Celebrating Bodhi DayG‘wa’
harmony

Higashi Hongwanji
Hawaii Betsuin
Bulletin

12
December 2017

Higashi Hongwanji
Mission of Hawaii
At Higashi Hongwanji, we remaintrue to our origins
as an open Sangha, welcoming
anyone who wishes to learn more
about the Jodo Shinshu
tradition of Buddhism.
A registered 501(c)3 organization
Rinban: Kenjun Kawawata
Minister: Koen Kikuchi
President: Faye Shigemura
Vice President: Jonathan Tani
Secretary: Debra Saiki
Treasurer: Edmund Nakano
Asst. Sec’y & Auditor: Ken Saiki
1685 Alaneo Street
Honolulu, HI 96817
Tel: (808) 531-9088
Fax: (808) 531-3265
Email: betsuin@hhbt-hi.org
Wa is published monthly byHigashi Hongwanji Missionof Hawaii for its members
and friends. Comments,
articles and other items for
publication consideration
are welcomed.
Editor: Ken Saiki

Rinban Kenjun Kawawata

enerally, people think the Buddhism is a religion, but Buddhism
does not fit into the general concept of religion. Buddhism is theteaching of the Buddha and this teaching is called the Dharma. Essentially,
Buddhism is a way of self-awareness or understanding.
Buddhism was developed over 2,500 years ago in India. The founder of
Buddhism, Siddhartha Gautama, was born to the king and queen of the Shakyaclan. He was set for life. His father wished that he would
succeed him as king and live a comfortable life, with wealthand power, shuttered from human sufferings.
However, the first time Siddhartha ventured out fromthe palace, he saw sickness, aging and death—the realitiesof human life. From then on he was always thinking about
suffering he witnessed. He pondered how he might beable to transcend human suffering and have peace ofmind. How does one achieve peace of mind? He knew
wealth and power couldn’t lead him to real peace.
At age 29, he left the comforts of his palace home. In an Rinban Ken Kawawata
effort to transcend human suffering, he visited ascetic practice teachers to learn
how to attain his desired state of mind. At that time in India, ascetic practice wasthought to be the path to pure mind and pure spirit­—the state of Nirvana.
After six years of futile searching, he finally gave up. He washed his bodyand went under a big Bodhi tree for meditation. He realized he would have toreconsider his way to attain peace of mind.
It is said that in the early morning of December 8, while gazing at a morningstar, he realized the cause of human suffering is Ignorance. He found ignorancein himself. He shouted, “Oh darkness, Ignorance!” and became The Awakened One.
Exactly what is ignorance? Ignorance means we don’t know the truth.
Then what is truth for us? Truth is impermanence. For us, impermanencemeans aging, sickness and death.
But in our daily lives we don’t want to think like this. We always try to avoid
or escape from this truth. We always wish to be young and healthy. Buddha,
too, wished to be young and healthy. He wished to live an unchanging life.
Buddha shouted to himself, “Ignorance!”
This was the real understanding of himself and his truth. Buddha foundhe lived in world of impermanence that is himself. Impermanence is life. Life isimpermanence. He accepted his life as it is. From this point he could discover
the teaching of the truth—the Dharma—and a new life.
Buddhism is based on his awakening and his teaching, which lead us tohave the true understanding of self and peace in our daily lives. That’s why
we celebrate the day of his awakening, Bodhi Day, and reflect on how his
awakening has shaped each and every one of our individual lives.
I look forward to seeing you as we celebrate Bodhi Day this month.

HAWAII BUDDHIST COUNCIL BODHI DAY SERVICE
9:30 am Sunday, Dec. 3
Soto Mission of Hawaii
1708 Nuuanu Ave. (above N. School St.)BETSUIN BODHI DAY SERVICE
10:00 am Sunday, Dec. 10
Higashi Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii
1685 Alaneo St. (corner N. Kuakini St.)

