Pasad ena Buddhist Temple Hikari

Pasadena Buddhist Temple • HIKARI • May-June 2021 www.PasadenaBuddhistTemple.org Page 1

Pasadena Buddhist Temple HikariMay & June, 2021

1993 Glen Avenue • Pasadena, CA 91103 • 626-798-4781

We Have a Right to our DiginityWe Have a Right to our DiginityRev. Jundo Gregory GibbsRev. Jundo Gregory Gibbs

May, 20212 ........Monthly Memorial Service5 ........PBT Board Meeting @ 7:15 pm9 ........Parent’s Day Service16 ......Family Service ..........BWA meeting @11AM via Zoom23 ...... Gotane Service30 ......Memorial Day Cemetery Service at Mt. View cemetery NO Service at Temple

June 20212 ........PBT Board meeting @ 7:15 PM6 ........Monthly Memorial & Family service 10 AM13 ......Family Service, 10 AM19 ......Chicken Teriyaki Dinner Fundraiser 20 ......Family Service, 10 AM26 ......Temple Omigaki and Clean-up , 9:00 - noon27 ......Family Service, 10 AM

July 20214 ........NO Service7 ........PBT Board meeting @ 7:15 PM10 ......Hatsubon Service (Invitation Only)11 ......Monthly Memorial, Obon Service17 ......Obon Festival (TBD)18 ......Obon Festival (TBD)25 ......Family Service

Currently all services are virtually held online via ZOOM. We hope to welcome you back soon! Updates on website and eBlasts.

Temple Calendar

Black lives matter! Japanese lives matter! Japanese-American lives matter! There is no such thing a generic dignity or a general sense of adequate self-respect. We are specific people and our dig-nity must be tied to the specifics of what we are: Japanese-Ameri-can, Buddhist, Irish-American, Korean-American.

Currently, Irish-Americans are under no particular oppression in North America. We must send the healing where the hurt is. Right now, Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, Korean Ameri-cans, are under attack. We need to speak out against and act so as to unravel the ball of racism and bigotry which seems to be ever growing in this country.

Those who opposed the affirmation “Black Lives Matter” often complained, that it should be “All lives matter.” But, of course, they meant all human lives. The truth is, and the Buddhist teaching is, all living beings matter. Next it will be a “Stop Asian Hate” sign we must post. However, eventually we would need to post signs and banners saying, “Aviary lives matter” “Stop Rodent Hate!” “Felines have Feelings” Etc.

We all have a right to feel dignity as biological persons. We must send the healing where the hurt is. So, in May of 2021 I want to say, again and again, “Stop Asian Hate!” As I do so, nonetheless, I remember all the victims of prejudice and bigotry.

Stand up for yourself and speak against racial insults when they are directed at yourself or at others. Stand up for your cat and dog, too! Ants and beetles? … lizards and gnats? Well … “Gnat Lives Matter” has a rather tinny ring to it. In reality, those lives do mat-ter. More than we realize, they matter. But let’s start close to home with our fellow human beings. All human lives matter. Black Lives Matter! Stop Asian Hate! We must say these things. We must de-fend ourselves, our friends and our family members. All the time knowing that the deep truth is that all living beings matter. Respect everyone. Protect everyone. Insist on being treated with dignity yourself. We should all be able to walk in the sunshine together without fear. Everybody loves the sunshine.

Gotane Service- May 23rdOur School of Buddhism, Jodo Shinshu,

was founded near the beginning of the 13th Century of the Common Era. An exact date of 1224 C.E. is sometimes given, but that dating is somewhat artificial. It was early in the 13th century that Shinran Shonin and Honen Shonin were propagating what Shinran called “the cur-rent Pure Land movement.” This egalitarian, down-to-earth Buddhist approach developed into the two schools of Jodo Shu and the ten schools of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism. We are Hongwanji-ha, or Nishi Hongwanji, which, along with Higashi Hongwanji together number about 30 million followers. The other 8 schools of Jodo Shinshu are rather small, perhaps numbering several million members in total. Only Nishi and Higashi Hongwanji have temples in North America. We take Shinran as our founder and express our thanks to him on his birthday, May 21st, or on the Sunday closest to that day. This year we will celebrate Gotan-E on May 23rd with a service beginning at 10 am and can be viewed on the temple website, YouTube & Facebook.

