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. ...

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...

In March we celebrate the Spring Ohigan.   Ohigan is a Japanese Buddhist holiday that marks the equinoxes.   The equinox days--one in spring and one in fall--are the times when the days and nights are of equal length. At the equinox  the sun rises directly in the east and sets directly in the west almost exactly 12 hours later. It is a time of balance, of harmony, when it is not too hot or too cold, not too bright or too dark. It is a time of fertility and growth in the spring and of abundance and harvest in the fall.   The Japanese term “ higan ” ( 彼岸 or ひがん) actually means "other shore" and refers to the realm of enlightenment, of freedom from suffering, the state of being and of understanding that Buddhists aspire to. The opposite of "Higan" is "Shigan," which means "this shore," our current life of suffering and delusion. Monks in Japan consider the equinoxes to be the ideal time to meditate and engage in spiritual practices to help them move...