LIGHT of DHARMA April, 2019 Vol. 1, No. 4 仏法の光 Buddhist Church of San Francisco 1881 Pine St., San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 776-3158 buddhistchurchofsanfrancisco.org Rev. Duncan Ryken William Introduces American Sutra to BCSF and the Day of Remembrance At BCSF on Feb. 17th, Rev. Duncan Williams delivered a dharma talk introducing his new book American Sutra: A Story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World War. The discovery of notes written by his mentor’s father, Rev. Shinj Nagatomi, a minister of the Manzanar Buddhist Church and before that of BCSF, launched Rev. Williams’ seventeen year journey to write American Sutra. Rev. Williams was honored to be giving a Dharma talk in the same hondo as Rev. Nagatomi. (Right) Rev. Duncan Williams showed a slide (Left) of Rev. Nagatomi officiating a service at Manzanar in 1943, before an interfaith monument inscribed with the kanji for I-Rei- To, “Monument to Venerate the Spirits of the Deceased.” (Left) Later, that afternoon at the annual Day of Remembrance interfaith event, sponsored by JARF, Rev. Williams read a poem called “Parting” by Nyogen Senzaki, a Zen priest in LA, which he considered an “American Sutra” as he would characterize the stories of Japanese American Buddhists. (Right) The program concluded with a vigil from the theater to the JCCCNC building. Visit: https://www.duncanryukenwilliams.com Buddhist Church of San Francisco April 2019 Light of Dharma Light of Dharma (formerly titled “Geppo”) is a monthly newsletter of the Buddhist Church of San Francisco. Please send any communications for Light of Dharma to:
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