OBON FESTIVAL The - Higashi Honganji Buddhist Temple

HIGASHI HONGANJI BUDDHIST TEMPLE
NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Los Angeles, CA
Permit No. 24616
505 East Third Street
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 626-4200 - FAX (213) 626-6850
Way
Address Service Requested
The
Vol. 62, No. 7
July 2010
TEMPLE SCHEDULE
July
24
OBON FESTIVAL
25 11:00am Obon/Hatsubon
Service
25
OBON FESTIVAL
August
1 10:00am Shotsuki Service
8 10:00am Sunday Service
15 10:00am Sunday Service
22 10:00am Sunday Service
29 10:00am Sunday Service
11:30am Betsuin Family Day
OBON
FESTIVAL
July 24th & 25th
12:00pm - 9:00pm
Theme:
Obon Service
Rev. Nobuko Miyoshi
It is amazing how time flies. Obon is
already just around the corner. From the
end of June, the whole Betsuin gears up
for the Obon Festival. You can already
see members of the Obon committee
working hard to make this year’s Obon
festival another successful one. Each
member is concerned about the festival,
therefore, the main topic of conversation
is naturally about Obon, making sure the
schedule for set up, work shifts, food
preparation are all worked out.
I still remember the first year I experienced the Obon Festival at the Betsuin.
For me, Obon was the time when members visited their family’s burial place
and perhaps dropped by the temple
afterwards. During Obon my parents
were busy conducting short memorial
services in front of gravesites, so whenever members came into our temple, it
was my sister and my duty to welcome
them and serve tea and sweets. This was
my experience of Obon in Japan. It was
not the time for a festival. Therefore, the
Obon Festival really astonished me, and
I was quite overwhelmed by the whole
atmosphere that the festival had. I felt
the temple was really lively and full of
energy. Since then, I have become a big
fan of the Obon Festival.
However, I have also come to understand that planning the festival is
very consuming. A successful Obon
Festival always depends on the selfless
support and devotion of many people.
I truly admire those who take vacation
time to help set up and work countless
hours to make our Obon a success. And
after a long exhaustive and hectic day
under the heat of summer, sometimes
we wonder if we can continue, yet by
the end of the festival, under the hundreds of lanterns, we see big and bright
smiles on our faces. There is no doubt
that Obon time makes us feel a strong
connection to the temple, and makes us
aware of our responsibility to maintain
the temple by carrying on the traditions
we have received.
There are two parts to the Obon
festival at our temple. Of course one
(Please see OBON, page 3)
The Way
Page 2
Betsuin News
Dads & Grads Family
Service & Luncheon
Sunday, June 20th, we wished our
dads a “Happy Father’s Day!” and
our grads a “Congratulations!” We
celebrated with a service dedicated to
our dads and grads and special luncheon afterward. Elaine Harada gave
a special message dedicated to the dads
and Rinban Ito gave a short message to
our graduates. We recognized several
members graduating from kindergarten,
middle school, college, and graduate
school.
Jr. YBA members took lunch orders
for the luncheon before and during
service. After service, all of the meals
were ready! We enjoyed sandwiches
with fancy ingredients like tri-tip, honey
ham or hot dogs and hamburgers with
a variety of toppings and condiments to
choose from. Everyone had their choice
of side dishes—freshly fried french fries,
potato salad from Bachan’s Takeout,
pickles, or carrot sticks. The meal was
fun and enjoyable for everyone in attendance.
Special thanks to Jr. YBA for hosting the luncheon, Elaine Harada for her
special Father’s day message, and Kisa
Ito for chairing service.
August Services
The Higashi Betsuin will be conducting Sunday Services each weekend
throughout the month of August, however, there will be no Dharma School.
We welcome you to join us for services
in August.
SUBMISSION DEADLINE!
Submissions for The Way are due the
15th of each month for the following
month’s issue. Articles and announcements for our September Issue are due
August 15th, 2010. Submissions may
be subject to printing restrictions and
staff approval. Thank you and we look
forward to hearing from you!
