Life of Sakyamuni

Who Is Amida Buddha? (January 5)

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Join us this Sunday, January 5th, for a Family Dharma Service at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple, where we’ll explore the profound significance of Amida Buddha, whose golden image adorns our main hall. Rev. Adams will share a Dharma Talk on why—among the countless Buddhas as numerous as the sands of the Ganges—it is Amida Buddha whom Jodo Shinshu Buddhists revere as our refuge of wisdom and compassion.

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shoshinge Sofu Chanting (Click here for chanting text)
9:00 a.m. Sangha Social Hour
9:30 a.m. Dharma Service
10:30 a.m. Shotsuki Hoyo Monthly Memorial Service (Hondo)
10:30 a.m. Dharma Discussion (Dharma Room)

To join us for this hybrid service via Zoom, CLICK HERE to sign up for “Live Broadcast of Services”.

A Grove Paved in Gold (December 15)

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We warmly welcome you to join us in person at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple for our Family Dharma Service on Sunday, December 15. As we enter this season of giving and receiving gifts, Rev. Adams will share the story of Anathapindika, a lay follower of the Buddha who found the greatest joy in sharing his wealth in order to help others hear the Dharma teachings.

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shōya Raisan Chanting
9:00 a.m. Mindfulness Meditation
9:30 a.m. Dharma Service
10:30 a.m. Dharma Discussion (Dharma Room)

To join us for this hybrid service via Zoom, CLICK HERE to sign up for “Live Broadcast of Services”.

The First Turning of the Dharma Wheel (December 8)

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We warmly welcome you to join us in person at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple for our Family Dharma Service on Sunday, December 8. This Sunday, Rev. Adams will share appreciations for the first Dharma Talk delivered by Śakyamuni Buddha following his realization of Enlightenment, in which he shared the foundational teaching of the Four Noble Truths.

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shōya Raisan Chanting
9:00 a.m. Sangha Social Hour
9:30 a.m. Dharma Service
10:30 a.m. Shotsuki Hoyo Monthly Memorial Service (Hondo)
10:30 a.m. Dharma Discussion (Dharma Room)

To join us for this hybrid service via Zoom, CLICK HERE to sign up for “Live Broadcast of Services”.

Like a Crow Attacking a Rock – The Buddha’s Unbreakable Settled Mind

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Sunday, December 1, 2024

We warmly welcome you to join us in person at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple for our Bodhi Day (Buddha’s Enlightenment) Service on Sunday, December 1. The traditional telling of the Buddha’s life story describes how he attained enlightenment after vanquishing Mara, the demon king who strives to confine all beings to a life of suffering and discontent through their greed, anger, and ignorance.

In this Sunday’s Dharma Talk, Rev. Adams will share appreciations for how the Buddha’s resolute clarity in face of Mara’s onslaught illustrates the truth that a calm and peaceful person may appear weak and vulnerable to some, but in reality those who live with a settled mind have the courage and unbreakable resolve to overcome all manner of difficulties and distractions.

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shōya Raisan Chanting
9:00 a.m. Sangha Social hour
9:30 a.m. Bodhi Day Service
10:30 a.m. Dharma Discussion

To join us via Zoom for this Dharma Service CLICK HERE and sign up for “Live Broadcast of Services”.

Flowers that Bloom in the Springtime

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Growing up in Minnesota, I spent many hours in the autumn helping my mother in our family flower gardens.  We would clear out the dead plants and prepare the soil for the flowers my mother had planned for the following spring.  I remember one afternoon in early November when I was planting flower bulbs and thinking to myself, why are we putting these plants in the ground now, when the soil will be frozen for the next four months?

The following year in April when the snow finally melted, a bed of beautiful tulips and crocuses bloomed in the spot where the bulbs had been planted.  I marveled at how life had carried on through a long period where it seemed that everything in that place had died and then resurfaced with such striking beauty.  Life had not ceased in the garden.  It simply took on another form.  Today, recalling the understanding of the cycle of nature that I learned seeing those flowers bloom as a child, I can appreciate how conditions from the past bear fruit in the present.

Continue reading “Flowers that Bloom in the Springtime”

Hanamatsuri Buddha’s Birthday Service

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April 14, 2024

Guest Speaker

Rev. Yukiko Motoyoshi

Buddhist Churches of America

Minister Emeritus

御講師

本好由紀子

浄土真宗本願寺派北米開教区

名誉開教使

We warmly welcome you to join us in person at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple or via Zoom Meeting for our Hanamatsuri Service on Sunday, April 14, 2024 at 9:30 a.m. in celebration of Siddhartha Gautama’s Birthday.

２０２４年４月１４日の９時３０分から灌仏会（花祭）をお勤めします。

オンラインや電話を通しての参拝も可能です。

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shoshinge Gyōfu Chanting
9:00 a.m. Sangha Social Hour
9:30 a.m. Hanamatsuri Service with Dharma talk by Rev. Yukiko Motoyoshi
10:30 a.m. Japanese Dharma Talk by Rev. Yukiko Motoyoshi 日本語法話 本好由紀子 先生

To join us for this online Spring Ohigan Service, CLICK HERE to sign up for “Live Broadcast of Services”.