This is the birthday service for our denominational founder, Shin-ran Shonin, and is a happy event for which we would love to have you join us.

Temple Clean-Up • June 26Need a little exercise? Plan on joining us as we dust up around the temple grounds on June 26th from 9:00 - noon. We will have tasks for all that are willing to help. Lots of dusting, sweeping, raking, and time to see friends you haven’t seen for over a year!Please let us know that you will be coming so we can set-up a work schedule. You can call the office and let sensei know or you can email us at [email protected]. We look forward to seeing you all!


Shotsuki Service (Monthly Memorial Service) is held for those who passed away during a particular month. Family members and friends offer incense in honor of their loved one. This service provides the opportunity to acknowledge the influence this person made on your own life. Names of the deceased are read at this service. If you would like your loved one to be added to a monthly list, please contact Reverend Gibbs.

May Shotsuki Service - May 2nd

July Shotsuki Service - July 11th

June Shotsuki Service - June 6th

AMASUGE, KiyokoARIMA, TomosaburoENDO, GiheiFUJIMOTO, KimiFUJIMOTO, MasaoFUKUWA, Yuriko BettyGOTO, ChikakoHAMANO, ShinajiroHASHIMURA, Gary AkiraIKEDA, Dr. KazuoIKEDA, KiichiKAWAMOTO, YoichiKAWAMURA, RandyKIKKAWA, AlanKISHABA, KiyokoKURAMOTO, KaoriKURAMOTO, Steven

MARUMOTO, KunitoshiMATSUMOTO, RokuichiMITO, AijiMIYAGISHIMA, GenkichiMIYAMOTO, KomeMIYASHITA, ShinichiMURASHIGE, GeorgeNAITO, SasakoNAKAJIMA, NuiNAKAMOTO, KenichiNAKAMURA, TaniNAKASHIMO, HiroseNISHIMURA, KiiNUMA, ToranosukeOGATA,WaiOKUNO, Heiji

OKUNO, TaneOKUTANI, KoshimoONISHI, KatsutoOTANI, WakaSAKUDA, UshiSATO, AyakoSATO, Henry YoshioSHIMODA, TokikoSHINMOTO, BillSHIROZU, IsouSUECHIKA, TomSUNADA, YukuSUNAIRI, ChiyekoTAKEMOTO, MitsuyoTAMANAHA, KokichiTANAKA, Hiroshi

TANAKA, MinoruTANAKA, RyotaroTANAKA, SuteTANAKA, YoneTASAKI, HyakutaroTSUKIMOTO, Mary YoshieUSHIJIMA, Helen MoriUTSUMI, Helen ChiyekoWAKABAYASHI, NobukiWATANABE, MitsuYAMADA, SentaroYAMAMOTO, YoshikiyoYAMASAKI, ToshimiYAMASHITA, Shigeichi JackYAMANE, TatsuoYUSA, Hatsuo

AOKI, TakumaDOI, RikisoFUJITAKI, MitsukoFUO, TakashiHAMADA, ItoHAMADA, ShusakuHAMANO, SakaHATATE, Alfred IsamuHAYAMA, AsayoHAYASHI, YasusukeHIGASHIYAMA, ShokichiHIRAMOTO, Frank KeizoHIRASHIMA, KikuHISAYASU, Bruce KatsuichiITO, ShigeoKANEBAYASHI, Komura

KAKIZOYE, TsurukoKAIDE, SakaKIKKAWA, ShojiKIKKAWA, YoshiyeKOBAYASHI, FusayoKOBUKE, KanekichiMASUMOTO, MayoMATSUBA, Douglas YoshihiroMATSUMOTO, IsematsuMIYAHARA, HenryMORI, NobuoMURAKI, SoyoNAGAYAMA, KaminoNAKAMOTO, MosakuNAKANISHI, George ShigeoNODA, Kazumatsu