New 2018 calendar
available at temple

O
Oosouji • Yearend cleaningE

ven from ancient times in Japan,
the end of the year marked theannual custom of 大掃除 (oosouji, or“big cleaning”), a top-to-bottom
major house cleaning effort to get ridof clutter and dirt and start the newyear fresh.
During the Edo era, oosouji wasalso thought of as a purification ritualin preparation for greeting thetoshigami new year gods. Today
oosouji represents an ideal time tostart anew with a clean beginning.
An important element of oosouji isridding your home of dirt and dust,
known as 煤払い (susuharai, or dust
cleaning). Oosouji is a family affair, andeveryone has to help. While cleaning,
one gives thanks for the blessings ofthe bygone year and ensures thepurity of the home for the year ahead.
The end-of-year deep cleaninggets at the places usually bypassed indaily or weekly cleaning, such as topsof cabinets, light fixtures, stove hoods
and verandas.
Schools and workplaces also
want to put their best face forward
for a clean start in the new year. Many
parents join the students andteachers in helping with the cleaning.
Most schools in Japan don’t havecustodial staff to do the daily cleaning.
Students, along with their teachers,
conduct the basic maintenance in theclassrooms, hallways and school
grounds, including the bathrooms.
The duties rotate. In this way, students
learn how to work as a team to keepcommon areas clean and learn toappreciate cleanliness and those who
maintain a clean environment.

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Temples and shrines in Japan counton volunteers in their communities toassist in oosouji. To this day, temple andshrine members in Hawaii have carriedon the time-honored tradition ofassisting in the yearend cleanings.
Betsuin members and friends will
gather at the temple at 9 am on Sat.,
Dec. 30 for oosouji and clean windows,
jalousies, screens, shelves, cabinet
tops and other areas normally skippedin regular cleaning. A lunch reward
awaits at Otani Center after 11.
Also, don’t forget our omigaki
polishing of the Betsuin’s altar
accessories, scheduled for Sun., Dec. 10
at 12 noon, following the Betsuin Bodhi
Day service and lunch. Armed withmicrofiber cloths and metal polish,
volunteers gather around theconference room table to put a shine on
the dozens of brass items. It’s actually
fun to transform tarnished altar
ornaments into gleaming ones, andwhile you’re at it,you’ll learn a lot about
all the others gathered around the table.
So oosouji, really, isn’t muchdifferent from spring cleaning, except
Americans presumably put off thechore until spring because frigid winterweather keeps folks from starting any
earlier. Well, that excuse might work in
Duluth, Minnesota or upstate New
York—possibly even Wahiawa
Heights—but everyone else will bemuch better off making it a tradition
before the beginning of a new year.
Eliminating the dirt and cobwebs
of an old year gives you a clean slate tostart with and allows you to plan for amore organized, successful new year!
				— Ken Saiki

ur 2018 Higashi Hongwanji
Hawaii District calendar is hot
off the presses and is now available
at all Higashi temples in Hawaii.
Some Betsuin members may
have already received their copy ofthe full-color calendar, or will soonsee it in their mailboxes. The calendar
continues the theme of Hongan:
Awakening to Your Deepest Wish.
We hope that whenever you
glance at the 2018 calendar, either
on a wall or at your desk, you’ll taketake the time to pause and reflect onbeing a selfless seeker of the truth.
As a starting point, we must firstrealize our own ignorance tobecome a learner.
Through colorful photographs,
the calendar attempts to put a facebehind some basic dharma concepts,
including Appreciation, Harmony,Nurture, Study, Community &Togetherness and Honor & Service.
In our modern lives, the eventsin our home or around the world
may bring surprising causes andconditions. Let’s seek and learn
each day, each moment,
throughout the year as a Sangha
community, loving and enriching
this one community.
As with our past Higashi
Hongwanji Hawaii District
calendars, we appreciate yourdonations to help defray the costsof printing and mailing.
We thank you for your support.
If you would like additional copiesof the calendar, please call the
Betsuin office at 531-9088.