ご参拝したい方はここにクリックして、”Live Broadcast of Services”に登録してください。

Nirvana Day 涅槃会 (February 11)

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Nirvana Day is our observance of Sakyamuni Buddha’s departure from this world and entrance into the lasting tranquility of parinirvana. It is also a precious opportunity to reflect the truth that the impermanence of human life applies to all those who are born into this world.

２０２４年２月１１日の９時３０分から涅槃会をお勤めします。涅槃会は釈迦牟尼仏陀がこの世で最後の息を吸い入滅寂静を遂げられたことを記念する法要です。.

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shoshinge Gyofu Chanting (click here for chanting text)
9:00 a.m. Sangha Social Hour
9:30 a.m. Nirvana Day Service
10:30 a.m. Japanese Language Dharma Talk 日本語法話 (Hondo)
10:30 a.m. Dharma Discussion (Social Hall)

From The Letters of Rennyo Shonin (Gobunsho) Fascicle 3, Letter 4

How true it is that impermanence is difficult to escape for all, from the Great Sage, the World-honored One, at the highest level, to Devadatta, who committed evil acts and grave offenses, at the lowest.

Moreover, to receive life as a human being is indeed rare and difficult, and even more so is it the opportunity to encounter the Buddha Dharma, the way of emancipation from birth-and-death through practices of self-power is difficult to follow at the present time in the latter days. Therefore, our lives would be spent in vain unless we encountered the Primal Vow of Amida Tathagata.

To join us for this hybrid service via Zoom, CLICK HERE to sign up for “Live Broadcast of Services”.

The Buddha’s Teaching for Our Times (December 10)

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Wise teachers like Rennyo Shonin affirm the truth of all the teachings shared by Sakyamuni Buddha during his lifetime. This Sunday, Rev. Adams will share reflections on the metaphor of the poison arrow taught by Sakyamuni Buddha, and the wisdom that speaks to the great suffering of this age in which we live.

From The Letters of Rennyo Shonin (Gobunsho) Fascicle 3, Letter 2

The teachings of the various sects differ, but since they were all [expounded] during Śākya[muni]’s lifetime, they are indeed the incomparable Dharma. For this reason, there is absolutely no doubt that people who practice them as prescribed will attain enlightenment and become buddhas. However, sentient beings of this last [Dharma] age are of the lowest capacity; this is a time when those who practice as prescribed are rare. Here [we realize that] Amida Tathāgata’s Primal Vow of other-power was made to save sentient beings in such times as these.

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shōya Raisan Chanting (click here for chanting text)
9:00 a.m. Sangha Social Hour
9:30 a.m. Dharma Service
10:30 a.m. Shotsuki Hoyo Monthly Memorial Service (Hondo)
10:30 a.m. Dharma Discussion (Dharma Room)

To join us for this hybrid service via Zoom, CLICK HERE to sign up for “Live Broadcast of Services”.

Bodhi Day Service: How to Catch a Snake

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Sunday, December 3, 2023

We warmly welcome you to join us in person at the San Mateo Buddhist Temple for our Bodhi Day Service on Sunday, December 3. Bodhi Day is our annual celebration of Sakyamuni Buddha’s attainment of enlightenment seated beneath the Bodhi Tree. As we revisit the traditional story of Sakyamuni Buddha’s enlightenment, Rev. Adams will offer some reflections on the Buddha’s teaching that listening to the Dharma requires the same care and focused attention needed to catch a poisonous snake.

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shōya Raisan Chanting
9:00 a.m. Taiso Morning Exercise
9:30 a.m. Bodhi Day Service
10:30 a.m. Dharma Discussion

To join us via Zoom for this Dharma Service CLICK HERE and sign up for “Live Broadcast of Services”.

Nītha the Scavenger

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Translation by Henry Adams from the Sutra on Wisdom and Folly (Xiangujing), Fascile 6, Chapter 30 (賢愚經卷第六 T0202_.04.0397a24)

Thus I have heard. At one time the Buddha was dwelling at Jetavana in the country of Sravasti.

At that time, many people lived inside the walled city of Shravasti.  There were few lavatories, so most people went outside the city to urinate and defecate.

There were also wealthy people of high status, who did not venture outside the city walls.  They would use containers for toilets and hire people to take them outside the city.

There was one man named Nītha who was extremely poor and destitute.  He had nowhere to go and earned a meager living taking out the toilet pots.

At that time, the World-Honored One came to know of his situation and resolved to liberate him.  He instructed Ananda that they would go into the walled city with the intention of bringing Nītha out and saving him.  When they arrive a short distance from the city, they happened upon Nītha carrying a clay pot filled to the brim with filth on his way out to dispose of it.

Continue reading “Nītha the Scavenger”