Thank You All for All Your Kind Donations Financial, Materials, and Labor. It takes us all
to carry on the work of our forefathers and keep our church viable.
Bodhi Day
December 8th is celebrated as Bodhi Day – Buddha’s Awakening. Bodhi is the Sanskrit word for
enlightenment. Bodhi Day is when we celebrate when Siddhartha Gautama became Sakyamuni Buddha.
Siddhartha was 35 when he realized Truth. As Buddha, he shared the Dharma for 45 years until his
death at age 80.
New Year’s Eve
The last day of the year is an opportunity to reflect upon the past year in preparation for the coming
year. It is time to think about the interdependency of all life and to ponder all the causes and
conditions that have enabled us to live. At some temples, the bell is struck 108 times to remind us
of the 108 blind passions that permeate our everyday lives.
Membership
Dues: For individuals, it is $225. For a family, it is $400. For members over 80 years old, it is $180.
Observing Eitaikyo – and Remembering, Thanking Ancestors
Rev. Naomi Seijo Nakano
Nov 9, 2024
(from BCA Website)
“Gan ni shi ku doku (“I vow that the virtue of truth
Byou dou se is sai Be given equally to all.
Dou hotsu bo dai shin. May they awaken the bodhi mind
Ou jou an rak-koku.” And realize the realm of peace and joy.”)
— Master Shan Tao’s “Ekoku”
At San Luis Obispo Buddhist Church (SLOBC), we observe the Eitaikyo service close to the
American holiday of Thanksgiving. We, like the Pilgrims, have a luncheon of “traditional foods.”
We do not have venison like the first Pilgrims, but we feast on what we have been raised on.
This luncheon is our version of the first Thanksgiving.
It is our way of remembering and thanking those who have gone before us. It is our
thankfulness, gratitude and appreciation for what they shared.
These ancestors gave so much of their time, wealth, hard work and dedication so that future
generations and newcomers could have a safe place to truly hear, listen, learn and begin to
understand the Buddha-Dharma. It is through their entrusting that we can come together as a
Sangha. It is saying Namu Amida Butsu to our ancestors for their compassion and wisdom.
American history has shown that it was the Pilgrims who first sailed to America. They arrived
around 1620 on the ship Mayflower. They considered themselves “separatists” who rejected the
Church of England and sought religious freedom in a new land. They would settle in Plymouth,
Massachusetts.
In 1630, the Puritans arrived. Some Puritans were considered non-separatists, who sought
to reform the Church of England. They settled the Massachusetts Bay Colony, just north of the
Plymouth Colony. Sarah Crabtree, a historian at San Francisco State University, wrote that
Puritans rejected religious freedom and never tried adopting the Pilgrims’ initiative.
The indigenous people and Pilgrims did not gather to share a meal. Craig Lambert, deputy
editor of Harvard Magazine, wrote that many Pilgrims perished during the first winter in America
because of dysentery, pneumonia, tuberculosis, scurvy and exposure to the elements, as well
as attacks by indigenous warriors.
However, there was a lone warrior named Samoset who appeared and greeted the Pilgrims
when he walked into their establishment. He eventually formed a union with the Pilgrims. It was
Samoset who introduced the Wampanoag tribe and its chief Massasoit to the Pilgrims.
Both groups of people realized they needed each other. The chief and 90 warriors did
appear at the Pilgrims’ first feast, bringing venison to the meal. Centuries later, author and
editor Sarah Josepha Hale encouraged President Abraham Lincoln to declare the third
Thursday in November as a national holiday, known as Thanksgiving.
We have our own “Pilgrims” in history. Some are unknown heroes. One was Manjiro
Nakahama. At the age of 14 years, Nakahama and four other members of a fishing crew were
caught in a violent storm and were stranded on an island 300 miles away from their coastline of
Shikoku, Japan.
After spending five months marooned on an island, they were rescued by an American
whaling ship. Nakahama would be adopted by Capt. William Whitfield and his name would be
changed to John Mung or John Manjiro.
Manjiro was educated in English, mathematics, surveying and navigation in addition to
shipbuilding. According to the National Endowment of the Humanities, Manjiro returned to
Japan. His knowledge of America made him an important asset to the Japanese government.
Some historians said that Manjiro was an ambassador and/or an interpreter for Commodore
Matthew C. Perry. Whatever his role, Manjiiro would help “open the door to the West.”
Yet, there were unknown, adventurous and courageous people who helped generate Jodo
Shinshu in America. If not for these Issei (first-generation Japanese in America) adventurers,
who asked our mother temple, Nishi Hongwanji, to send ministers, where would we be today?
These Issei were valuable in establishing Jodo Shinshu in America. In September 1899,
Rev. Dr. Shuye Sonoda and Rev. Kakuryo Nishima arrived in San Francisco. This marked our
beginning “roots” in the establishment of Jodo Shinshu in America.
Eitaikyo is a time of sharing thanks and to honor our ancestors who saw a future. They
wanted Jodo Shinshu to continue to help others “search and find” their path and continue to
help those who are already on the path.
It is Namu Amida Butsu in thankfulness, gratitude and appreciation for not giving up, so that
we can begin and continue our path of realizing our “true self” and deepening our entrusting.
As translated in Master Shan Tao’s “Ekoku,” it is the directing of the virtues to all beings,
equally, hopefully helping open the Bodhi mind so we can begin to realize peace and joy.
Namu Amida Butsu to our ancestors’ forethought, direction and for their entrusting in
Buddha, so that we can always have a special Thanksgiving.
Gassho
Rev. Seijo Naomi Nakano
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