News on the

Betsuin Wirelessscholars such as Otani Komyo found in
Amida’s vow a close fit to true peaceand Western social-political tradition,
especially in Hawaii, where East meets
West, and Japanese tradition is revered
and preserved. Old Buddhism still
flourishes in Hawaii as it does in Japan.

Tokyo International Women’s Film
Festival and 2012 Jecheon (Korea)
International Music & Film Festival.
Showtime: 6:30 pm, Tues., Dec.
26, 92 min. Directed by Yui Miyatake(2011). Color, Japanese audio,
English subtitles. Free admission.
Light refreshments, or bring to share!

Here’s a suggested activity for you
and your family during the morning on
Christmas Eve. Pounding your own
mochi is fun to do, helps perpetuate
the age-old tradition, teaches the next
generation how it’s done and best ofall, you get to take your mochi home touse as decorative kagami mochi andput in ozoni for New Year’s, or eat withkinako, shoyu or other favorite way!
Pounding begins at 9 am Sunday,
Dec. 24. Since we’ll need to know how
much mochi rice to prepare the day
before, please let us know ahead oftime how many you’ll be bringing by
calling the temple at 531-9088.
Confucius say, “Family who pound
mochi together, stick together!”

JAZZ 爺MEN (JAZZじいMEN)Join us for mochi pounding 12/24

Dr. Tanabe describes Buddhism’s appeal asa religion as well as a spirituality in the West.

Both Old and New Buddhism
flourish in Western culture

Buddhism’s relevance in Westernculture got a thorough examination in
Dr. George Tanabe’s two-part Dharma
Study Center lecture series held at the
Betsuin Nov. 9 and 10.
Mahayana Buddhism successfully
migrated from India to China in the 1st
century and then to Japan via Korea inthe 6th century. During the ensuing
1,700 years in Japan, Dr. Tanabe said
that various interpretations of theteachings of the historical Buddha—
including those espoused by Shinran
Shonin, founder of our Jodo Shinshu
denomination—may have madeBuddhism easier to understand formany but, at the same time, possibly
more difficult to practice.
Some may see Jodo Shinshu andother traditional Japanese Buddhist
sects as being old-fashioned, ritualistic
and not compatible with the “Americanway.” At the same time, a modern
form of “protestant” Buddhism,
reaching back to Old Buddhism andthe original teachings of Shakyamuni
Buddha, including practice of
meditation and self-reliance, has
become popular in the West.
As Bishop Emyo Imamura, Honpa
Hongwanji’s second bishop in Hawaii
suggested, however, Jodo Shinshu isactually “perfect for America since itteaches equality,” a sentiment echoedby pioneer Buddhist educator Ernest
Hunt, who touted the denomination’steaching of human equality. Other埼玉県北部にある町、本庄。人通りのないこの町をなんとか町おこししようと、本庄商工会議所事務局長・川本（酒井敏也）とショッピングモールの支配人・笹川（徳井優）は、即席市民ジャズバンドを結成するプロジェクトを立ち上げる。2人に口説
かれ、中学の音楽教師を定年退職した野津手（清水章吾）が、指導に当たることにな
る。吹奏楽経験者を市民から募集するが、集まったのは、謎めいた美人ピアニスト桜井瞳（宮下ともみ）以外は、ド素人の高齢者ばかりだった。お調子者の洋菓子店店主の後藤（井上順）はジャズ好きで、この日のためにビンテージ・サックスを買ってしまっていた。和菓子屋の登代子（ふく•まつみ）は、リコーダーしか吹いたことがない。
キュウリ農家の花山（上田耕一）は、ジャズ

Jazz G-Men is a charming tale ofseeking “the impossible dream”

