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 ...

This year’s 75 th Northwest Buddhist Convention theme of " Reflecting on the Past, Looking to Our Future " focuses our attention on the relationship between our history and our future.     Since we are also celebrating the 75 th Anniversary of IOBT,   we  are also thinking about our own temple’s past and future. We might ask ourselves what the purpose of the temple is today as compared to when it was founded 75 years ago.  [NOTE:  Idaho-Oregon Buddhist temple will be hosting this hybrid convention in Ontario Oregon and online Sept 16-18 (registration and sponsorship information will be posted soon!)] In the past 75 years Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple has served many purposes beyond a spiritual one. After World War II and the incarceration of Japanese and Japanese-Americans, the temple served as a place to socialize as the   Issei /1 st  generation and  Nisei /2 nd  generation found their way back into American society. It was a pl...

  One of the simple pleasures that my mom misses now that she is residing in an assisted living community is Japanese rice. She mentions “ochazuke,” a comfort food that I remember from my childhood. Nothing was more enjoyable than a chawan (bowl) of rice with ocha (tea) poured over it. Slurping this bowl of rice along with tsukemono (pickled vegetables) was a favorite at mealtime. It certainly was not a fancy dish, and it did not take a long time to prepare. Even I could manage to make  ochazuke ! So I was surprised when I did a Google search for  “ochazuke” and found that there are actual recipes for making ochazuke --I cannot imagine that someone would need a recipe! Its awesome-ness lies in its simplicity...and all the childhood memories that come along with the flavors. I, and many other Shin Buddhists of my generation, who grew up going to a Jodo Shinshu temple, experience the same feeling of simplicity with our practice of reciting the name of Amida Buddha. The...

Buddhism is a 2,500 year old tradition and Buddhist teachings and practices take many forms. The way Buddhism is taught and practiced adapts to meet the needs of the people and cultures that follow it.  One of the things that drew me to Buddhism was how diverse, vibrant, and adaptable it is.  At Idaho-Oregon Buddhist temple, we follow a tradition called "Jodo Shinshu Buddhism," a Japanese tradition geared  toward busy people with jobs, families, and responsibilities, rather than toward monks/nuns.   Meditation is not a major part of our Jodo Shinshu practice and not something that I, personally, have ever wanted to practice much. Our Jodo Shinshu tradition relies on Amida Buddha's compassion, not our own spiritual abilities. We listen to the Dharma; we say the Nembutsu (the name of Amida Buddha: " Namo Amida Butsu" ); and we try to live a life of gratitude. We certainly can meditate, but we aren’t expected to.   In fact, if you came by our temple on a typi...

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 ...