Manitoba Buddhist Temple
A BUDDHIST TEMPLE IN THE JODO SHINSHU TRADITION
A Sense of Community
Buddhist Leader Retires
The Mindful Candidate
In Buddhism, people who are transformed become selfless and dedicated to serving others. This is what many people felt when they watched the broadcast of Obama giving his somber, determined victory speech in Chicago on election night.
It may seem incredible that a person with such a humble beginning as Obama could have made it this far. Yet, when looking through the lens of Buddhism, it should not come as a surprise. This is a mindful and humble candidate with a deep understanding of dhamma running a thoughtful and honourable campaign, encouraging people to be selfless and join forces to create good karma for the purpose of lifting others out of suffering.
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE FROM THE
BANGKOK POST...
GREAT PHOTOS AT THE CHICAGO
TRIBUNE...
Gay Marriage
Takei,and Altman
exchanged vows at a Buddhist ceremony presided over
by Rev. William Briones, Nishi Hongwanji Buddhist
Temple.
But, it also brings into
light, the subject of gay marriage from a Buddhist
perspective. Jodo Shinshu Ministers have been
performing same-sex marriages for thirty years. Rev.
William Briones is the first Mexican-American Jodo
Shinshu Minister in America. He is also the person
who officiated the marriage of Takei and Altman. He
writes in November's BCA newsletter that
Amida's Primal Vow does not discriminate.
"Within our teachings of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism, there are no doctrinal grounds that exist the prohibits neutral-gender marriage. Within the compassionate light of the Amida Buddha, all beings are equally embraced."
READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE OF REV. BRIONES FROM THE BCA NEWSLETTER...
READ "SENSATIONAL AS ONE" AT THE RAFU SHIMPO ONLINE FROM THE LOS ANGELES DAILY NEWS....
Gala Dinner
Dalai Lama on Barack Obama
Dear President-elect
Obama,
Congratulations on your election as the President of
the United States of America.
I am encouraged that the American people have chosen
a President who reflects America's diversity and her
fundamental ideal that any person can rise up to the
highest office in the land. This is a proud
moment for America and one that will be celebrated by
many peoples around the world.
The American Presidential elections are always a
great source of encouragement to people throughout
the world who believe in democracy, freedom and
equality of opportunities.
May I also commend the determination and moral
courage that you have demonstrated throughout the
long campaign, as well as the kind heart and steady
hand that you often showed when challenged. I
recall our own telephone conversation this spring and
these same essential qualities came through in your
concern for the situation in Tibet.
As the President of the United States, you will
certainly have great and difficult tasks before you,
but also many opportunities to create change in the
lives of those millions who continue to struggle for
basic human needs. You must also remember and
work for these people, wherever they may be.
With my prayers and good wishes,
Yours sincerely,
THE DALAI LAMA
COURTESY
FREETIBET.ORG...
Bring Your Children up Buddhist
Thurman on the Teachings of Buddhism
Living Peace
Buddhist Economics
One Year Later
Through a Buddhist Lens
The third annual Calgary Buddhist Film Series
kicks off on Thursday, October 30. It features
seven films followed by discussions led by
Ministers of the Jodo Shinshu sect of Buddhism
including Sensei Ulrich of the Manitoba Buddhist
Temple. It's probably the best deal in town...
FREE!
Also check out DharmaFlix. Its a new
collaborative wiki web site listing films with
Buddha dharma content. It also features a top 100
list based on participants' reviews. So what's
your favorite Buddhist film or TV series?
VISIT THE CALGARY BUDDHIST TEMPLE
WEB SITE...
SEE THE TOP 100 BUDDHIST FILMS AT
DHARMAFLIX....
Jodo Shinshu Day in Canada
May I join all the Dharma Friends across Canada in paying my tribute of appreciation to the pioneers and predecessors for their vision and commitment to guide us in the teaching of the Nembutsu.
Today, if you go to internet and check Buddhism in Canada, you will be surprised to know there have been hundred of groups in many Buddhist traditions mushrooming throughout the country , which never existed 40 years ago. Therefore, I think it was a good choice to put the name of Jodo Shinshu in front to clarify our mission. At the same time, however, we have to be prepared to explain what is Jodo Shinshu Buddhism to the general public. Especially ministers, temple leaders and officers are responsible to take the lead.
Let me remind you of the 750th Memorial Service of Shinran Shonin, the founder of Jodo Shinshu tradition, which will be observed in Kyoto from April 9, 2011 to January 16, 2012 under the theme of “AN-NON”, Peace and Tranquility. We, the JSBTC are also planning to observe our national service one year before, in 2010, to promote our tradition.
