In Jodo Shinshu, Obon is a time to contemplate on impermanence as shown by departed ones, and it is also a time for self-reflection and a time for rejoicing in the Nembutsu.

And it is this overwhelming sense of joy and gratitude that is the source for dancing during Obon.

So if you have an opportunity to attend an Obon festival in the coming weeks, have fun and enjoy the food, games and the company of friends and family. But please take a moment and reflect upon all that continues to influence your life and those benefits that you have received from the lives of others. In doing so, one can’t help but be overcome by Joy, and it is this joy that manifest in bon odori.

Namo Amida Butsu

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Copyright © 2004  by Nishi Hongwanji L.A.