Come Join the Party

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 teachings cannot survive.

The reality for all of us is that we cannot live without others. We need our family, our friends, our neighbors and community members to teach and support us in large and small ways.

 Image:  Temple President and Board Members helping with monthly lunches during the pandemic. 

And our temple cannot exist without its community either.  We are fortunate to have many dedicated temple leaders and volunteers who help with temple maintenance, fundraising, and food prep.   I, as an assistant minister, feel fortunate to have Rev. Hirano (our supervising minister based out of Salt Lake City) to guide and support us, and Rev. Kathy Chatterton (also an assistant minister) to collaborate with as we lead services and teach classes. It is so helpful to have this team to work with as IOBT moves back to weekly services.

We already have a lot of great people working to take care of our IOBT community.  But we need more! There are a number of opportunities for people who are interested in helping out.  These include both behind-the-scenes and public-facing roles.  Would you like to help with practical tasks around the temple?  Do you want to assist with food preparation?  Do you want to learn more about temple rituals and maybe help set up for service or lead aspects of the service?  Do you have some thoughts you want to share in our temple bulletin?

Image: Preparation for our annual Obon festival depends on our experienced Odori dancers volunteering to teach others how to wear yukata and learn the dances. 

If you would like to become more involved with the temple, we’d love to chat with you.  Let Mike Iseri, or Rev. Kathy or me know if you would like to become more involved.  We’d be happy to have you be part of our little “party” of people helping to share the Buddhist teachings.

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Image: Volunteering brings our community together!

Come join our party!

In Gassho, 

Rev. Anne Spencer, Assistant Minister