NORI, NobuOGAWA, HiroyukiOGAWA, JunsaburoOSHITA, IsaburoOYAMA, ToshimiROPPYAKUDA, HirokoSAKAI, NoboruSAKIDA, KiichiSANO, YoshieSHIMODA, TomeichiSHIMOMAE, TakejiSHODA, MotojiroSUGASAWARA, MisaoSUGITA, MatsujiTAKAHASHI, AtoruTAKAI, Taju

TAKENOUCHI, ShotsuchiTANAKA, KinaiTARUMOTO, HatsuyeTERADA, MitsueTOKINOBU, ItaroTSUKIDA, HironoriUMETA, NoboruWAKASA, IwaoYAMADA, KunikichiYAMAMOTO, HisayoYAMASHITA, SetsuYOKOYAMA, IsaoYONEDA, Narumi John

ARITA, SachikoDEHARI, ShigekoDOI, TakuichiDOMEN, KazuyukiFUJIKAWA, KiyoFUJIMOTO, NobuoFUNADA, EijiFURUMOTO, DojiGOTO, ShigeoHAMANO, MasashiHAYASHI, EmikoHAYASHI, SasukeHIRATA, ChinamiINOUYE, Theodore Ted TakaoJOFUKU, Yukitoshi

KAMON, MatsujiroKAWAHARA, TokiKEHOE, JohnKIMURA, KazueKODAMA, TakaoKOSUGE, NancyMASAI, DanMASUMOTO, MichiMATSUBARA, DaikichiMORIHIRO, MisakoNAGAYAMA, HichiroNAITO, Frank KeizuchiNAITO, ImaoNAITO, Yukio

NAKAMURA, TowaNAKANISHI, TadatsugiNISHIMOTO, YukioNISHIMURA, Roy KazuoNODA, MasakoOGURA, NancyOGURA, UkichiOMOKAWA, KanichiOSHITA, MatsuyoOTANI, TasaburoOTANI, UkimiSANO, SadaoSATO, KiyokichiSATO, Toshi

SERA, NobuoSEVERENCE, Eugenia MarieSHIBA, JinnosukeSHIGEISHI, JamesSHIMODA, MizuSUGITA, JiroSUGASAWARA, TatsunosukeTAGUCHI, GokichiTAMURA, KazumiTANAKA, EiTOKUDA, OkichiYAMAGUCHI, YuriYAMASAKI, JokichiYAMASAKI, Mitsuyo


Buddha Day • Hanamatsuri, April 11th

Membership dues are an important pillar of the financial foundation necessary to provide religious services to our Sangha and maintain our Temple’s property. Individual membership is $275 and Family mem-bership is $450 (for couples and minor, unemployed children).

We also have “Friend of the Temple” and “Family Friend of the Temple” memberships available. Membership applications can be found in the Temple Office, or on the Temple website. Membership payments can be made in a lump sum or in quarterly payments.

We would like to acknowledge those that have paid membership January - April of this year:

Membership

Individual Membership Family Membership

Individual Friends Membership

Family & Friends Membership

Wes & Kathy KumagaiRobert Ozawa & Shirley Lee

Steven & Chiyo Kikkawa

Reiko Shibasaki

Mark ArakiSachiyo HamadaHiroshi Kikkawa

Aki KiriyamaShoji KiriyamaHeather Lim

Arlene MizusakiMinoru OkidaToyoko Okida

Lisa TanahashiJulie Toyama

Yoshiko Yamasaki

We would like to recognize all our sangha and friends who helped make this year’s Hanamido beautiful by making a monetary donation, floral donation or arranging all the flowers on the Hanamido together.