May each and everyone be aware of this important event which is only observed once in 50 years and participate with good understanding and support.
In gassho,
Socho Orai Fujikawa, Bishop of the Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada
Buddha Cat
Dharma Talks on iTunes
12 Hour Chanting Marathon
The Gold Medal of Life
Social Networking and Buddhism
Buddhism and the Environment
Buddhism in a Global Age of Technology
Obama Buddha
Funeral Buddhism
Itadakimasu
Bad Buddha
Former BCC Bishop dies
Toshio Murakami was born in Fukuoka, Japan on October 5, 1931. He came to North America in 1959 after receiving his kyoshi certification. His first assignment was at the Berkeley Buddhist Church in California. He was the minister at several temples on the U.S, west coast before working at the BCA headquarters in 1977.
On March 15, 1986, Rev. Murakami began his term as the Bishop of the Buddhist Churches of Canada. Here's a short video clip of Bishop Murakami during a short documentary produced in 1989. In it, he explains his vision for the future of Jodo Shinshu Buddhism in Canada.
Canada's current Bishop,
Socho Fujikawa writes, "He will be remembered as the
Bishop who had helped the 1990 World Buddhist Women’s
Convention in Vancouver."
After serving the BCC for seven years, Rev. Murakami
served the Australian Jodo Shinshu community. He
would eventually retire as the minister of the Honpa
Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii, but continued to be the
resident minister of the Pearl City Hongwanji
Mission.
His funeral was held on June 6, 2008 at the Honpa
Hongwanji Hawaii Betsuin. It was officiated by Bishop
Thomas R. Okano and sponsored by both the Honpa
Hongwanji Mission of Hawaii and the Pearl City
Hongwanji Mission.
Rev. Murakami leaves behind his wife, Yoko, two
daughters, Mari and Rumi and two grandchildren. If
you would like to make a donation, the Murakami
family has requested that it should be made directly
to the Pacific Buddhist Academy.
Jodo Shinshu Online
In addition, this correspondence course also aims to provide those individuals, who have already joined Jodo Shinshu temples as members, with opportunities to deepen their understanding. This is achieved through internet communication with instructors about specific topics related to Jodo Shinshu and Buddhism in general. The correspondence course takes on a new challenge and plays an important role in transmitting the teaching to all people who seek further knowledge of Jodo Shinshu. The Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Temples of Canada is pleased to offer you the Jodo Shinshu Correspondence Course and welcome your enthusiastic participation in this new journey of online education.
"As a participant, I found the 10 week course informative and thought provoking. I felt the experience served to deepen my appreciation and understanding of Jodo Shinshu and ignited a desire to continue the studies. I am eagerly waiting to enroll in the fall courses." --Renae Barlow, Lethbridge, Alberta
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE JODO SHINSHU CORRESPONDENCE COURSE...
Buddha’s Teachings Significant in Troubled Times
Birth of the Buddha Celebration
Join us for a celebration
of the birth of the Buddha! The event takes place at
the St. Norbert Arts Centre on Sunday May 31 starting
at 7:00pm. The program includes a Parade of Lanterns,
spiritual dance and music and features a Dharma Talk
by Sensei Ulrich.
Canada Honours Burma's Aung San Suu Kyi
Jodo Shinshu BTC AGM
Buddhist Way of Life
The video is a part of an online video series called "The Buddhist Way of Life." In 2005, the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism (Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai) [BDK] initiated a BDK-TV Series shown in Southern California. The weekly 15-minute shows featured interviews and teachings from major American Buddhist followers and teachers.
SEE THE VIDEO...
Hanamatsuri Celebrates Buddha’s Birth
Tiger Wood's Secret
So what's his secret?
Meditation. This is an excerpt from an article from
the UK Times web site:
READ MORE IN THE TIMES...Woods does not talk much about the fact that he meditates, something he learnt from Kultida, his mother, who is a Buddhist. “In the Buddhist religion you have to work for it yourself, internally, in order to achieve anything in life and set up the next life,” he said. “It is all about what you do, and you get out of life what you put into it. So you are going to have to work your butt off in every aspect of your life. That is one of the things that people see in what I do on the course.”
Dharma Realm
A Monk's Struggle on the Cover of Time Magazine
"Since China wants to
join the world community," the 14th Dalai Lama said
as I was traveling across Japan with him for a week
last November, "the world community has a real
responsibility to bring China into the mainstream."
The whole world stands to gain, he pointed out, from
a peaceful and unified China—not least the 6 million
Tibetans in China and Chinese-occupied Tibet. "But,"
he added, "genuine harmony must come from the heart.
