Author: admin_higashi_usa

By Rev. Ken Yamada

Buddhism often is viewed as a solitary path focused on one’s own spiritual enlightenment, rather than as a means for social change. That’s wrong.

Buddhism always has encouraged people to help others, starting with the Buddha, who famously helped the sick and offered food to the hungry. Jodo Shinshu has a unique history in its relationship with people suffering from leprosy, a debilitating skin disease that results in the loss of limbs and body parts.

So-called lepers suffered not only physically, but also socially, as they were confined against their will, isolated and discriminated against. The modern term for this skin condition is Hansen’s disease.

Continue reading “Buddhism and Social Discrimination”

By Rinban Noriaki Ito

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Her life was vibrant, bright, sassy, and devoted to helping others. What people didn’t see was the unspeakable horror of war that shaped her life.

Los Angeles Higashi Honganji temple member Florence Shioko Yamada passed away last December, a week before her 88th birthday. Four months earlier, her son and only child Ken passed away.

Florence was born and raised in Los Angeles until age 11, when she and her younger brother were sent to Japan for schooling in Hiroshima, where she lived with her maternal grandparents. World War II began and suddenly Japan and the United States were at war. At the war’s end, on August 6, 1945, Florence’s life changed forever.

Continue reading “Suffering to Compassion”

Nobuko Miyoshi has lived in the United States for 14 years. After serving as a minister at Los Angeles Higashi Honganji Betsuin temple, she became the resident minister of West Covina Higashi Honganji temple, which is about 45 kilometers east of Los Angeles.

The West Covina temple does not have its own building, rather it operates out of a community center, called East San Gabriel Valley Japanese Community Center. It’s an active temple where a small number of people from diverse backgrounds come together to hear the Jodo Shinshu teachings.

Continue reading “Power of Sangha”

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Reiko Ikehara Nelson first encountered the Shinshu teachings when her father passed away more than two decades ago, but it wasn’t until much later that they made any sense.

At his funeral, she heard a reading of “White Ashes,” a letter written 600 years ago by Honganji abbot Rennyo Shonin that is traditionally read at funeral services. Rennyo wrote about impermanence, how a person may have a healthy face in the morning, but suddenly may die and become “white ashes” (cremated) in the evening. The service was held at the Los Angeles Higashi Honganji Betsuin temple.

Continue reading “At the Edge of Sorrow”