• Akimi Ching • Rev. Gregory Gibbs • Kyoko Gibbs • Ren Gibbs • Jeanne Ideno • Panther Jones • Heather Lim • Lynne Masumoto • Cathy Mikuni • Dona Mitoma • George Sugimoto • Jeannie Toshima • Joe & Sachi Watari

Starting with:FAME: Near La Cienega and Wilshire Boulevards, there is a statue of John Wayne, sitting astride a horse. Passer-bys rarely even glance at it.WEALTH: There’s an old saying that goes, paraphrased, “Only the rich know the worthlessness of being rich.”POWER: A Prime Minister of England once noted, “Power…it’s like a Dead Sea fruit. When you achieve it, there’s nothing there.” Thus, Alexander the Great, who conquered most of the civilized world, ended his life drinking (in 328 B.C. he was involved in a famous drunken brawl) and feasting, and this at the age of thirty-three.INTELLIGENCE: The philosopher John Stuart Mill is known for his pure intelligence. At the age of three he learned Greek; at the age of nineteen or so he founded a college, the University College London, together with the philosopher Jeremy Bentham. But im-mediately after that, he suffered a huge “mental crisis” and fell into deep depression.PHYSICAL BEAUTY: Actresses and models agonize over their looks. For the reason that after the age of say, thirty, as the saying goes in Hollywood, “It’s all over; there’ll be no casting calls ever again”.Now if we’re fully aware of the limitations of Fame, Wealth and so forth as Paths that lead to True Happiness, True Well-being, and so forth then all is well. If, however we mistake such Paths as being Paths that lead, authentically to True Happiness and Well-being, Salvation, or Enlightenment that would be a huge and even tragic error.Gassho, Rev. Tetsuo Unno

T a k i n g a S e c o n d L o o k a t t h e T h i n g s t h a t W e S e e k A f t e r

Monthly OpportunityRaffle Winners

March 2021 - Midori Ikenaga

April 2021 - Lindsey Hirano

Dharma School News

On April 11th, Dharma School families buried their personal Time Capsules that had been prepared by all the children. Lynne Masumoto helped to organize this event which was delayed by the pandemic. This time capsule will be reopened on the 75th anniversary of PBT, in 12-years. it will be fun to read what the children wrote and the messages that were written by their parents.Dharma School has not been able to meet due to the pandemic, but we look forward to being together soon. More photos and movie on website.


Donations Received February and MarchThe following donations received in the month of February 2021 and March 2021 are gratefully acknowledged.

Shotsuki Hoyo February 7th & March 7th Hanamatsuri April 11th

Special Donations

Spring Ohigan March 21st

COVID-19

$300..... Haruko Sato Jean Ito in memory of Chieko Yamane, Tad Yamane & Shig Yamane

$200..... Maye Fukumoto in memory of Ichino Kamoto & Suma Fukumoto

$150..... Yoshiko & Stephanie Yamasaki in memory of Jun Yama-saki

$100..... Robert Kikkawa in memory of Alice Kikkawa$100..... Shinobu Kiriyama$100..... Carolyn Matsuda in memory of Tadao Sato$100..... Michiko Oba in memory of Tadao Sato$100 .... Roy Sunada in memory of Kiyomi Sunada$100..... Jane Utsumi$80....... Cheyenne Bosworth in memory of Kiyoko Nishi$50....... Robert Kikkawa in memory of Edith Shigeishi$50....... Carolyn Matsuda in memory of Uncle Shig Yamane,

Uncle Ted & Auntie Chieko Yamane$50....... Takako Murashige in memory of George Murashige$50....... Albert Nakata in memory of Yukiko Nakanishi$50....... Michiko Oba in memory of Uncle Shig Yamane, Uncle

Ted & Auntie Chieko Yamane$50....... Carol Oyama in memory of Toshiaki Oyama$30....... June Chin in memory of Satoru Joe Roppyakuda$30....... Don Kikkawa in memory of Alice Kikkawa$10....... Kat Cunico in memory of Kiyoko Nishi$10....... Ka Fai in memory of Kiyoko Nishi$10 ...... Chasity Loveall in memory of Kiyoko Nishi$10....... Ferris Orita in memory of Kiyoko Nishi

