Calming the Busy Mind

January 3

The Buddha taught that peace of mind comes from understanding how our minds work. This week we’ll look into the Buddha’s teachings about what makes our minds so busy, and how we can awaken to a settled mind.


Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shoshinge Sofu Chanting
9:00 a.m. Taiso Morning Exercise with instructor Juliet Bost
9:30 a.m. Dharma Service
10:30 a.m. Shotsuki Hoyo Monthly Memorial Service

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

From Issa’s The Year of My Life

It is a commonplace of life that the greatest pleasure issues ultimately in the greatest grief.  Yet why—why is that this child of mine, who has not tasted half the pleasures that the world has to offer, who ought, by rights, to be as fresh and green as the vigorous young needles on the everlasting pine—why must she lie here on her deathbed, swollen with blisters, caught in the loathsome clutches of the vile god of pox?  Being, as I am, her father, I can scarcely bear to watch her withering away—a little more each day—like some pure, untainted blossom that is ravished by the sudden onslaught of mud and rain.
              After two or three days, however, her blisters dried up and the scabs began to fall away—like a hard crust of dirt that had been softened by the melting snow.  In our joy we made a boat with fresh straw, and pouring hot wine ceremoniously over it, sent it down the river with the god of smallpox on it.  Yet our hopes proved all in vain.  She grew weaker and weaker, and finally on the twenty-first of June, as the morning-glories were just closing their flowers, she closed her eyes forever.  Her mother embraced the cold body and cried bitterly.  For myself—I knew well it was no use to cry, that water once flown past the bridge does not return, and blossoms that are scattered are gone beyond recall.  Yet try as I would, I could not, simply could not cut the binding cord of human love.  

The world of dew
Is the world of dew,
And yet . . .
And yet . . .

(The Year of My Life: A Translation of Issa’s Oraga Haru, by Nobuyuki Yuasa, p. 103-104)

The First Noble Truth: Separation from Loved Ones

Sunday, November 29, 2020

On this Thanksgiving weekend, when many are forgoing the usual holiday gatherings in the midst of a rise in Covid-19 infections, we look to the the Buddha’s teaching on the Difficulty of Separation from Loved Ones and how to live with peace of mind in a constantly changing world.

We welcome you to join us via Zoom Meeting from the comfort and safety of your own home on Sunday, November 29 for our San Mateo Buddhist Temple Dharma Services.

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shoshinge Sofu Chanting
9:00 a.m. Taiso Morning Exercise with instructor Juliet Bost
9:30 a.m. Dharma Service
10:30 a.m. 日本語法要 Japanese Language Service

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

One Nurse, Three Covid Hotspots from The Journal. podcast

Trinity Goodman is a traveling crisis nurse. Since April, she has treated Covid patients in three different hotspots: New York, Texas and Indiana. She tells us about the last 8 months at the front lines of the pandemic.

Toku Toku Toku: A Story for Children about Death

Sunday, November 22, 2020

An elderly dog lovingly spends his days playing with five little puppies until one day he is not there anymore.  What is the lasting gift that he has shared with the puppies?  This storybook reminds us of the preciousness of this one life that we have received.

-From the Hongwanji Publishing House website
 

We welcome you to join us via Zoom Meeting from the comfort and safety of your own home on Sunday, November 22 for our San Mateo Buddhist Temple Dharma Services.

This week we will reflect upon the truth of impermanence through the reading of an English translation of the Buddhist children’s storybook Toku Toku Toku written by Akira Nakagawa with illustrations by Utoo Tadako.    

Schedule
8:30 a.m. Shoshinge Sofu Chanting
9:00 a.m. Taiso Morning Exercise with instructor Juliet Bost
9:30 a.m. Dharma Service with Reading of Toku Toku Toku in English
10:30 a.m. Dharma Discussion

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

When we meet, we will smile

Each year during our Obon and Hatsubon Service, I am reminded of the power of the Buddhadharma to provide guidance and support for us as we navigate our feelings of grief.  As school for my sons usually begins a few days after our San Mateo Buddhist Temple Obon Observance, I have come to associate our Obon with the end of summer.  Opening the freezer at the temple to put away the Obon service manju for an occasion when we can all enjoy them together, I noticed three large bags of frozen hamburgers.  I was suddenly reminded of the delicious hamburgers grilled at the temple picnic and all the experiences that we did not get to have this summer: bazaar—which marks the start of summer in my mind, the annual BWA service at the Japanese Cemetery in Colma, followed by brunch with BWA members at Denny’s in South San Francisco, a family trip to Japan, our summer Terakoya day camp, spam musubi at Obon Odori practices, and chanting together with a Hondo full of attendees at our Obon and Hatsubon service. 

Continue reading “When we meet, we will smile”