May and June are typically graduation season here in America.   We talk about “high school graduations” or “college graduations.” Recently there has been the addition of   middle school and kindergarten graduations.   In a few weeks I will participate in a graduation ceremony for the genetic counseling graduate students that I have been teaching at Boise State University for the last two years.   I have heard the word “graduation” my whole life. But I never stopped to wonder where this word comes from.      So this year I looked it up. I learned that the word “Graduate” comes from the from Latin “ graduatus ” which in English means  "a step.”    “Graduation” conveys the idea of climbing up on a ladder or stairway—so “graduation” means a “step up,” to move toward a higher goal. When you graduate you are rising by stages; you are “leveling up;” you are “starting a new adventure” at a higher level. ...

New Year's Bingo will help you focus on what is most important as you move into a new year.  Print off more than one card and play with friends and relatives! Say "Goodbye" to 2024 and say "Hello" to 2025  in style!

  For a week each July, our ministers and members of the community gather at cemeteries around our region to offer short Buddhist services of sutra chanting, incense offering, and a short Dharma message. This year, with the assistance of our temple president, Mike Iseri, we have visited 16 cemeteries between Boise, Idaho and Baker City, Oregon.  Because it is hot this time of year, we often look for trees to gather under while we hold these services cemetery.  The shade is very much appreciated by all of us, as we stand there together in the heat for the service.   The trees we stand under and the gratitude that we feel for the shade, as well as the people we honor during Obon season, got me thinking about the phrase  " Okagesama de arigato. " " Okagesama de arigato " can be translated to English as “gratitude to everyone and everything.”    Often in Japan, when people greet each other they will ask “ Ogenki desu ka ?”   which means, “Are y...

January 1, 2024 Happy New Year! Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu! あけまして おめでとう ２０２４ Congratulations on the beginning of a new year! Yesterday at our temple's New Year’s Eve service, we rang the kansho --the big   bell behind the altar--108   times. Everyone who attended in person was able to line up and ring the bell 4 times each. It is interesting to me how each person, using the same bell and mallet, manages to make a slightly different sound. Listening to the different tones and tempos we each create is a wonderful reminder of the uniqueness of each one of us. Image:  Hitting the kansho bell on New Year's Eve.  I think everyone, young and old alike, enjoyed getting to be a part of this once-a-year tradition.   According to Buddhist tradition, this bell ringing activity purifies the 108 bonno , our many attachments to the world of suffering. Ringing the bell cleared away the greed, anger, and ignorance we accumulated in 2023.   And as we rang the bell, ...

As we approach the winter solstice in the Northern hemisphere, the days are getting shorter, the sun is making fewer appearances through the clouds, we spend more time inside, and life is just a bit darker.   As sunlight gets scarcer, it is a great time to intentionally appreciate the limited light that we do have.   Many cultures have holidays, such   as Christmas, Diwali, Kwanza, and Chanukah that celebrate light.   And even non-religious people will put up extra decorative lights to brighten the darker days.   In our tradition of Buddhism, on December 8, we celebrate Bodhi day, as the day (2500 years ago) that Shakyamuni Buddha became “en LIGHT ened,” breaking through the darkness of ignorance and understanding the true nature of reality.      So, as we approach these darker days, I think it’s  a good time to notice and appreciate the light we see around us AND then  find ways to share light with others.  For inspiration, I wan...

New Years Day Dharma Message 2023 " I hope that everyone will, deeply entrusting themselves to the  nembutsu and firmly embracing prayers [for peace in the world] in their hearts, together say the nembutsu. "   (From the Collected Works of Shinran p. 560) Happy New year! Happy 2023!  Akemashite Omededou Gozaimasu 今年もよろしくお願いします On December 31, members and friends joined us online from around the country for our New Year's Eve Joya No Kane service.   Traditionally  for this service the temple bell is rung 108 times. Because of the temple fire earlier this year and because we were on Zoom, we had to be creative--each person used bells that they had in their homes and we took turns ringing them. This bell ringing activity purified the 108 Bonno , our many attachments to the world of suffering. Ringing the bells cleaned out our greed, anger, and ignorance,  and reminded us of the Infinite Wisdom & Compassion of Amida Buddha that accepts us just as w...

The past couple years, I’ve spent a lot of time in doctors’ offices and hospitals. Mostly that was with my mother, who died earlier this year after a long series of illnesses.   But I’ve also had some issues with my own stomach/digestion--likely the result of my own aging and the stress of helping care for my mother, grieving her death, and managing the estate.   I am sure many of you have been through similar challenges and I know that, as Buddhism teaches, life is full of challenges like this. A central teaching of Buddhism is that sickness, old age, and death are inevitable in human life and they are hard! Photo: A bowl of noodles is a great comfort food on a stressful day The way modern American medical care is provided, along with the stresses of COVID, have made the last couple years a challenging time to get great medical care. Everyone is busy and many interactions are mediated by computers, limiting human interaction.   Over the past year my family and I fille...

This year’s celebration of the 75 th anniversary of IOBT coincides with our hosting the NW District Buddhist convention and it also marks 20 years since my first visit to IOBT.  These milestones, along with the recent fire that destroyed most of our temple basement, have me thinking more deeply about our convention theme: “Reflecting on the Past, Looking to the Future.”   Photo: Fire trucks outside Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple on 7/10/2022. This incident reminds us of the Buddhist teachings or impermanence and also our gratitude for the compassion of the first responders and generosity of our community.  Here are a few things that have been on my mind: Reflecting on the Past:   Summer is Obon season!   Every July, we take time to honor the people who have come before us. We have our annual Obon service at the temple and we travel to cemeteries throughout the region to visit the graves of our ancestors, relatives, and friends.   As we hold these ser...

We held our 2022 Obon/Hastubon service at the temple on June 10.  It was an extra special Obon because it occurred in the wake of a major fire at our temple.  The fire occurred in our basement on July 8th due to an electrical malfunction. We are still assessing damage, but we are pleased that our Onaijin (Altar) seems to have survived undamaged.  These circumstances helped remind us of the teachings of impermanence and interconnection that are so fundamental to Buddhism.   In Japan, Obon is an important season where the spirits of loved ones who have died return to their homes to join the living in feasting and dancing.  Picture: Historic photo of Obon Dancing  (courtesy of Seiko Go) Obon is also a time when people put aside their work and travel back from the cities to their family homes in the countryside.  It is a homecoming, a time to reminisce and celebrate.  It is a time to reflect on how interconnected we are with each other.  It ...

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...