$200 ........George Sugimoto$150 ........Albert Nakata$100 ........Maye Fukumoto, Michiko Oba, Roy Sunada, Rev. Tet-

suo Unno$50 ..........Akiko Tsukida$30 ..........John Ozawa$25 ..........Lynne Masumoto$20 ..........Albert Yamasaki

$1,400 .... Lloyd Fujiwara, stimulus check donation$25 ......... Ikuko Miyashita$20 ......... Minoru Okida

$1,000.....Margi Yoshihashi, Legacy Fund$900 .......Ernest Nagamatsu, Facility use$600 .......Anonymous$500 .......Ken Okazaki, In memory of Sid & Yukie Okazaki$275 .......Robert Kikkawa, OREI & Flowers$250 .......Midori Ikenaga, Opportunity Drawing Winner$250 .......Kristena Lozano$100 .......Irene Fujimoto in honor of Ron & Jeannie Toshima , Scott

& Shelley Shinmoto$100........ Corinne Ishikawa, 15th Year Memorial Toshio Ishikawa$100 .......Albert Nakata, Opportunity Drawing winner$100 .......Jose Salcedo$100 .......Kiyoe Suzuki, Bento donation$100 .......Jeannie Toshima, Osaisen$100 .......Theone Yoshikawa, In memory of Toshio Ishikawa$50 .........BWA Installation Service$50 .........Kyoko Gibbs Koden, In memory of Rev. Kensho Okura$50 .........Steven Kikkawa - General Fund$50 .........Catherine Mikuni OREI$50 .........Pasadena Nikkei Seniors - OREI facility use$50 .........George Sugimoto - Hanamatsuri Flowers$50 .........Tai Ngoc Tran$40 .........Jeannie Toshima - Mask purchases$25 .........Cheyenne Bosworth - Flower Fund$20 .........Lynne Masumoto - Hanamatsuri FlowersPasadena Antique Warehouse Dorje

$250 .... George Sugimoto$100 .... Nina Akiyama, Maye Fukumoto, Shinobu Kiriyama,

Albert Nakata, Michiko Oba, Kiyoe Suzuki, Rev. Tetsuo Unno

$50 ...... BWA, Alan Hatakeyama, Gerry Ito, Robert Kikkawa, Mit-sunori Nishikawa, Susan Nishio, Rumiko Shiroma, Jane Smith, Roy Sunada, Jeannie Toshima, Akiko Tsukida, Sachiko Watari, George Yamane, Tomomi Yamasaki

$40 ...... Clifford Nakatani$30 ..... June Chin, Sachiyo Hamada, Minoru Okida, Carol Oyama$25 ...... Corinne Ishikawa, Carolyn Matsuda, Julie Toyama$20 ...... Catherine Mikuni, Shelley Shinmoto

コロナウイルスのワクチン予防接種をご希望の方で、予約のお手伝いが必要な方は、ギブス教子(971-222-9231)までお気軽にお知らせ下さい。

Corona Virus Vaccine Help

If you or a family member would like help making an online appointment for a COVID vaccine, please contact Rev. Gibbs and he will get someone to assist you.

2021 Wi$h Fund and Donation$We are starting our Wish Fund project again. We will post items

that the Temple is in need of, and if you have something you could donate or make a monetary donation towards some of these items, they will be gratefully accepted.☐ Incense (ask sensei what kind)☐ Coffee for refreshments after service☐ Maintenance and Landscaping supplies☐ Cleaning supplies (brooms, vacuum cleaner, cleansers)

Let sensei know if you can make a donation or send in a check made out to PBT with “Wish Fund” or “Special Donation” in the memo.


Gotanye Service Goodie BagThis year Dharma School will be providing a goodie bag to

everyone that stops by the Temple on May 23rd.In order to prepare enough, please call Kyoko Gibbs at (971)

222-9231 by May 9th.