Honjo, a town in northern Saitama
Prefecture. Kawamoto (Toshiya Sakai),head of the Honjo Chamber ofCommerce, and Sasakawa (Yu Tokui),manager of the shopping mall, dreamup a project to revitalize their sleepy
town by forming a citizen jazz band.
The two persuade Nozute (Shogo
Shimizu), a retired junior high schoolmusic teacher, to be the bandleader.
They seek experienced brass players
but the only people who gather are
elderly amateurs, except for the
mysterious and beautiful pianist, Hitomi
Sakurai (Tomomi Miyashita). Cake shop
owner Goto (Jun Inoue) likes jazz andbuys a vintage sax for this occasion.
Matsuko (Matsumi Fuku) of the wagashi
shop has only played a recorder.
Cucumber farmer Hanayama (Koichi
Ueda) doesn’t even know jazz. Nakano(Sabu Kawahara), a stubborn noodle
shop owner, brags that he was thebest trumpet player in middle school.
Christmas is just three months away...
The film won awards at the 2011

すら知らない。頑固な製麺店の中野（河原さぶ）は、中学でトランペットがいちばんう
まかったと自慢するが。クリスマスまであと３ヶ月…
賞歴： 第24回東京国際女性映画祭正式出品、第8回韓国堤川國祭音楽映画祭
出品。
監督：宮武由衣、公開 : 2011年、カラー、
言語 : 日本語、字幕 : 英語 、映時間 : 92
分、12月26日(火)午後6:30時、入場無料。

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A magical day
at Magic Island
		by Debra SaikiT

he downpour the evening
before, complete with cracklinglightning, booming thunder anda flash flood warning, wasn’t very
encouraging. The temple picnic was
all planned out for Ala Moana Park’s
Magic Island for the next morning.
By the time dawn broke,
however, the day magically turned
out to be a perfect one for a picnic:
sunshine and clear blue skies, kissed
by gentle, cooling breezes.
The Nov. 12 Betsuin gathering
at Magic Island was actually one of
our periodic outings to supplement
the Sunday dharma schoolclassroom activities normallyscheduled for the children.
A small makeshift altar was set
up, along with a couple of rowsof folding chairs. As we sat undermonkey pod trees facing the oceanwith a Diamond Head vista to
our left, Rinban Kawawata led thechanting of Shoshinsan for our shortservice. Rev. Kikuchi’s dharma talkabout a hike he took in Nuuanu andthe magnificent view at the end of
the trail, illustrated how Nature isintertwined in our daily lives.

Can Hana beat Kevin to the finish line?

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While some couldn’t wait to go to the beach or explore the park, others preferredtalking story under the canopy of shade trees. Picnic photos courtesy of Carl Okuda
Immediately following was lunch.
It must have been the salt air mixed
with being outdoors; the potluck
lunch was extra delicious. And whata great spread to pick from, including
musubi and other rice dishes,chicken, potato salad, veggies, egg
rolls, fruits, boiled peanuts, scones
and chocolate chip cookies.
Next up, games. Remember
the kenjinkai picnics from small-kid
time with the spoon relays withthe raw egg? Ping pong balls have
replaced the eggs, but the gameis just as much fun and everybody
wins a prize!
It was also a great day for thewater balloon toss. Choose a partnerand gently toss the water balloon
back and forth from progressively
farther away. Last team standing withwater still in the balloon instead ofsoaked in their clothing was noneother than the young minister teamof Kikuchi- and Kita-sensei.
The suika-wari, or watermelonsplitting contest, was an opportunity
for the alpha males to see if theirlatent samurai DNA was still alive.
Blindfolded and wielding a kendo
bokken wooden sword, all thewould-be Zatoichis set out one
by one to make mincemeat out of
the watermelon. Every single oneof them failed. Fortunately Debbie
and Margaret made contact and Mai,
a.k.a. Lady Naotora, struck the final
blow. Once the watermelon was split,
nearly everyone was burying theirfaces in the refreshing ice-cold treat.

