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A TSDBT Monthly Publication A TSDBT Monthly Publication Volume XXXVIII, Issue XI December 2018 Special Event of the Month Sanbutsu-Ge (3) • Sunday, Dec. 30, 2018 #3. The countenance of the Tathagata • YBA Mochi Tsuki Is unequaled in the world; The great voice of the Perfectly Enlightened One • You can order for Resounds throughout the ten quarters. eating, OR • You can come out to “San-Butsu-Ge” is admiration by Dharmakara of Lokesvararaja Buddha. At this time, the Buddha was shining and glorious. Dharmakara praises the Buddha’s unusually beautiful help in production! feature analytically, without asking the Buddha. In other words, the Buddha is gloriously shining in front of Dharmakara and he understands why the Buddha is beautiful. Inside this issue: Dharmakara’s expectation is big because the Buddha will share the ultimate Dharma Rev. Fujii’s message 1 that surely contains the virtues as follows: 2019 Sakura Matsuri 1 Ultimate Dharma which comes out from deep meditation and wide breadth Rev. Thompson’s Ultimate Dharma penetrates to its farthest end message 2 Ultimate Dharma is freed from anger, greed, and ignorance Arigato Gozaimasu 2 Ultimate Dharma is beyond all men Virtues in Ultimate Dharma are unlimited. Japanese Article 3 Temple When we see a person crying in front of us, without knowing why, we understand Greeting deadline 3 nothing about the scene. Thanks to Dharmakara’s analysis of wisdom, now we can YBA Invitation to 4 know what’s going on. Mochi Tsuki & Mochi Order form The Dharma is called “Supreme Dharma” or “Ultimate Dharma” or “Pure Land of Amida Buddha.” It is not necessary for us to find ultimate Dharma by ourselves. It is not Dharma School 5 necessary for us to practice any. Everything is already there and we are already in Events there. That’s why we listen to the Dharma; when we listen to the Dharma to find ourselves carefully and seriously, we hear something. It is the essence of Wisdom and BWA Events 5 Compassion. That’s why “listening and hearing” is essential in Jodo-Shin-Shu or Amida’s Teaching. MSD Thank Yous 5 In Gassho, October Offerings 6 Rev. Doei Fujii December Shotsuki 7 Names June 22 & 23, 2019: Save the Date for CBF! Jan 2019 calendar 8 Dec 2018 calendar 9 TS/DBT and Sakura Foundation are looking forward to the 47th Annual Cherry Blossom Festival, which will be held on June 22 and 23, 2019. We are very grateful to the many BCA/Federation of 10 dedicated volunteers who continue to make the festival a Must-See Event of the summer! Please mark your calendar and share the date with friends and family so they Buddhist Women’s can experience our great cultural festival filled with entertainment, food and Association Ask fun! Questions? Contact Stacey Shigaya, Sakura Foundation Program Director at Page 2 Monthly Salutations from Rev. Diana Thompson Hello everyone, welcome to December! We have when we awaken the aspiration for connection; the reached the end of another year and find ourselves connection to ourselves and to life as it truly is. in the midst of that very busy time known as the ‘Thus, in “hearing”/ “awakening”, these are ‘holiday season’. There are many observances and experienced simultaneously; hearing is to hear the traditions, both religious and secular, which occur call of true and real life to return to the home of in the months of November and December and are homes, and to respond with one’s whole being to occasions when we set aside time to get together that call, following it until one has arrived home. with our friends and family. We visit with loved This call is Namo-Amida-Butsu.’ ones whom we see often, but also those who, And so, as we wrap up this year with our various through distance or circumstance, we don’t see as parties or other gatherings, we should take time to often as we would like to. I think that these stop and appreciate the many connections that ‘homecoming’ moments are my favorite part of the brought us to where we are. The people holiday season. After high school and into my twenties, I moved surrounding us are part of who we are and because around a lot. Sometimes it was for school, of them, we come closer to understanding the sometimes it was out of sheer wanderlust, and infinite web that ties us to all things. As we come though I always liked where I was living, when the closer to this understanding, we come closer to holidays came around I always looked forward to Amida’s Pure Land and can begin to hear the call travelling home. I enjoyed being in a warm, of the infinite more clearly. Namo Amida Butsu familiar place with warm, familiar people and I liked the excitement and joy that came from seeing ‘Collected Works of Shinran’, vol.2, p. 189-190 people that I hadn’t seen in a long time. The call of home was strong at this time of year and any time I was unable to make it home, the holidays felt