Pasadena Buddhist Temple ColumbaRIum (Nokotsudo)

Plans to build our Temple nokotsudo are progressing. We completed the asbestos removal last week (April 16th) and will be-gin painting, rewiring for new lighting, and installation of the flooring over the next several weeks. We are now targeting early July for completion so that it is ready for Obon, an appropriate time to introduce our nokotsudo. We are grateful to Johnny Ka-mon, who is leading this project with his architectural firm and donating his time and resources to this project. If you are interested in securing a niche, please contact Shelley Shinmoto for more information. [email protected]

Here at the Pasadena Buddhist temple, we have, over the years, re-ceived about eight or nine obutsudan that have not yet been adopted by new families (or old families wanting another obutsudan for an-other room).History – Home shrines dedicated to Buddhas and Bodhisattvas were common in the homes of wealthy East Asian Buddhist families since near the beginning of the Common Era. However, they became common amongst working class and peasant families, naturally in more modest forms, in the thirteenth through the 15th century largely due to the influence of Nichiren (1222-1282) and Rennyo Shonin (1415 – 1499).Artistic Refurbishing - Our Artist in Residence, Alan Hiroshi Na-kagawa, his colleague, Este, Catherine Mikuni and Kyoko Okura Gibbs have worked to clean and repair these Obutsudan.Gratitude Reset – When we receive an obutsudan from a family that no longer needs it, we do a service to express thank-fulness for the value that the Buddhist shrine has provided to that family.Donation - would be voluntary. Recom-mended donation will be posted. No dona-tion would be too low, none would be man-datory. We do want to make these available to temple members first. However, most of our members seem to have their own home Buddhist shrine. So they are available on a first come-first adopt basis starting im-mediately for established members of the temple and for the general public starting with Fall Ohigan (9/19/21). Give Rev. Gibbs a call if you would like to view them and perhaps take one home. (626) 798-4781.

Adopt an Obutsudan (Home Altar)The BWA has been meeting via ZOOM to make plans for supporting the Temple. Toban 2 will be in charge of all BWA responsibilities for the second quarter (April – June). Toban 2 leaders are Linda Ito, Corky Ishikawa and Heather Lim. Everyone is welcome to attend our meeting which is usually held on the last Sunday of each month at 11:00am. Let us know and we will send you a link to join.With the Keiro Grant received for 2021, BWA will be sponsoring a PNS meal that is being prepared by Shin-Sen-Gumi. The meal will include their delicious tonkotsu-ramen. BWA will be packing the meals for the PNS delivery and pick-up which will be delivered by the PNS volunteers.Hanamatsuri service was held online, but this year we opened the hondo up so sangha members could come to view the beautiful hanamido sitting atop Harold (our White Elephant) and offered sweet tea to the Baby Buddha statue. After offering the tea all those that attended were offered a delicious cup-cake baked by Jennifer Ito-Relth. We didn’t have our traditional chirashi again this year, but maybe in 2022!We would like to welcome a new BWA member, Susan (Yamane) Tsuji who grew up here at PBT and even taught Sunday School. We’re glad to have her join our group! Temple Clean-up is June 26th and we are hoping we can enlist BWA members to come help dust off and polish up the Temple. It has been over a year since we have had an omigaki and we have much to do. We will limit the number of people in each area of the clean-up. Let your Toban leader know if you can help that day!

Buddhist Women’s Association

Our sincere condolences to Ann and the family of George Akira Yamane who passed away peacefully at his home on April 22 surrounded by his family. George was a very active member of our Temple for decades. He served as the President of ABA and the Board of Directors and for years, he and his family manned the famous Beef Teriyaki booth at our annual Obon. He was known as the Teriyaki Sauce Master Chef and guarded his secret recipe like treasure. And, it was as good as gold, making our chicken and beef teriyaki famous among all the Southern District temples! Moreover, George was known and loved for his smile, wry sense of humor, and easy-going nature. He will be greatly missed not only as an icon of our Temple, but as the kind and spiritually awakened man he was.

In Sympathy


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Pasad ena Buddhist Temple Hikari