May 24, 2022 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 ...

May 01, 2022 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...

April 14, 2022 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...

April 03, 2022 At IOBT, we are getting busy thinking about all the fun conversations and discussions we will be having at our75th 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...

March 13, 2022 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...

March 03, 2022 “All conditioned things are impermanent—when one sees this with wisdom, one turns away from suffering.”  --Shakyamuni Buddha,  The Dhammapada My mother died in January.  She was 90 years old and had been hospitalized several times over the last year. For the last 3 weeks of her life, we were supported by hospice services, which allowed her to spend Christmas and New Year’s at home.  Many people have asked me how I am doing--how I am coping with my mother’s death.  I tell them that I’m doing pretty well.  I think that one reason...