E-Mail
info@hhbt-la.org
class of 2010
Kindergarten
Katey Kamimura
Lumbini Child Development Center
Rinako Osa
Lumbini Child Development Center
Emile Olgin
Pasadena Waldorf School
Middle School
Mariea Sekijima
Jack F. Macy Intermediate
Sean Kitayama
South Pointe Middle School
Ken Nakasone
La Cañada Middle School
College
Steve Toyoshima
Cal Poly Pomona
Bachelors in Architecture
Laura Yamashiro
Loyola Marymount University
Bachelors in Education
Graduate School
Robert Fukumoto
University of Southern California
Masters in Public Policy
Heather Toyoshima
California State University, Fullerton
Masters in Elementary Education
congratulations Graduates!
The Way
(OBON, con’t. from page 1)
part is the festival. It is the fun part
that is appealing to many people and
gives them an opportunity to feel the
atmosphere of a Buddhist temple. The
other part is focusing on what ‘Obon’
is. It is the time for us to realize all of
the causes and conditions that enable
us to be here at this moment. It is also
a time to reflect upon all of the people
who have been part of the history of
our temple. Therefore, this festival has
more meaning for each of us than merely
a summer festival or cultural event. I
believe receiving the meaning of Obon
drives us to have kept this event going
for over fifty years. And this is the reason
why we have Obon/Hatsubon service
and Manto-e service in the midst of the
festival.
Obon/Hatsubon service is conducted on Sunday morning, and Manto-e service takes place on both days right before
Bon Odori. During the Obon/Hatsubon
service, over forty Dharma Names stand
next to each other on the front of the
altar. The service is quite a contrast to
the festival. It is far from fun. Rather,
we are having it with a sense of sorrow
and tears. It is hard to accept the passing
of a loved one especially for those who
had to experience it just recently. Some
may be struggling with a sense of loss.
Others may keep themselves busy in
order not to feel such sorrow and pain.
Facing the reality of losing our loved
ones is too harsh; therefore, we often
make efforts not to think about it. Dealing with our daily routine or devoting
ourselves to our work sometimes helps
us to avoid coping with the loss of our
loved ones.
However, by attending the Hatsubon service, we are given time to
remember our loved ones. It seems that
the service almost forces us to recall the
passing of our loved ones with unbearable pain and sadness. One may wonder
why we have to. What message should
we receive on the occasion of Obon?
When we cry and feel grief toward
the passing of a loved one, it shows us
how invaluable and irreplaceable the
person was. Unfortunately, the passing
of our loved one is the time we realize
this truth. The experience of the loss
of our loved one is the hardest way to
realize how much the person was a part
of our love and life. The more natural it
is to be with the person, the more suffering we have to go through when we
lose that person.
The Obon service is a time to remind
us of the pain and grief we experienced
when our loved one passed away. However, that is not the only reason why we
have the service. The Obon service gives
us an opportunity to realize the other
fact that we sometimes forget. It is the
fact that each of us is also invaluable and
precious to our loved ones. There is a
saying, “We, who are concerned about
our loved ones, should realize that it is
our loved ones who continue to care for
us.” This shows us that although we
want to do something for our loved ones,
we are the ones who continue to receive
lessons from them. In other words, when
we realize how much we love them and
care for them, we might naturally think
that the Obon service is a time for us to
do something good for them. We might
think we are able to transfer merit or
good deeds through the service for the
sake of our loved ones. On the other
hand, once we are truly awakened to
the fact that we are cared for and are
receiving deep and profound wishes
from them, the meaning of the service
transforms into a precious occasion of
appreciation and gratitude.
Moreover, those teachings and
wishes are constantly around us. In this
sense, Obon is not the only opportunity
for us to reflect on their lives. We can
receive and listen to them anytime and
anywhere. Yet, in reality, we hardly do
so. We ignore the teachings that we
are supposed to listen to or refuse the
wishes from our loved ones that we
should receive. Obon, therefore, is not
just one time out of the year that our
descendants come back from their place
as most Japanese traditionally believe in,
but it is the time for us to realize how we
ignore the wishes that continue to come
to us through the lives of our loved ones,
and we are able to receive and listen to
them as teachings of Buddha.