It cannot come from the barrel of a gun."
READ MORE FROM TIME
MAGAZINE...
The Dali Lama, the Torch and Steve
What iconic image could say more about world peace than the Dali Lama participating in this event.
blog excerpt courtesy: jordanayan.typepad.com
Barack Obama, An Inspiration to the World
Like the Buddha, Barack Obama learned in his early adult years as a community organizer that poverty is the root of much suffering in the world. He saw how poverty seeps into people's lives like a poison that drives people into a life of crime and overall suffering. He understands that to bring people out of poverty is to improve society as a whole. He is known as a uniter, he is quite gifted at being able to bring about compromises that work for all sides involved.
READ MORE FROM THE BUDDHIST
BLOG...
FYI, even Barack Obama's sister, Maya, considers her
outlook on life as "Buddhist".
READ THE NEW YORK TIMES
INTERVIEW...
And the Survey Says...
That's one of the findings of a the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, released Monday (Feb. 25), by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life reports what many of the Jodo Shinshu community in Canada are already experiencing. It says that Buddhists are among the faiths with the lowest retention rates of childhood members and that many Buddhists have married someone of a different religion.
A study also concludes that of more than 35,000 adult Americans that were interviewed, .07 percent consider themselves followers of Buddhism.
Hindus Thrive as Buddhists Struggle
to Pass on the Faith
by Andrea Useem, Religion News Service
There is good news, 44 percent of Americans say they're no longer tied to the religious or secular upbringing of their childhood. They've changed religions or denominations, adopted a faith for the first time or abandoned any affiliation altogether which could lead to more people looking into Buddhism as a choice for religious beliefs.For Buddhists, the data show "convert Buddhist communities face a significant challenge in engaging their children and keeping them in the tradition," said Thomas Tweed, a professor of religious studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Many Buddhist converts "didn't really attempt to bring their children into Buddhism," added Robert Seager, a religious studies professor at Hamilton College in Clinton, N.Y. "They said, `I don't want to lay my trip on my kids."
Luis Lugo, director of the Pew Forum predicts that as world religions such as Islam, Hinduism and Buddhism will continue to grow in the USA through immigration and conversion, workplaces, schools and eventually the courts will face increasing challenges over religious accommodation.
SEE THE SURVEY...
How to Cook Your Life
Filmmaker Doris Dörrie
turns her attention to Buddhism and that age-old
saying, you are what you eat. In How To Cook Your Life, Dörrie
enlists the help of the charismatic Zen Master
Edward Espe Brown to explain the guiding
principles of Zen Buddhism as they apply to the
preparation of food as well as life itself. “How a
person goes about dealing with the ingredients for
his meals” explains Dörrie “says a lot about him.
How To Cook Your Life teaches us to be attentive
in our everyday dealings with the most mundane
things and also open our eyes to one of the most
beautiful occupations: cooking.”
Now playing until February 27 at the Winnipeg Cinematheque Theatre
Kind Words from Dr. Kawamura
DIRECTOR OF THE BUDDHIST CHURCHES OF CANADA - LIVING DHARMA CENTRE
As one of the projects of the Living Dharma Center, I have proposed to visit all temples in the Buddhist Churches of Canada and survey Dharma School and Youth programs. I began my visitations with the Manitoba Buddhist Temple in Winnipeg on February 17, 2008.
The resident Minister (Sensei) is Fred Ulrich and he has done a wonderful job of taking the temple into the society. As a consequence, many people who are interested in the Buddha-dharma (teachings of the Enlightened Siddhartha) have visited the temple and some have become new members to the temple. Others have volunteered to help at “soup kitchens” and other inter-religious groups. Those members who have been with the temple for many years, and some who have been there from the very beginning, contribute to the advancement and development of the temple by contributing financial assistance as well as being attentive to the various needs of the temple.
On this visit, I was invited to attend the Sunday service attended by many people both old and new. I met a lady whose visit to the temple was for the first time, and I was pleased to see that she was accepted into the sangha and was taking part in the events of the day just in the manner that those who were there for a longer period.
The service itself was very impressive in that it was not centered around the Sensei only, but members (both children and adults) led the sangha in various aspects – leading in the Trisarana, leading in the incense offering, reading of the Juseige in English prior to the chanting of it led by Sensei Ulrich. I was invited to give a Dharma talk to the children, to the Japanese speaking adults, and then to the English speaking adults.
A gift from a Dharma
Class Student
Visitation to the Dharma
school class was done during the adult meditation
session. During my visit, many good ideas of how the
LDC could gain from and contribute to the Manitoba
Buddhist Temple Dharma Classes were exchanged These
ideas will be compiled and circulated among the
temples so that exchange of ideas can take place.
