As we prepare for our temple's 75th anniversary celebration this fall, I've been taking time to remember the old days and my experiences growing up at IOBT. One of those experiences was "Sunday School!"  Even though we were Buddhist, we called it “Sunday School” not “Dharma School”. There were so many children that we had several partitioned classrooms in the basement where we had our “Sunday School” classes. Teachers kept attendance charts with stars for those who were present. At the end of the Sunday School year, we received “Perfect Attendance” pins. I was so proud to have earned a 3-year pin. It wasn’t easy getting from Nampa to Ontario before Interstate 84 was built, but my dad made sure we were there every Sunday! As Easter Sunday approaches this year, I wanted to reflect on this photo from 1962 that I found in an old album.  It makes me think about our temple and how we worked to become a part of the larger Treasure Valley community.   Kathy and Donna wit...

At IOBT, we are getting busy thinking about all the fun conversations and discussions we will be having at our75 th NW Buddhist Convention in September. Part of the convention theme is “Looking to the Future,” and one of the things we want to focus on is how our temples can share the Buddha Dharma (Teachings of the Buddha) in the 21st Century.  Here is a photo from our 50th Anniversary 25 years ago!  A lot has changed since then.  What will the next 25 years bring us?   What can we do to help share the Buddhist Teachings with the next generation? One suggestion that stuck in my mind was developing five things that we would want to share with newcomers about the Teachings/Dharma.  Those of you who grew up in the temple like I did will understand the feeling of inadequacy when questioned, “What is Buddhism?” or “What do Buddhists believe?” Attending Northwest Nazarene College (now NNU) in the 70s, I was often faced with questions. Even though I had attended ...