Our descendants and loved ones’
entire lives and their very existence become wishes and teachings which will
affect our own lives. I truly believe that
it is the time of Obon that enables us to
be aware of the wishes and to receive
Page 3
their lives as precious teachings. On the
other hand, when we try not to think
about them in order for us to escape
from the pain and grief, we also keep
them away from us and refuse to listen
to their wishes and teachings. It is only
natural that remembering our loved ones
will bring us pain and grief, yet through
the process we come to encounter their
lives as teachings.
When we are able to deeply accept
and appreciate what we are receiving
from our loved ones, we are able to
finally see them and truly respect them
as our teachers. The wishes and teachings we receive will influence our own
lives and encourage us to live our lives
as precious moments.
Wishes, aspirations, and teachings
are always around us. They are like
the sound of the gentle breeze slightly
rustling the Manto-e lanterns in the sky.
They are so subtle that we can easily
miss or forget them, yet they ceaselessly
reach to us. Attending Obon service is
just like stopping, closing our eyes, and
feeling the breeze with all of our senses
and body.
Our deepest condolences
to the family and relatives of …
Mrs. Margaret Teruko Ikeda (90)
May 28, 2010
Mr. Takehiko Yamamoto (66)
June 1, 2010
Mrs. Kimiko Nakaba (87)
June 2, 2010
Mr. Paul Natsuo Takashima (66)
June 4, 2010
Mr. William Hidemitsu Nakanishi (43)
June 13, 2010
Namu Amida Butsu
visit our website at
www.hhbt-la.org
The Way
Page 4
LUMBINI CORNER
CLASS OF 2010
PRESCHOOL
Gregory Carrillo
Amelly Kim
Kylie Lam
Morgan Ogata
Chase Shimohara
Justin Tyler Tan
Lila Tsang
KINDERGARTEN
Ryan Kai Giberti
Gavin Ho
Katey Mieko Kamimura
Romi Kojima
Emily Lam
Lillie May Mudge
Rinako Osa
Russell Jun Sasaki
Nicholas Swim
Manto-E Lanterns
Orders are now being accepted for
Manto-e Lanterns for our Annual Obon
Festival. Each lantern costs $15.00. if
you have not received an order form,
they are available in the temple office.
Please call to reserve your lantern at
your earliest convenience.
June is an exciting and sad month
for us at Lumbini. We are very proud
of our new graduates who have learned
and accomplished so much during their
time with us, but we are sad that they’ll
be moving on to new schools. We’ll miss
all of our preschool and kindergarten
graduates!
Be sure to come see us at Obon! We’ll
be performing on stage on Sunday with
the help of our friends from hereandnow
and hope you’ll come join in on the fun!
We will be hosting the Moon Bounce
and Dessert booths, so come visit us
there also and support Lumbini! See
you at Obon!
Fujima Kansei
Odori Kai
Summer is a busy time for odori
as we all prepare for our summer performances. At Higashi’s Obon, all the
girls ranging from age 2 to adult will be
performing for our home crowd. Some
of our newest and littlest girls will be
dancing for the first time and look forward to sharing what they have learned.
Be sure to come see our performance
on Saturday, July 24th at the Higashi
Honganji Obon Festival!
Obon Parking
Obon Gift Certificates
Parking will be available at the
Medical Building on 3rd Street across
from the temple at 420 E. 3rd Street, LA
90013. The lot entrance is on Boyd Street.
Higashi Honganji Obon visitors will
receive a discounted maximum daily
fee of $5.00 plus a complimentary Obon
raffle ticket valued at $2.00. In order
to receive your discount voucher and
raffle ticket, please bring your stub to
the Raffle Booth at the entrance to our
Obon Festival.
Obon gift certifcates can be purchased for $5.00 each. They are great to
give to friends and family to use over
the weekend. Gift certificates can be
used toward the purchase of food at our
Obon only and are available through the
temple office.
Obon Performances
SATURDAY
hereandnow
Chikara Daiko
Live 4 Today
Fujima Kansei Odori Kai
TAIKOPROJECT
Bodhi Tree
Bombu Taiko • Kitsune Taiko SUNDAY
Kinnara Taiko
Lumbini Child Development Center
Ko Matsumoto Mixed Martial Arts
USA Sumo
June Kuramoto
Bombu Taiko • Kitsune Taiko for a detailed schedule,
please see our website
www.hhbt-la.org