cold and gloomy. This is because the call of home is the call of my heart. It is the call of the people who know me just as I am and who still love me, foibles Thank you to the following volunteers who mailed out last and all. It is the call of the places where my month’s newsletter: Mary Jane Okamatsu, Judy Smith, Kay memories reside. Takahashi, Mabel Googins and Michiko Kajiwara. This ‘heart call’ is not unlike the call of the infinite, the call of Amida Buddha from the Pure Thank you to Sakura Square, LLC for annually budgeting a Land of enlightenment, urging us to awaken to our substantial monetary donation to TSDBT; this money is true selves. The call is always there and yet we vital for the TSDBT operating budget – we cannot keep seldom hear it because we are not paying attention. our doors open without this commitment. The call of home when I lived away was similar to Thank you to Yoko Mooney who donated to BCA this. There might be brief periods of homesickness through a shared funds program which, in turn, shared but largely I lived my day to day life without any some of her donation with TSDBT. serious longing for home, though my friends and family were always present somewhere in my Thank you to Wayne Berve who volunteers as the mind. However, when big occasions would come Temple’s “on-call building maintenance guy”. Just in the up like holidays or birthdays, I heard and felt that past month, he has assisted in general (but abundant) call very clearly and would respond by making cleaning, getting the Hondo heated, freezer maintenance travel plans or at least phone calls so that I could and outdoor lighting unit repair. While attending the MSD be connected somehow to my home. The call of conference, Wayne also helped make the sound system Amida is also the call of home. It is the call that available for meetings in the auditorium. Wayne is always beckons us and though we are vaguely aware of its calm and accepting when receiving requests and questions; presence, we never truly hear it until the moment we (the office) are most grateful for this attitude 「鉄の手錠」と「金の手錠」 警官が二人の殺人犯を逮捕して言った。「お前は貧乏人だから、鉄の手錠だ」と。片やもう一人には「お前は財産家 だから、金の手錠だ」と言ったとする。二人の末路は同じとはいえ、はたして「俺には鉄の手錠か！」と貧乏人はな げき、「俺様には金の手錠とは！」と財産家は喜ぶのだろうか？一たび手錠をかけられればもう自由に動き回ること は出来ない。自由を失いその後は牢獄行きとなり死刑への不安・心配・恐れが湧き出るばかりではないだろうか。手 錠が鉄であろうが金の手錠であろうが、おなじことではないか。 私達の姿を仏法から観ればいつも不安・心配・恐れから逃れられない相（すがた）だと観る。例えば、人は田（財 産）の無いことをいつも憂いている。金が無ければ食っては行けない・惨めな生活となり・飢え死にするしかないで はないかと心はいつも穏やかではない。片や、人は田あれば田あることを憂う。財産が有れば死ぬのが怖い・管理に 費用がいる・相続はどうしようかと不安・心配・恐れがつきない。田有れば憂い・田無ければ憂う。どっちみち二者 には心の安らぎがない。それらの苦悩の源を仏法は「有無（うむ）に囚われているからだ」と言う。 貧乏人が悪く、長者が良いといっているのではない。財の有る・無しには罪がない。財の有無に囚われて憂いながら 日々を過ごさねばならないような暗い心が問題なのです。「有無への心の囚われ」が人生を滅茶苦茶にする恐ろしさ を仏法は教えているのです。このような私たちの姿を「苦集（くじゅう）」と言い表します。本気で苦悩や憂いを集 めている姿のことです。 さて、話は少々横道へそれます。考えてみてください。人間は豊かな生活を願い求めて今日まで歩んできた。貧乏よ りも豊かさを求めて来た。だが、私達は幸せに成ったのだろうか？むしろ日々心配や不安を抱えて過ごしているので はなかろうか？仏法の教え示すところは財の有無のことではなく、有無に囚われる心のことである。「有無に囚われ ている以上は幸福はない」と教える。言い換えれば、私達は「鉄の手錠」を嫌い「金の手錠」を求めているような姿 なのかも知れない。 何とも仏法の教えるところは非現実的なようにきこえる。だが、実際に有無を離れた体験を持つ人は「仏法の教える ことの方が本当だ」と言うに違いない。有無を離れた人はそこに静かな・深く・広い幸福があることを知っているか らである。幸せを知っている人には「鉄の手錠」と「金の手錠」も実に愚かしいことに観えるに違いない。「鉄の手 錠」と「黄金の手錠」が違うようにみえる人はいまだに有無に囚われているのであり、二つの手錠が同じようにみえ る人はすでに有無の邪見を離れている人なのだろう。 「有無の邪見（間違った、よこしまな物の見方）を破（は）すのが仏法の大きな働きの一つなのです。 合掌、 藤井道栄 Send Your New Year Greetings Through The Temple Newsletter Do you participate in the yearly tradition of mailing out New Year’s greetings to your family and (write your text) friends? Well, believe it or not, NOW is the time to begin thinking about those heartfelt missives. The Temple offers you a perfect delivery system - the January 2019 issue of Temple Reflections. For a mere fee of $5, you can convey your New Year wishes to the entire Sangha in a single mailing. ☺ (you can also email your submission to [email protected]) Please submit your message (in writing) to the Temple Office by Monday, December 10th, for With love from,, publication in the January 2019 issue. Include your desired ‘sign off’ wording (i.e. in gassho, from, love, -, etc.) and name(s). (your name(s) here) Page 4 TSDBT YBA MochiTsuki News Mochitsuki will take place on Sunday, December 30, 2018 starting around 7:00 am and continuing until we finish. As always, the YBA appreciates any volunteers who would like to help out! [“help” means showing up, ready to steam, roll, shape, brush, weigh, pack . training is available on-site. Clean-up roles are always an option. Laughter may be mandatory. Participation is never regrettable- always memorable.] Pre-order prices are $6 per pound for regular and $5 per pound for seniors (65 and older). Okasane sets are $5 each. Your order must be received by Sunday, Dec. 9th. Extra mochi may be available for walk-up orders, however, quantities will be limited and prices will increase to $7 per pound for regular and $6 per pound for seniors.
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