0

Happy New Year – V3.0

K. Ken Fujimoto

As we welcome another New Year, we, as a temple, need to do what many people as individuals and as families do at this time of year. We need to look back at the events of the past year and evaluate the successes and identify the areas where improvement can be made. Even if things seem to be going well, we cannot afford to let things go without some evaluation or things begin to lose focus and meaning. Whether it is nominal or extensive, we need to do look at that which we have changed and the things that have stayed the same.

We began the New Year with a change in 2008. We had our installation for our Betsuin Board and the cabinets of the affiliated organizations on our New Year’s Day service. The installation and the volunteer recognition were separated from the Ho-onko service because Ho-onko, the memorial for Shinran Shonin, should be the single, most important service of the year in our tradition. We felt that it would be better to have fewer things going on so the emphasis could be placed on Shinran and his teachings during Ho-onko.

This change, not only helped us focus on the Shinran and the Nembutsu teaching, but it also enabled us to have the officers of all of our organizations installed at the beginning of the year and the general membership was given the opportunity to see who some of our temple leaders are. There were some glitches in the logistics of the installation, but we will address those from now on.

Similarly, separating our volunteer recognition from Ho-onko and coupling it with the BWA Dana Day service, stressed an often overlooked aspect of Dana and it actually place a greater emphasis on those who are being recognized. Combining services and other events may seem like a good idea and it does make things “easier,” but ease and simplicity at the cost of meaning and significance is not a good trade. To communicate the significance of an observance is more meaningful than just having it for the sake of “having it.”

Another event that we separated this past year was the Hatsubon and Obon services. There were so many families observing their Hatsubon, the first Obon service after the loss of a family member, that it made it virtually impossible for those attending our services regularly, to attend this service. By separating the two, we were able to place the focus on the shared experience of the loss of a family member during the Hatsubon service and still allow other members the opportunity to hear the Buddha-dharma and experience the broader significance of the observance.

There were other, minor, changes incorporated, such as the opportunity to listen to some of the Sunday Dharma messages online. This enables people who cannot attend the service to have access to the teachings. However, the one major aspect that may have seen minor improvement, but can and should be much better is the attendance at our adult services. With the number of members that we have, we should be having issues with room and space at our services, but there is still room for more people to attend. Please feel free to encourage friends and neighbors who express interest to attend our services. The attendance at our Japanese services is more understandable in their poor attendance, but we may try to reach out through the internet to our Japanese speaking membership as well. We must continue to try to reach out to all of our members as well as to as many people who may be interested as we can reach.

We will also try to incorporate workshops on our teachings and rituals during the coming year. One will be the workshop on death and some of the needs and customs surrounding it. We are planning this in May and details will be announced as the date approaches. One of the common links in all of this is that we need to look at what we have and what we are doing and re-evaluate what is done. Are we doing things because of custom or habit, or is there some real significance there?

In my trying to become accustomed to things here, there are many that have been confusing, even puzzling, at times. However, the part that has been most disconcerting is that the reasoning behind many of these seems to have become lost. No one seems to know when, how and why things were changed or became custom here. How and when those same observances may be held might be different everywhere else. To be different is fine, but to lose the reasoning behind it can cloud the true significance of the service or event. Have we lost the true significance of an observance or custom through some of the changes that we have incorporated here? Maybe, this question should be at the top of our list of priorities for the year.

Gassho and a Happy and meaningful New Year,