During the “pot luck”
lunch, an opportunity was provided to share the
intent, structure, and wish of the LDC for each
person’s participation in its work.
Lunch is served
Sensei Ulrich meets a
visitor
A sample brochure of the
LDC was distributed to those in attendance. This
brochure is a “work in progress” in that it contains
some information about the structure and working of
the LDC, but hopefully it will prompt comments from
the members of the BCC at large so that when the
brochure reaches its more mature state, it will
contain the information that responds to the members’
wishes.
Origami practise
The brochure is in such
an infantile stage that some of the Winnipeg members
had to practice “origami” (the art of paper folding)
to get into shape for handing out.
Watch for more from my next visits:
February 23 - West Coast Temples
March 16 - Southern Alberta Temple
Calgary, Interior BC and East Coast temples are still
pending.
Dr. Leslie Kawamura
February 17, 2008
READ MORE AT THE LIVING DHARMA
CENTRE WEB SITE...
Faith in the City
courtesy Winnipeg Free
Press
The Interfaith tour began
on Thursday, January 17 at our own Manitoba Buddhist
Temple. The turnout was overwhelming. Over 200 people
filled the temple to observe how a Buddhist service
is performed. The enthusiastic crowd showed a genuine
interest by participating in the meditation and
chanting exercises.
The series is organized by the Winnipeg Free Press
"Faith Columnist", Brenda Suderman. She describes the
tour as "prying open our comfort zones, experiencing
each other at worship, prayer and other rituals, and
learning just a bit more about ourselves and our
neighbours in the process." She wrote in her column
following the session:
Last Thursday night, more than 150 people packed the 60-year-old Buddhist Church near the Health Sciences Centre for an introduction to Buddhism, the first stop on a six-session interfaith course co-sponsored by the University of Winnipeg and the Manitoba Interfaith Council. That enthusiastic response astounded organizers, and proves to (Sensei) Ulrich that people are convinced of the need for interfaith dialogue and co-operation.
"You're here because there's a grassroots interest in this, it's a lay movement," the former Methodist minister turned Buddhist sensei told the audience during the three hours of chanting, singing, explanations, and questions. "In a pluralistic, multi-faith society, we end up with pluralistic, multi-faith individuals."
Sensei Ulrich enjoyed sharing this vision of a more multi-faith community. He told the audience that sometimes lay people are ahead of the clergy and religious leaders because they are already living the multi-faith experience in their own families. He said that many families are already dealing with religious issues that often come in mixed racial marriages.
WATCH A SLIDESHOW...
CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE TOUR...
READ MORE IN THE WINNIPEG FREE PRESS...
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MANITOBA INTERFAITH COUNCIL...
Introducton to Buddhism
The Manitoba Buddhist
Temple is offering an introductory course on
Buddhism. The course will be held at the temple on
four alternate Thursday evenings from 7:00-9:00pm.
Feb. 7 - Basic Introduction to
Buddhism
Feb. 21 - Buddhist Psychology of Mind and Meditation
March 6 - Three Buddhist Meditations
March 20 - Meditation Practice and Sharing
Circle
Donations gratefully accepted. This is an interfaith,
non-evangelical presentation by Fredrich Ulrich,
Sensei. Parking behind the temple accessed by the
back lane to the north of the temple, in the
community, and in the HSC parking lot on the SE
corner of Notre Dame and Tecumseh, as provided by a
gracious agreement with the HSC for evening special
events only.
Shinran and Rennyo on the Amazing Race
Where is God? CBC Series
CBC Radio and CBCNews.ca
are exploring the question "Where is God today?"
Commentators, religious thinkers and ordinary
Canadians give their thoughts. Among the particpants
is our own Sensei Ulrich. He was interviewed about
how he came to become a Jodo Shinshu Minister and was
featured in a photo slideshow.
LISTEN TO THE CBC REPORT...
WATCH THE SLIDESHOW (Sensei Ulrich
is the fourth person presented)...
Following the Path in a Northern Town
Gold, red, mahogany and marble Buddhas from various sects fill my home. But a single statue of my Buddha, Amida, graces the home shrine (butsudan), his fit physical features a mixture of many races. He stands with one hand upward and one reaching down to me. After chanting and readings of the Dharma (Teachings), the welcoming smell of sandalwood incense permeates my home, as it does Jodo Shinshu temples and homes worldwide. Once a predominately ethnic Japanese-based sect, Jodo Shinshu Buddhism (also called Shin) is slowly growing among those of non-Japanese descent.
READ MORE ON CBC.CA/WHATISGOD...