Sometimes people ask Rev. Kathy and me how to share the Buddhist teachings with families and children.  The truth is that all people, no matter our age, ability, or status, face problems that the Buddhist teachings can help us with.   Photo: Children have always been a part of the Idaho-Oregon Buddhist Temple community .  People of all ages share the same kinds of feelings--we all have hopes and fears and we all experience a wide range of emotions.   We all get frustrated, feel lonely or hurt, and get angry and upset.   We all suffer in similar ways no matter how old or young we are.    And we all feel   better knowing that we are accepted by our family/community...that we belong. These simple observations are actually the Four Noble Truths taught by Shakyamuni Buddha:  Life is difficult and sometimes painful (suffering).    Suffering usually occurs because we want things to be different than they are.    We actually don’t have to suffer nearly as much as we usually do.    There a

This question, “Can something can be both bad and good?” was running through my head last month when temple president Mike Iseri gave Rev. Jerry Hirano, Rev. Carmela, Rev. Kathy, Sandy (our temple treasurer),   and me a tour of the progress of the restoration of the temple building.                Photo:  Temple Basement without Stage and showing new ductwork Photo: Rev. Jerry Hirano and Mike Iseri in front of  pass-through to the kitchen in basement I clearly remember how my heart sank the day in July when I learned that there had been a major fire in our temple.    I thought of all the happy memories I have of the temple and the fun times I had in the basement with the Sangha and larger community.    I thought of all the supplies, equipment (including the taiko drums) and historic documents and materials that were lost to fire, smoke, or water damage. I wondered what the future would hold for the temple. I felt relief and gratitude when I learned that the  Onaijin  (altar) was safe,

  NOTE:   In this is a special guest article by temple member and friend, Linda Tanaka who lives  in North Idaho, reflects on interconnection and all the relationships, causes, and conditions that make life in the country possible. Greetings from North Idaho or as my brother, David, calls it ‘the wilderness’.   Our fall season was short lived.   Snow arrived before Thanksgiving and didn’t let up until Christmas.   We were doing snow management for days in a row.   Toss in having to buy a new snow blower before Christmas and a low of -24 degrees [that’s “minus”] with frozen pipes, Winter 2022 will be one to be remembered. Are you wondering how a person born and raised in the Eastern Oregon desert then 30+ years in Northern California could end up about 6 miles from the Canadian border?   That’s a long story but I will give you the condensed version.   My husband, Vic Cherven, is a geologist with extensive knowledge of California geology from his jobs during his career.   We had mo

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 we are.  The process

A special guest article by temple member and friend Melody Smit During November’s BWA memorial service (which I was able to attend remotely by Zoom from my new home in South Carolina) I was reminded of so many wonderful memories and ladies that I love in the temple and the many Nisei ladies that were so wonderful to me.   They took me under their wing, showed the ins & outs of temple life, and made it possible for me to be a true member of IOBT. Photo: Several of our Buddhist Women's Association Members with Rev. Dennis taken in 2016 During the BWA memorial service, when our guest speaker, Rev. Melissa Opel  of the Spokane Buddhist Temple   spoke of the importance of sharing and keeping alive the memories and connections we have with one another, it prompted me to think of my early days in the temple when I was new to the tradition, coming to services and meeting new people. And I wanted to share a few of these memories with you.   I have such fond memories of Sanami Nakano 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 filled in forms ove

Photo: 1958 Northwest Convention (Left Half)   Photo: 1958 Northwest Convention (Right Half) NOTE:  Feel free to leave the names of folks you recognize in our comments section! This summer has been a whirlwind. We started with the promise of in-person services inside our temple. That changed with the July 8 th fire, but we adapted and moved outdoors to hold services under the awning in the parking lot. Along with all the work to inspect and assess the damage of the fire, we had to plan for a convention. No one from IOBT gave any thought to canceling the convention. It was our “baton” to pass on in the convention relay circuit. We continued having convention planning meetings to discuss this Northwest event. We continued our temple board meetings to hear updates on the basement rebuilding and the smoke damage to the upstairs portion of the temple. No one skipped a beat. That is especially true for Mike Iseri. He is a multitasker extraordinaire. He was at the temple to meet adjusters, d