Winner of the “Guess the
Number of Hershey’s Kisses in the
Jar” contest was Debbie, whose
guess of 121 won her the prize of,naturally, the jar of Kisses.
Once the organized games weredone, it was official leisure time.
While some ventured into the water,others wanted to bask in the sun,practice their cool soccer moves orhandstands, jog around the park or
simply kick back under the shadetrees and talk story.

Refreshing ice-cold seedless watermelon...
Yum! It can’t get much better than this!
Everybody seemed to enjoy
themselves at the Sunday school
picnic—even the children!—and now
there’s talk of doing this more often.
We’ll keep you posted once wedecide on the next one. Hope to see
you next time!

Higashi Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii
1685 Alaneo Street
Honolulu, Hawaii 96817

NON-PROFIT ORG.
U.S. POSTAGE
PAID
Honolulu, HI
Permit No. 693

Address Service Requested

In this issue of WA...
• Celebrating Bodhi Day p. 1
• Yearend oosouji tradition p. 2
• 2018 district calendar available p. 2
• News on the Betsuin Wireless p. 3
• Buddhism thrives in Western culture p. 3
• December movie: Jazz G-Men p. 3
• A magical day at Magic Island p. 4
• Acknowledgments p. 5
• December shōtsuki service p. 5
• Temple activities calendar p. 6

Temple Activities Calendar
DECEMBER
12/3 Sun 9:30 am HBC Bodhi Day service
			 (No Sunday service at Betsuin)
12/4 Mon 10 am Betsuin study class
12/10 Sun 10 am Betsuin Bodhi Day service
12/10 Sun 12 pm Omigaki altar items polishing
12/12 Tue 3 pm Ukulele class/band practice
12/14 Thu 7 pm The Larger Sutra study class			 led by Rinban Kawawata in English
			 Fukuhara Conference Room
12/17 Sun 10 am Shōtsuki service/Sunday school
12/17 Sun 12 pm Betsuin board meeting
12/17 Sun 12 pm Art of Paper Folding class
12/18 Mon 10 am Betsuin study class
12/19 Tue 7 pm O-kō: Dharma discussion at Betsuin
12/24 Sun 9 am Mochi pounding
12/26 Tue 3 pm Ukulele class/band practice
12/26 Tue 6:30 pm Movie night: Jazz G-Men (Jazz爺Men)
			 Fukuhara Conference Room
12/28 Thu 10 am Shinran Shōnin memorial service
12/30 Sat 9 am Oosōji temple cleaning
12/31 Sun 5:30 pm Year-end service - Jōya-e			 Ritual bell-tolling 108 times
			Join us after service for toshi-koshi soba

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JANUARY 2018
1/1 Mon 10 am			
1/7 Sun 10 am
1/7 Sun 12pm
						

New Year’s Day service - Shūshō-eJoin us after service for ozōni soup
Shōtsuki service/Sunday school
The Larger Sutra study class
led by Rinban Kawawata in Japanese
無量寿経 日本語仏教講座

現代語で仏教を聞こう！

Betsuin study class
Ukulele class/band practice
The Larger Sutra study class
led by Rinban Kawawata in English
			 Fukuhara Conference Room
1/14 Sun 10 am Sunday service/Sunday school
1/15 Mon 10 am Betsuin study class
1/16 Tue 7 pm O-kō: Dharma discussion at Kaneohe
1/20 Sat 10 am Joint Dharma Gathering
1/21 Sun 10 am Sunday service/Sunday school
1/21 Sun 12 pm Betsuin board meeting
1/23 Tue 3 pm Ukulele class/band practice
1/23 Tue 6:30 pm Movie night: Dog in a Sidecar (サイドカーに犬)			 Fukuhara Conference Room
1/28 Sun 10 am Shinran Shōnin memorial service			Sunday service/Sunday school
1/8 Mon 10 am
1/9 Tue 3 pm
1/11 Thu 7 pm
			Everyone is welcome to join the morning chanting held at 7 am daily (except on Sundays & the 28th day of the month) in the Betsuin main hall.

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