Buddhism is, and has always been, deeply rooted in community. From the very beginning of Buddhism, monks and nuns have relied on the communities around them for food and support. In return, the monks and nuns offered teachings and blessings for the community, sharing the wisdom and compassion of the Buddha’s teaching to help communities find happiness and meaning in their lives. Image: Two volunteers help unload a truck of napa cabbages that were donated to our temple's bazaar.  In Buddhism, one of the most basic practices is to express one’s faith through the 3 Treasures by saying:   “I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the Dharma (the Buddhist teachings), I take refuge in the Sangha” (NOTE: “Sangha” traditionally refers to the Community of ordained Monks and Nuns, but “Sangha” in our tradition also includes anyone who follows the Buddhist path). Without these three things supporting each other—the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha—Buddhist teaching...

  A basic teaching of Buddhism is: Everything changes.   Nothing stays the same.   Our temple’s experiences over the last 5 years really demonstrate this principle of impermanence! In 2020, our temple, like millions of institutions around the world, had to rethink how we operated to reduce the risk of spreading COVID in our communities.    For us, that meant moving to online services.   In the beginning, we had just one service a month online, but we gradually moved to online services twice a month.  And once a month we would have take-out lunch pick-up in the parking lot, which allowed for a little social time.  Photo:  Even on a cold winter day, our sangha stayed connected We began offering face-to-face services at the temple in early 2022. But then, in July of 2022, the temple had a major fire.   We held our 2022 Obon service in our parking lot, just two days after the fire. The service was brief, but it reassured our community that...

  NOTE from Rev. Anne Spencer: We always enjoy sharing insights and experiences from our diverse IOBT community. This month we are happy to share a reflection from Keith Hopper. Although Keith now lives in Florida, his early years were spent in Vale, Ontario, and parts of western Idaho. He graduated from Ontario High School. In 2022 he received a tip from a friend about our twice-monthly Tuesday evening online discussion groups and he decided to join us.  He has been a regular at our meeting ever since. Let us know if you would like to join us too! "The medium is the message" was a familiar twentieth century adage. Enigmatic, separated from its context and author (1960s Canadian communication theorist Marshall McLuhan), it was claimed by academics, promoters of all sorts, and also politicians, television preachers and other dubious sages. It has a ring to it and seemed to apply to our world, likely did, but as something of a koan . The exact meaning is fuzzy. On advic...

  “I will gather the true words so they may help others to practice the way for Birth. My wish is that those who have attained Birth may lead those who come after them and those who aspire Birth may follow their predecessors, thus following one after another, endlessly and uninterruptedly, until this boundless sea of Birth-and-Death is exhausted.” (From Doshaku’s Anraku Shu quoted by Shinran Shonin toward the end of his Kyogyoshinsho)        I think of this quote from Shinran Shonin’s Kyogyoshinsho when I think about our Issei (1 st generation Japanese immigrants) and our Nisei (2 nd generation Japanese-Americans). The Issei knew the importance of religion and temples as they took up residence in America. They built our temples and invited Buddhist priests from Japan to lead their Sanghas. Photo:   1965 cabinet photo: Rev. Takemura pictured with the 1965 leadership. Our Issei leaders are seated in the front row with Nisei leadership standing behind....

  On January 7, 2024 Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple held our Reopening/Dedication Service, celebrating our recovery after the fire in July of 2022. Rev. Jerry Hirano officiated the service and invited our two Assistant Ministers, Rev. Kathy Chatterton and Rev. Anne Spencer to share their thoughts as the temple reopened.    Photo (left to right): Mike Iseri (Temple President) Rev. Anne Spencer, Rev. Jerry Hirano, Rev. Anne Spencer at the Hoonko & Grand Reopening Service on Jan 7 2024.  In this blog, we are sharing summaries of Rev. Kathy's and Rev. Anne's reflections on the reopening and the history and the future of the temple.  Rev. Kathy Chatterton: Our temple was officially dedicated on February 9, 1958, and officially rededicated on January 7, 2024. As a Sangha member who has been a part of the temple for over 60 years, I am very proud of our IOBT community for working together to bring the temple back to life. In my mind, the temple was on life support...

NOTE:   For our blog this month, we wanted to share Rev. Anne Spencer's Dharma Talk for the November 2023 Shotsuki (Monthly Memorial Service) Image: Picture of the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist temple in Nov 2023 after the altar has been cleaned and the new carpet and refurbished pews put in place.  Please put your palms together in  gassho as I read the English translation of three verses of Tsuicho no Uta , a song that we sang regularly in Japanese at many of our in person Shotsuki Monthly Memorial services in the past . Though you have gone to Buddha land, my thoughts are on you.  As I long to see you, your face floats before my eyes as I intone the Buddha’s name. Today, when spreading the mat to hear the teachings, I turn to you.   Come to us now at this gathering for friends who remain. How joyous! The Compassion of the Buddha now fills our being.  As for us, we turn to you while intoning the Nembutsu. Isn’t it fun to watch our temple being put bac...